There is plenty to like about Thanksgiving dinner, but Kaitlyn Vasilko is passionate about the family side.

“I like sweet potatoes and green beans,” said Vasilko, a senior Behavioral  Science major. “But I absolutely love and must have sarma and stuffing with my Thanksgiving dinner.”

Stuffing is a fixture in the Vasilko household. 

“Any good stuffing is made with cornbread,” she said. “I really like bread … so that’s a win/win for me.”

But what makes the holiday really special is sarma.

“My great-grandmother passed away a couple of years ago,” said Vasilko. “I really miss the experience of visiting her and [being] together as a family cooking stuffing for our holiday meal. … Those were really good times.

“Memories of those moments are why stuffing and sarma are very special to me,” she said.  “Sarma represents my family’s nationality and traditions. I have loved Sarma since I could remember. … It’s a Croatian and German dish brought over and passed down by my grandfather.”

Sarma is made with cabbages, sausage, sauerkraut, beef, rice and tomatoes.

“Sarma is not just a great side dish for Thanksgiving, it’s also good as the main course and tastes better warmed up two days later,” Vasilko said.

She gets nostalgic about the dish.

“Sarma is my favorite because it is a generational dish, my entire family will participate in its preparation,” she said. “My grandfather would roll the cabbages the best.” 

“Because the dish takes such a long time to bake, my grandfather would put the sarma in the oven and watch TV until it was done,” she said. “Sometimes the sarma would overcook because my grandfather would fall asleep, but the dish would never burn. In fact, it would taste even better.” 

Vasilko said she and her sister Kayla wrote down the sarma recipe a couple of years before losing their grandfather.  

“Now … the recipe serves as a reason for my family to come together and reminisce about my grandfather as we prepare the sarma,” she said.

But the dish is most important because it provides another reason for the family to get together.

“Side dishes provide great opportunities for my family during the holidays to gather in the kitchen to cook, talk, laugh, and catch up while preparing our holiday meal,” said Vasilko.