Dec 23 2008
Christmas Traditions
I am a member of the Etsy Bloggers Team, a group of Etsy shop owners who love to blog. As part of this group I write a monthly Blog Carnival post. The topic I selected for December was Christmas Traditions. In that blog I chose to write about a fond memory of Christmas past. (see http://impawsibletoresist.blogspot.com/2008/12/outside-snow-fell-in-great-clumps-of.html)
This morning I read with interest the Christmas eve or Christmas Day Food and Dinner posting on Daily Dish Recipes (http://cookwithme.today.com/2008/12/23/christmas-eve-or-christmas-day-food-and-dinner/). Readers were invited to write about their Christmas traditions and food choices. This is my response.
Some years ago we decided to take some of the tension out of the night before Christmas by each opening up 1 present. We would have a simple family feast and then off to bed for my daughter. My mother, the cats and I would remain up finishing gifts, wrapping and assembling as needed. Our feast would be something quick and easy and would be set up buffet style. It usually included sausage rolls, cold meats, little sandwiches, and other finger foods.
Dessert would be shortbread cookies, slices of fruitcake and mince tarts. Again easy to set up and easy to put away and store the leftovers was key here. As crafters we always had projects that still needed to be completed in time for giving so we needed all the seconds we could scrounge.
Christmas morning was always chaos. The stockings were examined first. The remaining presents would be opened next.
Breakfast was one of the few remaining times when we would all sit down to a good old fashioned breakfast. There would be pancakes and bacon, eggs any style, toast and coffee. The plates would be decorated with orange slices. Grapefruit was the first course.
Christmas Day dinner was always the traditional roasted turkey, stuffing, potatoes, turnips, cranberry sauce, salads. Dessert would be fruitcake or christmas pudding, apple, pumpkin, raisin or mincemeat pies.
In between these two giant repasts we would munch away on the contents of our stockings - nuts, fruit and candy. No one counted calories on Christmas Day!
Traditionally we would all gather around to watch the Queen’s address on TV. Then we might put on a movie or watch any specials that we might find airing on the television. Napping was an acceptable indulgence. We crafters would keep on finishing up that one last project.
