Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you had a wonderful celebration of the reason for the season! 

Christmas is a time for family, whether it’s your own small family unit or a gigantic gathering of all the relatives. It’s about LOVE and LOVE is meant to be shared. For our family, that means having others over who may not have family around to share the day with. We have pretty much been on our own since my husband and I were married, so we have continued this tradition for going on 24 years now.

When my own children were born, we decided (since we were on our own) we needed to create some traditions to fill the void and make it feel special. And so we did. I thought I’d share our families traditions through the holidays. I hope you enjoy as much as we do. 

Christmas Eve: We have done this night with the only variation occurring these past couple of years my daughter sang at the midnight Mass service. This year, however, she was back on the 5 o’clock service so it was back to normal. Every year we dress for Christmas Eve Mass, go to service, come home and have the same meal. Food is an important tradition in this house! Baked Ham, Scalloped Potato, and a green vegetable. This year was creamed spinach (which was amazing) and a garlic-chili broccoli. When my daughters were younger and received presents from relatives, we’d open those presents on christmas eve (santa delivered presents for them to open christmas morning) as they were calling each relative to thank them and wish them a Merry Christmas. It was much less hectic than trying to get ahold of someone on Christmas Day! Every year, as is tradition, every one gets new PJ’s. We then put on our new PJ’s, I make a big batch of hot cocoa, pour it in Santa mugs and we pile in the car to drive around and look at Christmas Lights. Then home to check Norad’s ‘Santa Tracker’, just to be sure Santa had not passed them by. 

Christmas Morning: I have had to change this a bit now that we are gluten free. For years I did Wolfgang Pucks Quiche Lorraine (it’s simply amazing), an Apple-ginger Strudel cake and tropical fruit salad. This year to accommodate my daughters gluten intolerance (and it seems dairy is bothering her now also), I did ham & cheese omelets (cheese optional), a gluten free monkey bread, maple glazed sausage links, and a limoncello fruit salad. It was delish, and I believe it is the new menu going forward! While the food is baking, presents are shared. 

Christmas Day: We open our house up to anyone who feels like swinging by for a cup of cheer and one of my husbands famous Bloody Mary’s. I make a smattering of light appetizers, Stacys dip (see previous post), spinach dip, crudite, various cheese and hard salamis, fruit, and little sweets I’ve made over the holidays, like the butter crunch toffee. One year it was quiet with just another couple who stopped by, other years its packed to the rafters with little room to move.

Christmas Evening: Is the grand finale! Roast Prime Rib Beef, Yorkshire pudding, sautéed green beans, loaded baked potatoes and to top it all off, my mothers famous cherry cheesecake. And then we all fall in to a food coma and watch Christmas movies. Almost always we watch ‘Scrooge’ featuring Albert Finney. (honestly? the best version ever)

New Years Eve: My mother is the one who started this tradition. Being from the west coast and close to Hawaii, on NY’s eve we would always have what she termed as ‘Pu Pu’s’. This is a hawaiian term for a variety of appetizers or small bites. Some years I would do oil, cheese and chocolate fondue, other years it would be a mixture of ribs, rustic bread, and finger veggies. It just all depended upon what I felt like making. Then it would be a leisurely picking all evening long, until the ball dropped and champagne was popped. 

These are our families traditions, which have made this time of year very special to us. The one thing of importance, in my opinion, is to keep perspective of what you can reasonably accomplish, who you want to spend it with, and why you are celebrating in the first place. Christmas is not about the material things, it is a time of joy for those of us who are followers of Christ. It is the celebration of God’s abundant and endless love, proven by His sending of His only Son, born as a human child, to atone for original sin. We no longer are condemned to eternal death and separation, and that is truly a reason to be joyous! New Years is a time to contemplate the past year celebrating both the joys and sorrows, look forward to the new one with all its potential hopes and dreams. 

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas as the joyous birth of Christ, it is a time for everyone to celebrate LOVE. For moms like me, that is expressed through food and fellowship. However you choose to celebrate, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a safe, joyous and yummy New Years Eve.