Traditions: Food

I'm thinking by what I hear from others that the traditions we have surrounding food is...hmm, over the top? Maybe not, but we certainly have quite a few.

One is our cookies. We start with gingerbread, which we always make the day after Thanksgiving. It's a big deal - takes hours between mixing the dough, rolling it out and cutting them with cookie cutters, and then elaborate decor with sprinkles and icing. We have everything from traditional Christmas trees to "Walmart wreaths" (which are blue with yellow smiley faces).

After that, it's a first-come-first-bake as far as who makes the other cookies. In New Hampshire, our pastor's kids would come over to help us dip pretzels in almond bark (and make a mess). Now it's not quite so much fun. There are Surprise cookies, Sandies, Spritz (my favorite!), coconut ball, peanut butter balls and fudge. Enough cookies to feed an army...

Then is our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This comes from dad's side of the family, but we're not quite so German, thanks to Mom's Scottish side, so we leave out the pickled herring and raw meats of every kind. But we do have cold cuts of bologna, salami, ham, turkey and roast beef. Cheeses if all sorts: cheddar, pepperjack, horseradish cheddar, provolone and swiss. A relish tray, assorted crackers, cheese balls, sausage balls, little wieners, a couple of breads/rolls and deviled eggs. As you can imagine, for all it's simplicity, this is our most expensive meal of the year.

Then comes Christmas dinner. Some years we have turkey and some years we have ham. (I think mom would have Country Ham if she could get it - just have a jug of water handy.) Depending on what meat is served, the side dishes follow suit. So we could have stuffing and sweat potatoes, or we could could have a potato casserole and rolls. We almost always have cranberry sauce and green bean casserole.

Jesus's birthday cake is always dessert. When we were kids, this was a simple cake (vanilla or chocolate), iced and saying "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" Now it is quite elaborate, depending on who makes it (which tends to be either Sally or Abby). Last year was gingerbread/chocolate which was three layers with spiced icing - straight from Southern Living. Not sure what it will be this year. However, there is one tradition we always follow: each of us gets a candle on their slice to blow out after we sing "Happy Birthday". And don't ask me how this tradition got started, but we try to light all the candles with one match: passing it from person to person all the way around the table.

Of course there is also eggnog to be found in the refrigerator. And Dad is always cracking nuts. There are candy canes...and there tends to be assorted cookies and baked goods (especially the latter now that all 5 siblings that live in IN work in a bakery) all over the kitchen cabinets. So, there's a lot of nibbling throughout the season...and a lot of running afterwards.