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Wow!  Christmas is NEXT WEEK!  How did THAT happen?!

When you're a child, Christmas is a huge part of your year. You look forward to it, you anticipate what presents you might get, and, if you're in my family, you dream about what you might eat that day. For so many, Christmas means a big family meal. Now that I'm older, however, my family is spread out all over the world.  My brother and his family are in England. My parents are in France. I have a few cousins left in Canada, but most of my extended family is either in England or Trinidad. So, I find myself having small, intimate Christmas celebrations with friends and those I love, and I find it all really quite lovely. What makes these celebrations Christmas-y to me is the traditions that I've kept from my childhood along with the traditions that I've created myself.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions when I was a kid was breakfast (go figure!). We weren't allowed to open our presents until my lump-of-a-brother (7 years older than me) would get out of bed, we all showered AND we all had eaten breakfast. When you're only 6 years old that feels like an eternity! My mother would be up hours before all of us (possibly for another good reason that I didn't realize at the time!) making me my favorite breakfast of the year - Accra and Float.  What's "Accra and Float"?  Good question. 

Accra are fried salt cod cakes and the float is a fried bread. It takes some time to make, since you have to soak the salt cod for a few days, make the dough for the float, mix the batter for the Accra, and then you have to fry everything in batches. It's a production, but the result is SO tasty! It's a rib-sticking start to the day! Served up with some hot sauce, it really kicks the day into motion. I didn't make Accra and Float after I left home for many years, but when I did, floods of memories of Christmas morning as a kid came flying back to me. It was very special.  I don't have Accra and Float every Christmas, but when I do...

Frying Accra

Frying Float

Another Christmas tradition, which I didn't start until I was an adult, involves dinner. For several years now, I've started having Osso Bucco (braised veal shanks with lemon zest, garlic and parsley on top) for dinner. The meal braises in the oven all day long and makes the whole house smell so delicious. (You can also make Osso Bucco in the pressure cooker if you don't want to spend all day making it.) I serve it over the traditional risotto Milanese (saffron risotto) and lick up every drop. There's usually some braising liquid left over, which, served with egg noodles makes a great meal the next day when you're in recovery mode! 

The one tradition that I've really come to love the most, however, is taking the dogs for a beautiful walk in the middle of the day. In my perfect Christmas world, there's snow on the ground, the dogs run and roll around (or in Sadie's case, get pulled on a sled!).

This year, I'll probably skip the traditional breakfast and keep the morning simple, perhaps with a mimosa to get started. Then, it will be dog time.  After that... Osso Bucco.  Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Happy Holidays to all of you!

ML