There is an African proverb that says, "No matter how high a house is built, it must stand on something."

For many African-Americans, the foundation of their ethnic identity is reflected in the annual celebration of Kwanzaa, a seven-day festival that begins tomorrow and will end on Jan. 1.

Kwanzaa is a Swahili word that means first and has its origin in African harvest or first-fruit traditions. Each year the holiday stimulates an appetite for African culture, but also such delectables of African-inspired cuisine as peanut soup, spinach with sesame seeds, and hoppin' John or black-eyed peas and rice.

Like Thanksgiving, to which it is often compared, Kwanzaa is a "have-it-your-way" smorgasbord. Creative interpretations are encouraged, so there are many ways of savoring the holiday. Some go to nightly church services; others opt for cultural events such as the popular "Kwanzaa Family Day Celebration" at the Baltimore Museum of Art. And, there are those who mark the occasion at home, with family and friends.

In this latter group is Edna O'Connor, who plans to welcome nearly 100 people into her home in Mount Washington tomorrow evening for a Kwanzaa party, which she plans each year. Dressed in African finery of flowing robes worn with a high cloth headdress, O'Connor, who is executive director of Oak Hill Academy in Laurel, will light seven candles that are placed in a candlestick holder called the kinara.

While doing so, she'll explain the Swahili names for, and principles symbolized by, each of the candles: umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity) and imani (faith.)

"I like to say that the kinara represents the body," O'Connor said. "The candles light it up in the same way that the principles of Kwanzaa can illumine the human life."

In her book, The Seven Days of Kwanzaa, Angela Shelf Medearis says that wherever African slaves were sold into slavery - be it the Caribbean, South America or North America - they quickly introduced their customary way of cooking. In the United States, at least four foods entered our national diet this way: okra, sesame seeds (and the oil they produce), black-eyed peas and peanuts.

"Kwanzaa is a time when we stop and remember our past, so this is one night where we always eat traditional black cuisine," said O'Connor. "The feast at my house is always a potluck. People bring whatever they are good at making, and want to share with people."

Though it honors ancient African rituals and recipes, Kwanzaa itself is of fairly recent origin. It emerged, during the mid-1960s, in a time of the civil-rights and black-consciousness movements. These changes inspired a young graduate student in California named Maulana Karenga.

He researched harvest traditions that had occurred for centuries among such African tribes as the Yorubas, Ashantis and Zulus.

"The masterful thing Karenga did was pull together all the various flavors, colors and African rituals; then he institutionalized them into something called Kwanzaa," said Dr. Dwight N. Hopkins, professor of theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School and the author of Heart and Head: Black Theology Past, Present and Future (Palgrave Press, 2002, $26.95). "Karenga also employed a very strategic timing mechanism. Since people were probably going to be off from work the day after Christmas, why not start Kwanzaa then?"

Karamu, or the feast night, also just so happens to fall on Dec. 31, which is the day that celebrates kuumba, or the principle of creativity. So, the dining table becomes filled with colorful African fabrics and artwork, along with the kinara candleholder, a straw mat, ears of corn and a bowl of fresh fruit and vegetables, not to mention all the food, which may include Jolloff rice with chicken, smoked fish, stewed tomatoes, pig's feet, and sweet potato pie.

This desire to embrace African traditions and cuisine, many admit, often comes later in life and frequently is a function of becoming a parent. Many who came of age in the post-civil-rights era now worry that their children may enjoy the benefits of integration and racial equality, but may have lost the sense of what it means to be black. There is widespread agreement, too, that with pop culture's glorification of only certain types of black accomplishment - for example, success as a hip-hop star or a basketball player - Kwanzaa is an important avenue to a more well-rounded history of African-American culture.

Perhaps typical of those who have this sentiment is Harriet Johnson, a social-work supervisor at the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, who is the mother of two: Matthew, 7, and Jaylene, 4.

"I want them to understand the traditions of Kwanzaa, so they'll know they belong to a unique group of people," she said.

The Rev. Dred C. Scott of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Dundalk describes the holiday as a banquet to which all are welcome.

"Kwanzaa may be based on cultural nuances of tribal culture that existed in Africa, but its principles are universal. There's nothing here that would be foreign to any culture. I call it Kwanzaa, some call it the Seder, others think of it as Ramadan - but it's all the same thing. All religions agree we have to pass what's best on."

"By revering our elders, we recognize we didn't get here on our own. We are standing on their shoulders; there are standards to maintain. Bishop Desmond Tutu once said, 'There can be no me without we,' " Scott noted. "During Kwanzaa, that thought echoes and, I hope, will continue to echo."

Behune Sweet Potato Pie

Makes 3 pies

FILLING:

9 medium sweet potatoes or yams (about 4 pounds)

1/3 cup light margarine

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs, well beaten

2 egg whites

2 cups skim milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

CRUSTS:

3 unbaked 9-inch single crusts

Boil sweet potatoes until tender. Peel and mash. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Beat in sweet potatoes until well mixed. Beat in eggs and egg whites. Beat in milk and vanilla slowly. Spoon into 3 unbaked pie shells using about 4 cups of filling per shell.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 60 minutes or until set. Cool to room temperature before serving. Refrigerate leftover pie.

- The Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook (Simon & Schuster, 1994, $13)