Forums · Christmas Eve/Holiday traditions
A friend and I were talking about this the other day and it piqued my curiousity about what people in other areas do for Christmas Eve/Holiday celebrations.
Here in Southeast Texas, a lot of families have a tradition of serving Mexican food on Christmas Eve, especially tamales. Another popular choice (which we're having this year, Brianna's request) is gumbo. Christmas Day, I usually serve a nice brunch for James' family and visit a few relatives later in the day.
With Brianna's birthday being on Christmas Eve, I've started a tradition of lighting a candle with her in remembrance of her birth mother and mother's everywhere who are missing their children.
So, I'm curious, anyone else have a holiday tradition like a favorite meal or something special you do?
Here in Southeast Texas, a lot of families have a tradition of serving Mexican food on Christmas Eve, especially tamales. Another popular choice (which we're having this year, Brianna's request) is gumbo. Christmas Day, I usually serve a nice brunch for James' family and visit a few relatives later in the day.
With Brianna's birthday being on Christmas Eve, I've started a tradition of lighting a candle with her in remembrance of her birth mother and mother's everywhere who are missing their children.
So, I'm curious, anyone else have a holiday tradition like a favorite meal or something special you do?
Good topic this, Carrie! =)
Interesting you should bring that up... speaking for myself, I'm no great fan of a turkey dinner. So instead, I hugely enjoy a roast lamb dinner with all the trimmings instead =) And that includes brussel sprouts!![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
And of course, somewhere along the 12 days of Christmas, I munch my way through about at least a half dozen mince pies! =)
Hope you had a Merry Christmas too, honey! =)
Interesting you should bring that up... speaking for myself, I'm no great fan of a turkey dinner. So instead, I hugely enjoy a roast lamb dinner with all the trimmings instead =) And that includes brussel sprouts!
And of course, somewhere along the 12 days of Christmas, I munch my way through about at least a half dozen mince pies! =)
Hope you had a Merry Christmas too, honey! =)
Carrie, what a sweet tradition to start for Brianna, lighting the candle in honor of her birth mother, and all mothers whose children are missing, for whatever reason! With her Birthday on Christmas Eve, it is a birthday tradition for her, as well as for Christmas! That is soooo beautiful!
I know that Mexican food is very popular in the Southwest at Christmas. Tamales are a tradition for many, but the gumbo is an interesting break from the usual Christmas fare. YUM!! I love both!
Moonlight, is that roast lamb accompanied with mint jelly? I like lamb chops better than roast lamb, but have never eaten them with brussels sprouts. I'll bet it is good! And mince pie!!! I absolutely LOVE mince pie! But, being diabetic now, the mince is so very sweet, I would have to have a tiny bit at at a time!
One of our family traditions has been a Christmas Heavenly Hash, a fruit salad that we prepare from an old family recipe from my mother's family. It contains apples, celery, pineapple chunks, mandarin orange slices, bananas, maraschino cherries, white grapes, marshmallows and walnuts, covered with a dressing made from mayonaise, whipped cream, sugar, cinnamon, a touch of cloves, vanilla, and almond extract or brandy. This salad has the cherries cut into halves, all except one, which is left whole. Whoever gets the whole cherry will have extra good luck in the New Year. =) The salad is delicious for several days afterwards, so we make it in a huge quantity! (This is also a dish with lots of sugar, but I discovered on the net that there are actually sugar-free marshmallows out there! They were not available quickly enough for me this year... but next year, you can bet I'll be using them for my own lower sugar salad !)
This fruit salad is served with either a traditional turkey dinner with cornbread stuffing and all the trimmings, or we will often choose a beef prime rib roast with baked potatoes and veggies. (since we have just had turkey on Thanksgiving). Our pie of choice in recent years is a double layer pumpkin and cream cheese in a cookie crumb crust of either ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, or graham crackers. The version I use is no-bake, so it frees up the oven for other baked goodies!
Our Christmas tree has always been of importance to us, and decorating it is an exercise in design. This year, it is done in sparkling blue and silver, with a large clear- jeweled star. Another thing that we do is use the "chasing" mini lights on the Christmas tree, a set that has several flashing patterns that can be set on "random", and then we play Christmas music... and the tree becomes a magical light show... and we sit in amazement at how the lights follow the music. It is enough to give us goosebumps, as it amazingly follows the music in tempo and intensity. Crescendos are very bright and very active!! <<This only works with the type of lights with a setting to allow them to flash in random patterns.>> The lights we used this year have 16 patterns, and the random result was absolutely mesmerizing. The set with 8 patterns we used in years before did the same thing. We don't know how it works, or why, but it is truly a magical Christmas experience!
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
Mare
I know that Mexican food is very popular in the Southwest at Christmas. Tamales are a tradition for many, but the gumbo is an interesting break from the usual Christmas fare. YUM!! I love both!
Moonlight, is that roast lamb accompanied with mint jelly? I like lamb chops better than roast lamb, but have never eaten them with brussels sprouts. I'll bet it is good! And mince pie!!! I absolutely LOVE mince pie! But, being diabetic now, the mince is so very sweet, I would have to have a tiny bit at at a time!
One of our family traditions has been a Christmas Heavenly Hash, a fruit salad that we prepare from an old family recipe from my mother's family. It contains apples, celery, pineapple chunks, mandarin orange slices, bananas, maraschino cherries, white grapes, marshmallows and walnuts, covered with a dressing made from mayonaise, whipped cream, sugar, cinnamon, a touch of cloves, vanilla, and almond extract or brandy. This salad has the cherries cut into halves, all except one, which is left whole. Whoever gets the whole cherry will have extra good luck in the New Year. =) The salad is delicious for several days afterwards, so we make it in a huge quantity! (This is also a dish with lots of sugar, but I discovered on the net that there are actually sugar-free marshmallows out there! They were not available quickly enough for me this year... but next year, you can bet I'll be using them for my own lower sugar salad !)
This fruit salad is served with either a traditional turkey dinner with cornbread stuffing and all the trimmings, or we will often choose a beef prime rib roast with baked potatoes and veggies. (since we have just had turkey on Thanksgiving). Our pie of choice in recent years is a double layer pumpkin and cream cheese in a cookie crumb crust of either ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, or graham crackers. The version I use is no-bake, so it frees up the oven for other baked goodies!
Our Christmas tree has always been of importance to us, and decorating it is an exercise in design. This year, it is done in sparkling blue and silver, with a large clear- jeweled star. Another thing that we do is use the "chasing" mini lights on the Christmas tree, a set that has several flashing patterns that can be set on "random", and then we play Christmas music... and the tree becomes a magical light show... and we sit in amazement at how the lights follow the music. It is enough to give us goosebumps, as it amazingly follows the music in tempo and intensity. Crescendos are very bright and very active!! <<This only works with the type of lights with a setting to allow them to flash in random patterns.>> The lights we used this year have 16 patterns, and the random result was absolutely mesmerizing. The set with 8 patterns we used in years before did the same thing. We don't know how it works, or why, but it is truly a magical Christmas experience!
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
Mare