What are your holiday food traditions?(weird & wonderful)

[QueenBea]

I also forgot to mention that my dad was always gone for the first couple of hours of the "Reveillon" because he would be delivering candy canes in the neighborhood. Our last name is Noel so all the kids thought my Dad was Santa. Which is "Pere Noel" in French

[HeatherFeather]

Yes, we are catholic. Santa brought one or two gifts on Christmas morning for the kids, but gifts from family members, grandparents, etc....were all opened with everyone present after we all had a huge Christmas Eve dinner.

We do this too. Family presents were exchanged (at least some were anyway, Mom liked to save a few family gifts for Christmas morning too) on Christmas Eve. Santa was always the morning.

[Kchurchill5]

Growing up in MI:
Spent the Holidays up at our second home in Northern MI

Christmas Eve - Skied in the morning; then for dinner ... ham, potato salad, baked beans, a relish tray (pickles, olives, pickled herring), cheese and crackers. Dessert, usually a mix of cookies and other small individual desserts.
Open 1/2 the presents, then coffee, dessert; then the other 1/2 of the presents. Then a movie.

Christmas Day - Basically turkey day all over again; but a smaller / lighter version. Looked over all our presents again, went ice skating, or snowmobiling. Dinner was just like any other day. Watched football, movies, played pinochle, etc.

New Years Eve - Skied all day. Neighbors over, pot of chili, corn bread; wine, beer and a few appies. Usually cheese/crackers, pickled herring, shrimp, smoked salmon, olives, etc. Simple classic appies. Played pinochle and beer for the new year. NO champagne drinkers.

New Years Day - Skied all day, skated, or snowmobile. Ham again, but we usually had it as sandwiches (always on a sandwich roll with homemade mustard and the basic toppings). Mom did mac and cheese or scalloped potatoes; sometimes a homemade 3 bean salad. And, we snacked on cheese crackers, any leftovers, herring, salmon, etc. Very casual. Watched sports, played cards, etc.

FL from age 21 on:

Christmas Eve - We either did our classic ham, spud salad (same as MI); or we did change to surf and turf (FL style). Lobster tails or stone crab; filet mignon on the grill; shrimp; and plenty of a blue crab dip; Also had a mango rum cocktail. It varied a bit from year to year. But otherwise it was pretty much the same.

However, I got married, so my DH and I would go to Mom's house. A couple of years I did Xmas Eve. But in the morning, instead of snow skiing, we went fishing or water skiing.

Christmas Day - We spent with his parents. I hated it!! An ALL DAY EVENT.
Breakfast at 7am. Ham, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, juice, coffee, etc. I was so full I couldn't move.
Then, we had to wait for his brother to arrive and they had NO sense of time; and were totally lazy.
Around 11 or 12 they finally came, still in their PJ's. MORE presents to open, and MORE FOOD on the table. Cheese, crackers, sausage bites, spinach dip, crab dip, etc. FOOD COMA!!
Then football outside, how could anyone move all that food. Beer and more beer.
Then a 4pm dinner. Thanksgiving++ and more beer
Football on TV and then A Wonderful Life, and more beer

New Years Eve - If my husband didn't work, usually we were invited to a friends - NOTHING fancy; but, being a cop he worked.
I was in the food business, so I usually worked too.

New Years Day - Either just me and hubby and son; or we went to my Moms. Hubby sometimes worked. We fished or water skied; then a pot of chili. Classic chili, corn bread; and I usually made a few appies. But simple things; cheese/crackers, dip, smoked salmon, shrimp, etc.
If we went to Mom's she did a ham dinner like we used to have in MI. Spud salad, baked beans, asparagus, etc.
-------------------------------------------
So, I have to admit. Our meals were pretty classic, nothing too fancy or special.


One thing I did do every year was a Holiday Dinner. When married with both my DH family, Brother and SIL. After divorced, it was just my family.

And it was fancy, crown roast, or prime rib; with all the fancy trimmings. Every year it was different.

Old Bay Steamed Shrimp (served cold), pickled herring w/ritz crackers, dried beef creamed cheese ball with crackers, and smoked salmon were a must if I had my family over for dinner. That didn't change no matter what.
Boujalais for Gramps; and Burgundy for Dad

[Mary]

Growing up, our Christmas dinner was always on Christmas eve and presents were always on Christmas morning. First we rushed to our stockings, where there were small presents/toys to keep us busy until breakfast -- basically eggs,ham or bacon, toast, milk and juice. Then on to the presents from Santa, his elves, and family. The rest of the day is dim in my memory, but I know it was informal and planned to keep the cooks out of the kitchen. Probably a reprise of Christmas dinner in disguise! During the afternoon, we visited relatives all over the city to celebrate the season.

Christmas dinner itself was a turkey some years and a ham others. Occasionally it was a beef roast (I'm guessing that was when prices were good). Today, we have moved Christmas dinner to the weekend closest to Christmas so that everyone can come and always have a rib roast and Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, a green vegetable, fruit salad, and whatever dessert is most requested.

On Christmas day, there will be a serve yourself continental breakfast with breads and fruit with separate dishes of bacon/sausage/ham and a veritable wish list of drinks: hot spiced apple cider, coffee, hot tea, juices, milk, and bloody Marys or screwdrivers or mimosas. Snacks are around all day -- cereal mix, popcorn, dips, spreads, cheeses, olives, and crudities, basically things that will not wilt in time and will continue the now honored tradition of keeping the cooks out of the kitchen. As the dinner hour approaches, the whole family moves to the kitchen to dish up a big bowl of Louisiana Red Beans and Rice (where the beans are cooked ahead with ham and sausage and slowly reheated until time to cook fresh rice for the bowls) garnished with cheese, green onions, and a cornbread side.

Everything is make-ahead except the rice, and I can't explain why this is not done ahead also -- we just never have. All the "cooks" do is set things out and sit back to enjoy. The clean up detail is a hilarious drill run by the guys, who have never had so much fun. They carry, package up, stack, clean, and empty the trash while joking, singing, telling jokes and having a high old time.

On the side, I wanted to share a difference from other families that I noticed as my children grew up. We open each present separately so that the giver can enjoy the giving as much as the one receiving the gift. This meant that our children were not ready to play as soon as their friends who open all their gifts at once, but our Christmas was always fun and full of laughter. Gift cards often contain a clue to the gift (more obvious clues for the young and often very difficult clues for the adults), and my favorite clues are written on a series of cards hidden around the house, creating a scavenger hunt of sorts. The latter clues work wonderfully for those huge gifts that are impossible to wrap or hide (such as computers and bicycles). We also have handmade gifts and gifts of time under the tree each year -- from homemade soap on a rope, to potpourri, to I-O-U booklets for special treats (babysitting, a car wash, a special meal or dish, a shopping trip). The kids (of all ages) love to make these and see them opened.

Does anyone have any gifting traditions to share? Should I start a separate topic?

[Kchurchill5]

Gifting ... Not much here.
When married and I had my pre-Christmas Holiday Party, I always made a tin of cookies for them. Rum Balls, my hard candy, and a couple of others.

Not much else.

I did always share some cookies and beer cheese with neighbors and take plates to work ... is that gifting. I did lots of that during December.

[Denise]

Christmas Eve - we've been doing appetizers for almost 20 years. I make a large variety, we all LOVE that. Everyone has their favorite that I make for them. I always try a new white wine. Papa has Crown & Coke, his treat for Cmas Fire in the fireplace - will never forget the day Papa came home and forgot to open the damper When we were home with the kids, we all opened gifts together on Cmas Eve. And of course, a new pair of jams and slippers.

Cmas Day - LAZY. Get up, have coffee. Open gifts, more coffee. Usually a breakfast casserole. Play with all our new goods Dinner varies from year to year. I prefer to make a beef tenderloin, but it is so crazy expensive, we've done prime rib a couple of years. I think we will be grilling a prime rib this year.

[Mysterygirl]

Its just me now but when my husband and daughter were alive we would do a big traditional Thanksgiving with turkey and all of the fixings. Christmas I would do something special but never turkey or ham. One year I did prime rib, another a crown pork roast and one year I did a big seafood feast. And my daughter didn't think it was Christmas unless I made her some candied orange peel. New Years was another special food day since my husband came from the American south so we always had black eyed peas with collard greens.

There won't be any more big feasts now so at Christmas I did a lobster bisque and a salad of mixed greens with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and craisins with a lemon-maple vinaigrette. It was simple but pleasant.

[Kchurchill5]

Christmas sounds delish!

[LindasBusyKitchen]

Christmas Eve was always a special time for my family when we were growing up. We would play board games with the family, 1 brother, 2 sisters, mom, dad, gram and I, and watch Christmas Specials on TV. We munched out on appetizers, usually dips and chips, cheese ball and crackers, and my gram's famous fudge. There were lots of Christmas cookies, fudge and candy also.

Once we were settled and watching TV we would ask our mom and dad if we could open "one" present and we sat under the tree and picked out one that we wanted to open. We opened them and then had fun with whatever it was. We were so excited to see what they were and to have something special to play with, or wear (pajamas, robes, slippers etc)

On Christmas morning whoever woke up first, and it was between 4-5am, woke everyone else up and we all gathered around the tree. My mom always put on Christmas music and then we would pick out a designated person to pass out the gifts. Gifts were passed out one at a time, so that we got to see what everyone got and who it was from... This was a lot of fun as you waited with anticipation of what was to come. When the first gift was opened it was on to the next person, then the next, until everyone had a present, then back to the first person and so forth till all the presents were opened.

Then it was time for breakfast, which was usually homemade muffins and hot chocolate, because we all loved them. Sometimes we had a traditional breakfast of eggs, toast, homefries, bacon/sausage etc.

After opening the gifts:
My mom and gram were busy in the kitchen either preparing Christmas dinner with either (turkey/roast/prime rib with mashed potatoes, stuffing, coleslaw, butternut squash, several other veggies, stuffed celery, olive and pickle tray, hot rolls and drinks, OR we were getting things ready to go to my Grandparents or aunts and uncles house for a huge family dinner, where the whole family (30+) gathered to open family gifts and have dinner together. It was always a fun time with lots of food, fun and laughter. Before and after dinner we spent the day with our family talking, laughing, and eating homemade appetizers, cookies, fudge, candy etc. and then would come home, or the company that came to our house would leave, and we would sit around playing with our toys and watching TV together once again. Such great memories...

When my kids were little I continued the tradition of Christmas music playing as we opened our gifts and the passing out of the gifts one at a time, and we still do that today. It stretched out our time together under the tree and we loved that!