Traditions

Although traditions in my family have changed over the past 15 years...I still have a few of my Christmas favorites.  Cooking with my mom and Laine (well, Laine is more of an onlooker) in the kitchen is one of my absolute favorite traditions.  Whether we are cooking Christmas lunch, juicing thousands of grapefruits and oranges, making breakfast, or cookies and chex mix...I love being in the kitchen with my mom helping out.  Since she and Pat have been married the smell of almond cookies baking in the oven remind me of Christmas.  One thing that she use to make that I miss?  Some cookie/drop type things that had peanuts and marshmallows with melted chocolate.  Mmm... This year, we were fortunate enough to have Granny in the kitchen with us and she made these peanut, marshmallow, peanut butter, rice krispy, and white chocolate drops.  They were quite delicious and ran a close second to moms treats.  

We always have breakfast for dinner the night we put up the Christmas tree, we have an extensive Christmas brunch before opening presents Christmas morning at moms, and lottery tickets seem to always adorn our stockings at dads.  

Traditions that I miss?  Uncle Rick's Christmas Eve presents, putting out milk and cookies for Santa, my yearly call from "Santa Claus" while the family was seated around the dinner table one random night in December, the Christmas village being out every year, spending some Christmases in Natchez, MS...things change, and I have accepted that, but nothing will change my feelings towards such wonderful and fond memories.  

My favorite Christmas tradition?  It has been tweaked a bit over the past 15 years, but, Christmas Eve at Mimi's house is my favorite Christmas tradition.  We don't congregate for meals at her house anymore during the year, and Christmas Eve is the one night that my Aunt Janie and I just can't let go of.  We go to church at 6, a quick candlelight communion service, then its back to Mimi's to warm up dinner, scratch off our lottery card place settings, fill ourselves til were stuffed, gather around the tree in the living room and open presents.  I can't remember a Christmas Eve that didn't last until at least 10 pm.  It's warm and inviting and I love the fact that we can all sit around one table and just be with each other for such a special evening.

The past two years in France I have was able to create and share traditions of the French culture.  Some were very similar to ours, such as having Santa Claus come and leave lots of toys for the children, except we left our shoes out instead of stockings.  Christmas Eve dinner, or Le Reveillon, was an extensive 7 course dinner with the 13 traditional Provençal desserts to follow.  La Pastorale two years in a row...as well as the Marché du Gros Souper with Didou, meeting all of her friends and grabbing up lots of fougasse and foie gras.  If you have kept up with my blogging for any amount of time, you know that Christmas in Provence is an event within itself!

This year, we are squeezing in a special Christmas Eve lunch at Ginny's house because literally everyone will be there for the holidays.  Even though Laine and I won't be spending all day, I am so glad to be able to spend some time with Kerry, Jamie, new baby Asher, (amongst plenty of wonderful others) and Grandma Ginny on such a special day out of the year!

Each family has their own traditions, and each are unique and special in their own way.  Different cultures and countries do things differently in a million different time zones.  I am so incredibly lucky to be able to call this one..my own.