I don't have a lot of Christmas food traditions. Actually there is only one specific food that I have made every year of our whole marriage: sugar cookie cut-outs with frosting and sprinkles. When I was a little girl, my grandma would make hundreds of sugar cookies in various shapes and sizes and all the grandkids would come over and decorate them. We'd get to eat a few (they were delicious!!!) and then she'd hide them until Christmas day. when she'd put them out on the dessert table. In the meantime, I looked every year for them and never found them. About 17 years ago she told me she locked them in the trunk of her car! Hahaha!
Anyway, I make them every year-starting with our 1st Christmas in Slovakia. (Yes, I make star shaped ones to carry on my star theme.) As my boys have gotten older, we've had cookie decorating parties where they invite friends over and decorate the cookies and watch a Christmas movie. I make dozens! And then every year we package them up and deliver them to our neighbors. Well, we eat a lot too!
Another Christmas food tradition that we have is on Christmas Eve: we eat out! I love this tradition. We get dressed nice, go to church (if our church has a service) or in WA we went to Snowflake Lane or Candy Cane Lane and then out to dinner somewhere nicer than we'd normally go with all 4 kids on any other night. And then I get to come home to a clean kitchen!
Christmas Breakfast: I'm not a big fan of breakfast food so I was a little shocked that Jesse wanted to have breakfast BEFORE presents on Christmas morning. So I would buy pre-made cinnamon roll dough and bake them once I got up. Or he would make eggs. Whatever. But a few years ago, Jesse's mom started making homemade cinnamon rolls in the shape of a wreath and sausage rolls in the shape of a Christmas tree and dropping it off at our house on Christmas Eve for us to bake on Christmas morning. They taste amazing and are so cute! Unfortunately, she's in WA and we're in SD now so I'll have to make them myself. (Well, I'm going to start with the sausage rolls...the cinnamon rolls might go back to the pre-made dough kind.)
While we eat breakfast as a family, we read the birth story. We talk about whose birthday it is and what we're about to celebrate with the presents and then pray for the day. I love how the focus isn't on presents ASAP on Christmas morning but about Jesus and family time first. And breakfast.
Birthday cake: This is a new tradition. We will have a birthday cake at Christmas lunch or dinner to celebrate Jesus' birthday. This year I am going to order a cute one from a bakery that says "Happy Birthday Jesus!"
I googled it to get some ideas. Here are a couple I found:
Ummmm....ya, I'm still looking... :)
So, what are YOUR food traditions?
4 comments:
I usually make cinnamon rolls too. I make the dough in my bread machine (very easy!) and then get them ready the day before so all I need to do in the morning is let them rise and pop them in the oven.
My other tradition is learning how to make the First Ladies Christmas cookies. This started a few years ago. Mrs. Bush's recipe for Christmas Cowboy Cookies is to die for. This year I'll add Mrs. Obama's...and so on. When I'm an old lady, I'll have perfected maybe a dozen First Ladies' cookies.
Um, yeah, #1 looks Catholic (unless that's what you are going for?) and #2 sounds sacrilegious. I'm just sayin'. :)
Ok, speaking of "Snowflake/Candy Cane Lane" - now that you are a North SD County gal, we MUST introduce you to Christmas Card Lane!!! Have you heard of it yet? It's in Rancho Penasquitos off the 56 fairly close to you. It's awesome. I can give you directions and the street name if you are interested. We go every year. It's a different sort of "Christmas Light" neighborhood than normal... I'm sure you can imagine based on the name. Music playing, families outside around little fire pits, hot cocoa being served by others... It's great.
Food Traditions. Last year my oven had broken (boo), so I had to come up woth a bunch of no-bake recipes for my neighboors (I really really REALLY had it set in my mind to bless them since we never ever talk [shame] and I wanted to get Jesus's name and love out, ya know?) Anyway, I came up with star rice krispee treats, white chockolate/peppermint "hay stacks," and no-bake peanut butter/chocolate balls. Mmmm. Sp, that is a tradition I plan on continuing... Then there is my grandma's ham recipe with brown sugar, mustard, cloves... She has been gone for 9 years, but we still use it in honor of her.
We also have a Norwegian "cake" made of a tower of rings called "kransekake" during one of our Christmas celebrations... man, I could go on! SO I'll stop now!!! You make ME wanna blog about my traditions! Love you, girl!
How awesome, Sara! Did you just google their recipes?
Vanessa, PLEASE blog about it! And let's go together!!! Come over for dinner first!
We do cinnamon rolls too - Cinnabon Style though. This year we are combining traditions we have heard and we are going to bring the kids into our room before going downstairs to 1) Read Luke 2 2) sing happy birthday to Jesus (with candle in Cinnabon) then 3) share one as a family for a little breakfast in bed. Angie, thanks for posting your traditions - keep them coming. I still have you post from the old member's site saved about christmas traditions.
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