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Contributor
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎02-16-2023
What are your Christmas traditions?

Mine is having a ham every Christmas (and Thanksgiving and Easter). I also look forward to summer sausages as a Christmastime treat/gift.
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@ijohnbaptiste 

 

My favorite tradition is making Helen Corbett's recipe Turkey with oyster stuffing; Sauterne wine; dressing; LeSeur peas.

oh I forgot...cranberry sauce!

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
Contributor
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎02-16-2023
I do enjoy cranberry sauce. It makes sense, because I love cranberry juice!

Another tradition I enjoy is the winter solstice.
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Registered: ‎05-23-2015

I started making Quiche Lorraine every Christmas Eve. I found the Recipe in the 60's when I was a teenager and it seemed really fancy. Well the family loved it and it became a tradition. Some years later I made the mistake of thinking it was time to try something different, big mistake. My aunt went on and on about how she missed having the quiche. Long story short , on Christmas Day evening I was making pie crust and made the quiche . Mind you, this was after my mom's Christmas dinner, my aunt who I loved ,was kind of a spoiled princess her whole life, but I wish she was still here. The moral of the story is don't Buck tradition. 😹

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Honored Contributor
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Ours have changed a bit over time.  When my mother was alive and she would come up from Florida for a visit we would go out for Chinese food Christmas eve then look at holiday lights.  When we got home we would watch a Christmas movie with home made cookies.

 

Now I still have company every year and I usually make a turkey with the trimmings (we go to sister in laws for Thanksgiving and she does the turkey with all of the trimmings).

 

Now that my brother is living nearby I hope to get him, DH and maybe my son to take a drive to Longwood Gardens.  We arrive late in the afternoon to see the indoor displays then have dinner.  After dinner we walk around to see the gorgeous lights and fountain displays.

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Registered: ‎05-27-2015

@ijohnbaptiste  Our traditions have changed since the children now live 4 and 5 hours away. We now celebrate Christmas with them the week after Christmas so they can do their family celebrations at their homes. It works out well for everyone.

 

One thing that has not changed is finding the pickle on the tree. We've done this for nearly 40 years, first with our children and now with our grandchildren. We hide it the night before we open presents, and the kids look for the pickle after all the presents are opened. The child who finds the pickle gets and extra present - and bragging rights.

 

christmas pickle

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When I taught, we went out for dinner in a hotel that was SO old, the louvered doors were still attached outside the rented br's doors so a "breeze could flow".  We had a baby grandson then and I loved spoiling my DILove.

 

Christmas day, after their Santa, they come over for pastries, breakfast casserole,and Christmas here; Christmas dinner changed to grilled rib eye steak and all of the fixings.  When I did a rib eye roast,, EVERYONE wanted the outside piece, so from then, we grilled steaks!

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Registered: ‎04-28-2010

Re: Christmas traditions

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We have always celebrated on Christmas Eve as a family. Used to be a full meal. Several years ago, we went  to mostly appetizers, snacks and cookies/cheesecake, etc. It used to be just immediate family. Then my dad started inviting some friends without family close by, and some neighbors that were empty nesters, and it was SO much fun.  

 

We missed a couple years with the pandemic, and I hope we do it again.  It was our new tradition, and everyone loved it.  Some then went to midnight mass (slowly changed to 10 pm mass).  It became an earlier night, but then we could do our other families and in laws on Christmas Day.  



 

 

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,164
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: Christmas traditions

[ Edited ]

Traditions have changed somewhat through the years.  When my mother was living, the family would all come together at her house for a big Italian family gathering on Christmas Eve.  Everyone would pitch in and we'd have the Feast of the 7 Fishes.  Since she passed, it's never been quite the same. It's much quieter now.  My brother and his immediate family have moved across country since he retired  It's now only my sister, me and my son and daughter that live close to one another.  

 

I've taken on the role and tradition of making the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners, though it's less elaborate than years gone by. 

 

One tradition we did when we were kids and  still do today is,  during the Christmas holidays, we still get in the car in the evening, drive around and look at some beautiful homes decorated with lovely holiday displays.   

Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change your life!
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Re: Christmas traditions

[ Edited ]

@ciao_bella   We always drove around looking at lights, mainly when we were young kids.  I haven't done that in probably 45 years.  I AM doing it this December!  I love lights.  Growing up, our neighborhood always participated in driveway luminaria's.  It was beautiful.  

Our family and extended family is still fairly small, but I always enjoyed that tradition. Especially as a passenger.