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!