The Matney Family Eddie and Jennifer with children Jacob, 10 and Gabriella, 7.

Things are busy this—and any—time of the year for the Matney family. Eddie is the chef- owner of Old Town’s Eddie’s House while his wife, Jennifer, is an active community member serving The Heart Ball, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other local organizations.

How do you kick off the holidays? Jennifer: We start out at Thanksgiving and feed all the women and children at the Sojourner Center and also the homeless teens at HomeBase.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Eddie: Our traditions center around food, family and fun. The Hanukkah food is really big whether we are braising brisket or roasting chicken, but one of the biggest things is potato latkes. Every family has a recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation, and Jennifer’s grandma, Molly, is our latkes matriarch. She prides herself on making great latkes. Well, she makes good latkes. While she’s napping, I get in the kitchen and make the really great latkes.

What are you most looking forward to this holiday season? Jennifer: In the restaurant industry, the holidays are our busy time. We make time with the family and block off a day. I also don’t get to eat Eddie’s dinners as often as I like but to actually get to sit down and enjoy his food is so nice. He makes all my favorites.  
Eddie: Jennifer does all the shopping, and she is a great gift buyer. Whether it’s a special doll for Gabriella or a basketball that Jacob gets, I love to see [the look on] their faces.

Are you traveling this holiday season? Eddie: We’ll go up north for a couple of days to our house in Flagstaff and go skiing and have snowball fights. Last year, I went out to grab something, and my wife locked the front door on me in the freezing cold.
Jennifer: That’s because you went outside in your boxers. I had to teach you a lesson.

Favorite Holiday Song: ‘The Hanukkah Song’ by Adam Sandler.
Favorite Holiday Decoration: Our menorah. The kids love to light the candles each night.
New Year’s Resolution: To always find the silver lining in everything that we do.