Holiday Food Traditions

As creative as my extended family is, we seldom vary the food we eat for holidays. Oh, sure -- we alter the peripheral parts of the holiday meals, but the core traditions stick. I venture to guess you have some food traditions, too.

When I was a child, my family always spent Christmas Eve at my Uncle Dick and Aunt Susan’s home, eating, eating, eating the night away. It was so fun to see the gobs of gourmet dishes that graced their dining room table each year. Perennial favorites were my mom’s Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts, my aunt’s Meatballs, Shrimp Cocktail, and more.

My contribution, beginning around my middle-school years, was a Yule Log, or Buche de Noel. This tradition began as my interest in all things French was piqued by my first foreign language class. Since then, I have created this rich confection of lemon sponge cake and chocolate butter cream frosting many, many times.

Now that we live in Columbus, we have celebrated the last two Christmas Eves with my mom’s brother and his family. The mushroom soup and bread (called “baboike” by our family, but if anyone knows the correct spelling, please do tell!) that we share on Christmas Eve is a tradition that has been passed down from our family’s East European roots.

Christmas Day for my family has always called for a ham, but when SPH and I spent our first Christmas together with his family, we celebrated with duck and seafood.

I could go on and on ... but my point is this: We all have such wonderful holiday food traditions, it has left me wondering…

What is your favorite holiday food tradition?

SPC

Tags