How do you and yours celebrate Christmas? (1 Viewer)

[ShaneMan]

I thought it might be kind of cool for folks to share how Christmas goes in their families. Any family traditions? Anyones house that you always go to? Some of your favorite memories? Anything special or different happening this year.

P.S. If this is too cheesy then feel free to ignore this post.

 

[Sum Guy]

Christmas Eve the wife and I have a special dinner (my turn to cook this year).

Christmas Day is reserved for family.

Boxing Day we have all of our friends over. We share the Christmas leftovers and a few extras.

 

[ColinEssex]

The worst thing you can do is visit families. It's always stressful.

We do bugger-all, cook a pork joint (turkey is crap) ring family and watch telly, although there's too much religious claptrap on TV, obviously that gets switched off.

Anyway, as it's a pagan festival and not really a religious one, so it's nice to see all the decorated trees and lights.

Col

 

[GaryPanic]

Chrstmas day - the family take turns in who cooks dinner
After dinner - board games telly is turn off.
family interaction -

boxing day is a rest day

 

[Rabbie]

Christmas Eve. We have a traditional Swedish Christmas Meal (My wife is Swedish) in the evening with a few invited friends.

Christmas Day. Day time open presents at about 11:00 after horses have been mucked out etc. In the evening go to friens for a traditional English Christmas meal.

Boxing Day. Watch the racing from Kempton in the afternoon.

 

[BarryMK]

Christmas Eve - a quiet night in just the two of us and a bottle of good wine with dinner.

Christmas day, this year my stepdaughter and her fiance have invited themselves so we'll rise late, I'll cook a proper English breakfast and we'll crack a bottle of bubbly when the kids arrive then exchange and open our presents.

Drinks, nibbles and smoked salmon as required during the afternoon.

The boss ( a cordon bleu and professionally trained chef) will be roasting a goose with all the trimmings and we'll sit down to eat around 6 in the evening. A toast to those loved ones gone but never forgotten and we'll have more good red wine with my favourite Brown Brothers Muscat and Flora served very chilled with the pudding and I'll open a bottle of vintage port (courtesy of my wife's late father) for after the meal. Hicc!

Retire later to the sitting room and a comfy sofa. and snooze while the ladies discuss wedding plans yet again.....
Happy days

 

[pono1]

I work a half day Christmas Eve after which I will attempt to persuade my wife to go on a walk. She will refuse. Ultimately we will make calls to family and then prepare a special dinner (Cornish hen this year) and drink some wine and then my wife will head off to bed early (she works Christmas Day) while I will drink a bit more wine and maybe post something silly on the Watercooler.

 

[ColinEssex]

Why does Dec 25th have to be ruined by the intrusion of religion?

Col

 

[BarryMK]

Why does Dec 25th have to be ruined by the intrusion of religion?

Col

'ang on Col, didn't you mention somewhere that Christmas had been hijacked from the pagans? Isn't paganism a religion?

I reckon if people wish to believe in what we consider to be fairy tales, as long as they live with goodwill toward their fellow men then let them do so. The others can all go hang.

And it's Bah humbug! from him and it's Bah humbug! from me.

 

[sandy6078]

This Saturday - My husbands family Christmas. Huge ordeal he has 9 living brothers and sisters. Approximately 75 people will attend we have to rent a hall. I will endure it with some sort of mood altering liquid.

Christmas Eve - gather at my parent's house (dad is gone now) with my brother and sister and all the family. Our traditional dinner is Lasagna, ham and every kind of appetizer and goody and liquid beverage you could think of. The house is crowded and noisy but I would not miss it for the world.

Christmas Day - My son and his children and my oldest daughter and her fiancee will come join my husband our youngest daughter and youngest son for a Christamas breafast of a breakfast cassarole and sweet rolls and we open gifts. Later in the day we will go back to go back to my Mom's house for a late lunch so that she is not alone on Christmas day. In the afternoon we will go home and play games or snooze around the television.

 

[rainman89]

...a breakfast cassarole ...

whats with the cassarole? my mom does the same thing. dont like it at all

christmas eve... go to dad's sisters

christmas day.... moms whole side comes over. big party lots of drinks and laughs

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone and thanks for all the help over the past year

 

[sandy6078]

Well this year I think I'll make chorizo with potatoes and tortillas and of course salsa. Yummy.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Christmas Eve we visit some friends in St. Rose Louisiana, a bit upriver from us. They participate in the Cajun "Papa Noel Bonfire" tradition. Every participant builds a tall pyramid of wood and fills the pyramid with scrap wood. (Some people save up all their scrap wood from construction for a whole year.) Then, about one hour after sundown, they light it. The tradition of the bonfires is to light the way for Papa Noel to find his way since otherwise that part of the river is fairly dark.

Our hosts cook up a Christmas gumbo and lots of rice. The gumbo is a "true" Cajun gumbo in that it is a "whatever was in the freezer" concoction. You will find duck, chicken, andouille sausage, venison, alligator, ... whatever was there. Spiced to true Cajun taste - which is to say if you take TOO big a bite it will blow your lips off. (That's why you NEED the rice. Disperses the flavor.)

Christmas Day - our house with the wife's kids from the first marriage. Also the grandkids. We exchange presents. Wifey, the kids, and my mother-in-law each cook up something special vis-a-vis "pot luck." This year, our menu will include a SMALL turkey and a baked ham. I know some folks don't like turkey but I wonder if its just because no one ever told you how to cook it right? Oh, well, it's an acquired taste I guess.

After the meal, we sit around and chat. My stepson will be watching the TV for any of the college bowl games. Since I have a big-screen Sony, he likes our house much better now than before. The older grandson and I will play card games. He's 12 and into that now. The younger grandson (13 months) will either play with my wife or will take a nap. (His grandma might join him in the nap.)

Day after Christmas we have one more round of presents (very small ones) as a way to get family to visit one more time. And they help eat up the leftovers.

This year we will be scaling back on our food contributions because wifey's back is not so good. Aftermath of a car crash. We're suing the various insurance companies over loss of quality of life and other such things. So wifey will cook this year for a regiment, not her usual pile of enough food to feed the whole army division.

Somewhere in there, we'll probably watch a couple of new DVDs on the big screen system with the surround sound setup. And promptly go to sleep during the movies. Ah, tradition!

 

[Rich]

I'll be consuming copious amounts of wine to prevent a headache brought on by the kid's excitement

 

[Rich]

Christmas Eve we visit some friends in St. Rose Louisiana, a bit upriver from us. They participate in the Cajun "Papa Noel Bonfire" tradition. Every participant builds a tall pyramid of wood and fills the pyramid with scrap wood. (Some people save up all their scrap wood from construction for a whole year.) Then, about one hour after sundown, they light it. The tradition of the bonfires is to light the way for Papa Noel to find his way since otherwise that part of the river is fairly dark.

Will you be roasting your nuts in front of said fire?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Usually I toast my buns near the fire.

 

[Rich]

Usually I toast my buns near the fire.

prefer the other option myself

 

[Brianwarnock]

The boss ( a cordon bleu and professionally trained chef) will be roasting a goose with all the trimmings and we'll sit down to eat around 6 in the evening. Happy days

Barry I appear to have mislaid your address, could you PM me please as I'm partial to a good goose.

Brian

 

[ShaneMan]

The worst thing you can do is visit families. It's always stressful.

We do bugger-all, cook a pork joint (turkey is crap) ring family and watch telly, although there's too much religious claptrap on TV, obviously that gets switched off.

Anyway, as it's a pagan festival and not really a religious one, so it's nice to see all the decorated trees and lights.

Col

............Scooge

 

[ShaneMan]

Christmas Eve we visit some friends in St. Rose Louisiana, a bit upriver from us. They participate in the Cajun "Papa Noel Bonfire" tradition. Every participant builds a tall pyramid of wood and fills the pyramid with scrap wood. (Some people save up all their scrap wood from construction for a whole year.) Then, about one hour after sundown, they light it. The tradition of the bonfires is to light the way for Papa Noel to find his way since otherwise that part of the river is fairly dark.

Our hosts cook up a Christmas gumbo and lots of rice. The gumbo is a "true" Cajun gumbo in that it is a "whatever was in the freezer" concoction. You will find duck, chicken, andouille sausage, venison, alligator, ... whatever was there. Spiced to true Cajun taste - which is to say if you take TOO big a bite it will blow your lips off. (That's why you NEED the rice. Disperses the flavor.)

Christmas Day - our house with the wife's kids from the first marriage. Also the grandkids. We exchange presents. Wifey, the kids, and my mother-in-law each cook up something special vis-a-vis "pot luck." This year, our menu will include a SMALL turkey and a baked ham. I know some folks don't like turkey but I wonder if its just because no one ever told you how to cook it right? Oh, well, it's an acquired taste I guess.

After the meal, we sit around and chat. My stepson will be watching the TV for any of the college bowl games. Since I have a big-screen Sony, he likes our house much better now than before. The older grandson and I will play card games. He's 12 and into that now. The younger grandson (13 months) will either play with my wife or will take a nap. (His grandma might join him in the nap.)

Day after Christmas we have one more round of presents (very small ones) as a way to get family to visit one more time. And they help eat up the leftovers.

This year we will be scaling back on our food contributions because wifey's back is not so good. Aftermath of a car crash. We're suing the various insurance companies over loss of quality of life and other such things. So wifey will cook this year for a regiment, not her usual pile of enough food to feed the whole army division.

Somewhere in there, we'll probably watch a couple of new DVDs on the big screen system with the surround sound setup. And promptly go to sleep during the movies. Ah, tradition!

Hey DocMan,

Where did ya say this bonfire is? I'm all in when it comes to Cajun cookin' I'll bet ya'll have a blast. My experiences with you Cajun's is you know how to eat and eat great. You laugh alot. Love being around folks who laugh easy. Hope you build many memories.