topic Re: Holiday Traditions in Kitchen

Holiday Traditions

Luvmysweetiepies — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:12:53 GMT

I wasn't sure where to post this, but with the holidays ahead, what are some of your family traditions that everyone looks forward to...food or otherwise.

For Thanksgiving, after the meal, our "grands" play Thanksgiving Bingo. I purchased the Bingo cards years ago & we use candy corn to fill in the spots. Of course, there's a basket of small prizes for the kids to choose from & everyone gets a prize....they love it!

At Christmas, we hide the Christmas Pickle, outdoors if weather permits & it usually does. The one who finds it gets an extra gift. Holidays are such a special time to share with family & especially with little ones....they get so excited with even small things. I guess we could all take a lesson from that. I know I could!

I'd love to hear what family traditions your families look forward to!

Re: Holiday Traditions

jackthebear — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:17:27 GMT

Hiding the Christmas pickle sounds like hiding the Afikomen during the Passover seder

made me laugh a bit.

The first kid to find it gets a gift.

For us it is Stuffing Balls, if I stopped making them, there would be a riot

Re: Holiday Traditions

Poodlepet2 — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:22:17 GMT

I would love to know about the Christmas Pickle: I have never heard about that before...is it a game from your heritage? We have a similar game we play at Passover. At Passover, all bread and anything with leavening or certain foods has to be out of the house. The parents hide a piece of bread or matzo and they send the kiddies on a hunt to find it. I am so happy you started this thread. I don't remember where I saw it, but somewhere in these forums some British posters were talking about how they celebrated their holidays, and I thought it would be wonderful if we could hear about how other groups celebrate, and of course, share recipes....I have always wanted to know how to roast a goose or cook ripe plantains- all cultures and ethnicities- strolls down memory lane would be fun too. Poodlepet

Re: Holiday Traditions

jackthebear — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:23:42 GMT

I know there are Christmas Pickle glass blown ornaments, not sure of the story behind it

Re: Holiday Traditions

sunshine45 — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:50:21 GMT

the sunday after thanksgiving our christmas holiday begins. we all go to a local home and garden center who has a huge light display and rooms of decorated trees and ornaments and holiday items from around the world to look at and for sale. my mom buys us each a special ornament of our choice for the year and we pick up anything else we may need for decorating. after we are done there we go to have bbq ribs at a local restaurant (by that time we need something other than turkey ).

we hide the christmas pickle.....ours is a tiny glass blown ornament that gets placed on the tree somewhere. whoever finds it gets a $20 bill from my mom.....she is very good at hiding it AND it is only the size of your small toe. gifts go under the tree on christmas eve and the radio plays carols all night long through the house, even after we have gone to bed.

we always have a seafood dinner on christmas eve and play "family games" like pictionary, apples to apples, quelf, and i bought a christmas themed trivia game to play in teams.

christmas day we HAVE to eat breakfast first (and i always make a large breakfast.....eggs, assorted breads/jams/clotted cream/honey, bacon and sausages, hash brown casserole, mimosas, and fresh fruit salad. after that is over we open our gifts. later in the early evening we have an ethnic food feast! after that, games again.

day after christmas......sleep in and leftovers, leftovers, leftovers and possibly some more visitors.

a few days after christmas i am scouring the stores for great deals on holiday lights and decorations and wrapping paper (last year i snagged a dozen boxes of lights for only $1 each!)

new years eve i like it to be nice and quiet.....no big parties, no get togethers, just some peace to reflect on the past year and what may come in the new year. new years eve is not a favorite of mine.

Re: Holiday Traditions

sunshine45 — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:51:09 GMT

christmas pickle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_pickle

Re: Holiday Traditions

Luvmysweetiepies — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:59:07 GMT

Jackthebear, I've never heard of Afikomen...sounds like a wonderful tradition.

Poodlepet, I started this post because I love to hear how others celebrate their traditions.

The Christmas pickle is a blown glass ornament that looks just like a pickle. It's normally placed in the tree & the first child that finds it on Christmas morning gets a gift. It was originally thought to be a German tradition, however, there has been speculation that it may have originated here. My grandparents were German immigrants, so I like to think of it as a German tradition.

Btw, I choose to hide the pickle outdoors, because with 6 "grands", my tree wouldn't be standing if they all went after the pickle!

Thanks, jackthebear & Poodlepet for sharing!

Re: Holiday Traditions

Luvmysweetiepies — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 22:01:57 GMT

Sunshine45, I love the way you celebrate the holiday...what fun! New Years Eve is usually quiet for us, also, unless we babysit so the parents can go out. The hardest part is trying to stay up till midnight!

Thanks for sharing!

Re: Holiday Traditions

Yahooey — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 22:06:38 GMT

I never heard of this pickle. Thank you for sharing. Are there any foods prepared with pickles or this is strictly hide and seek pickle only. If your grands can find this tiny pickle outdoors, I have lost stuff inside my home and it is bigger than a pickle. Send them over.

Re: Holiday Traditions

Luvmysweetiepies — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 22:11:34 GMT

Lol, Yahooey! Believe me, they ALWAYS find the pickle! It's quite competitive. As a matter of fact the same "grand" found it 3 years in a row & the others have decided that's not happening again! Maybe I should send her over to find your lost things!

Re: Holiday Traditions

Mominohio — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 03:04:46 GMT

In the past couple of years, as family has passed on, we get together on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve day for dinner with another small family that has no other living relatives. The mom is my best friend, and our boys are the same age, and we most often go out to eat, visit, then come back to my house for desert and games. It seems more special for both of us to have a bigger group to spend the afternoon with, than just our small families, and we enjoy it and talk about it all year long.

We have some friends who have a wonderful New Year's Eve tradition that I'd like to start. They go out for lunch, then to the bookstore. Everyone in the family gets a new book. They head home and snuggle up near the fire for an evening of reading. Great way to say goodbye to the old year when you aren't the partying type.

Re: Holiday Traditions

Luvmysweetiepies — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 22:44:22 GMT

Love the way you celebrate the holidays, mominohio! I also like the New Year's Eve idea! Thanks for sharing.

Re: Holiday Traditions

Mary Bailey — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 22:58:58 GMT

I love reading the traditions!

My sons used to get Christmas PJs on St Nicholas day. We used to decorate gingerbread houses. DH & I used to make our home a winter wonderland while the boys were sleeping.

I'm going to start the pickle this year with my grandson. He's only 3. I'll make it easy, this first time. MIL used to do the pickle with my sons. I'm also going to try the Elf on the Shelf. I found a hide & seek game after last Christmas.

New Year's Eve is a stay at home, eat Hors d'oeuvres all day, day. I have to work this year.

Re: Holiday Traditions

Luvmysweetiepies — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:07:45 GMT

Mary Bailey, it sounds like we have some things in common. We do the pjs, too, & do the Hors d'oeuvres for Christmas...our family likes that much better than a traditional dinner. Our daughters do the Elf on a Shelf with their children & they love it. I've seen a similar idea using a small stuffed holiday doll demonstrating a kind deed. I thought that was a really neat idea! Hope your grandson enjoys hunting for the Christmas pickle...thanks for sharing!

Re: Holiday Traditions

Poodlepet2 — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:20:16 GMT

I had a good laugh over the Christmas Pickle article: it wasn't the glass pickle that tickled my funny bone- it was the glass ornaments shaped like vegetables!!! I bet they are worth a fortune if you can find them, but just the mental image of hanging a potato or asparagus or kale on your true!!!! Powell, awhile ago, I read an article that said the first Christmas trees were outside of the house-and that people would put food on them in order to.feed the animals. It was an act of being a steward of the land and the wildlife during the harsh winter months. All that being said, it also reminded me of a bowl of wax fruit my mother had on the kitchen counter back in the 60's: she later replaced it with plastic fruit. go figure! Poodlepet