Hello All
I was wondering how you celebrate Christmas. Please describe the food you prepare and your traditions and memories of Christmas past. I would also like to extend a greeting and wish that you all have good health and peace in your lives. Merry Christmas Kilo :newyear:

Originally posted by kilo 6@Nov 29 2005, 09:24 AM
Hello All
* * * * * I was wondering how you celebrate Christmas. Please describe the food you prepare and your traditions and memories of Christmas past. I would also like to extend a greeting and wish that you all have good health and peace in your lives.* * Merry Christmas* Kilo :newyear:
23454


The way I celebrate Christmas depends on whether or not the family is getting together.

If we are going to get together, it usually means we gather at my sister's house and sometimes we have turkey or sometimes ham. Last year I think we had pasta (which im not too keen on though I do like it) and we had pies and such. When we do gather, we also watch either football (which gets boring for me) and or rally racing in Monte Carlo (which I do enjoy watching) or on the rare occasion no sports are being watched, we'll watch It's A Wonderful Life w/ James Stewart.

If we don't get together. I usually go out and find an open restaurant and eat turkey if they have it. Before and after eating, I usually watch some John Wayne movies which i'll do all day.

Other than that, nothing fancy here.

Christmas Eve-- My wife and I are trying to start our own traditions with our kids since they are old enough now to realize what's going on, so we go to the early evening services at our church, come home for a meal with just our family, open our gifts to each other and watch a movie with the entire family. Then Santa comes and the kids get up, open there gifts from the big guy and we hit the road.

Christmas Day---Well being that we live about 1 1/2 hours from our families. We pack up the kids, presents, luggage, hunting gear, dog, and head for our hometown. We start at mine or my wifes families at noon for a dinner, open presents(only after the dishes are done, this gets the kids fired up because they cannot wait to open presents). After we spend time there we head to the other parents house and do it all over again. In between all of that I go hunting for a couple hours for pheasent or coyotes. Then which ever p-lace we finish up at last we stay the night and usually head back home the next day or so.

hi all

we start our christmas by me helping my dad to put up christmas lights at his place durning oct through to the first week of dec. on the 18th we put up our christmas tree (this way all the children know its one week to the day). in previous years mum and i would spend all christmas eve cooking the turkey and ham as well as making all of the salads, till nearly midnight, that we have for dinner normally at night as its too hot to eat any earlier, but for the last couple of years we have been going out for dinner at a local restaurant.

my son gats up christmas day to find the presents from santa on the end of his bed, he then comes and jumps on my bed to show me all that he got really early like 5am after a while and after a play he opens his presents from his other granparents who live interstate, we then have breakie get dressed up in our good clothes (to go out to dinner). we pack all of his gifts up into sacks as well as some daggies (spare clothes) for later phone for a lift normally my dad comes and gets us. once we are at my parents place my son unpacks all of his gifts to show them to mum and dad, we wait for my sister and nephew to arrive have a squiz at my nephews gifts then we all head of out for dinner. once we get back home from dinner we change out of our good clobber into our daggies as they are cooler, then open all of the gifts which are under the tree at my parents place. my brother dosent make it for christmas every year but he follows this as well. the years that my brother makes it i move in with my parents so that his family have the use of my place while he is here.

have a merry christmas but not too merry :lol:

hooroo smokey

Howdy All, and an early MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Christmas around here officially starts the day after thanksgiving, when we haul out all the Christmas decorations and start putting up the tree, and house lights and decorations, and other decorations around the house. Mrs. Colorado starts baking pies, cookies, cakes and making candy around the middle of December, and Christmas carols are almost always playing somewhere in the house. We open presents on Christmas morning, and then usually have a spiral ham along with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, vegetables, rolls, and fruit around noon. Then, after the table is cleared, we set it again, and we set it up buffet style with all sorts of Christmas sweets, and everyone snacks the rest of the day as they come and go. Usually these will include stollen (a German sweet bread), mina nollag (a traditional Irish Christmas cake), russian tea cakes, homemade chocolates, turkish delight, sugar cookies, and bottles of sparkling apple cider and sparkling grape juice, with egg nog in the ice box. We have six grandkids that we adopted (now ages 11-18, all special needs) so they are usually keeping the house hopping with activity until they fall out about 8 or 9, and then it's just Mrs. Colorado and me spending a few hours of quality time together cleaning up and snoring on the couch. I have to say, it's my favorite time of the year.
Merry Christmas All,
Colorado Bob

Well, nowadays as my mother and I take the most celebration in christmas I usually start with putting up outdoor lights and things about the first of november followed by the indoor decorations and tree the end of november.The ritual is I always play the Kenny Rogers & Dolly parton Christmas CD while doing this.

Christmas eve we find outselves alone with our small family here in the west and usually listen to music, take a walk to look at lights or visit some friends/get visited by friends. The food on christmas eve is always just"treats" consisting of a VARIETY of chocolates, chips, and really snacky foods and some drinks... rum, wine, beer etc. Also, everyone opens "A" present, sometime during the evening.

Christmas Day of course is the big feast with turkey and all the trimmings, or in my books I have a "christmas pizza" as I refer to it. Before that we open presents and mess around with our new found "toys".

Then, while everyone is asleep for a nap in the afternoon I am up to normally spend the rest of the day watching countless Duke movies.

-IHW

Christmas has taken a different pace in my family. Almost 4 years ago we lost my father to cancer on Christmas Eve (2001). I am not bitter toward Christmas because of my father, but it is different.

First of all, my brother's birthday is on Christmas eve and we celebrate it with a dinner and birthday presents for him. That is our big meal with a cake and homemade ice cream (yes, I said ice cream in December).

On Christmas morning we gather together and open presents and have salt cured ham and homemade biscuits. After that time my brother and his wife go and visit her family for Christmas. As for me and my mother we sort of straighten up and either watch TV, take a nap, or go visit friends.

Later that evening, we all get together, and play games or visit. Like I said it is very different without my father. This will be the fifth Christmas without him and he is very much in our thoughts at this time. Not sad times but different. We miss him and he made the holiday special.

Not being married or no children, it is a time for reflection at what direction I want to go in the new year, but it is a time for family. I hope and pray that your Christmas is one for your family to remember. If you have parents still living, take the time to tell them you love them. It could be the last Christmas you have with them. And as a parent, tell your children how much you love them. It may sound corny, but so what!

I am thankful that I got to say goodby to my father as he took his last breath, and told him how much I loved him. I wish I could talk to him today. I miss that very much. He told me the last time he talked to me that he loved me, and I will always remember and cherish that.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth,
Hondo Duke Lane B)

Well, the Christmas holiday "officially" begins the day after Thanksgiving (even though the stores are hawking the wares since August).

The Mrs. buys the first eggnog to enjoy on Thanksgiving, and we enjoy it throughout the month of December (we go through a few gallons of the stuff before it's all over :rolleyes: ). The kids start bringing out the Christmas decorations shortly after Thanksgiving, and we listen to the Christmas music and watch all our Christmas movies.

Speaking of decorating . . . check out this site (http://www.wmagradio.com/pages/morningshow.html?feed=104863&article=358552) - click on the place where it says "click here" to watch a video of an incredible display of Christmas lights. As interesting as it is, I'm glad it's not my neighbor :fear: !

Anyway, the Mrs. likes to work with the kids making different kinds of treats - cookies, quick breads, fudge, etc. to share with family, friends and neighbors, and of course I do my part to be a good taste tester :D .

Christmas eve comes, and of course, it's pretty hard to get the kids to bed, but we eventually manage to do it, and then the real fun begins - wrapping presents that we have had to hide in obscure places. We end up staying up most of the night wrapping, filling stockings and cleaning up the mess and finally falling into bed around 4 AM :dead: . Of course the kids are up and making noise about an hour later - so they are allowed to investigate their stockings thoroughly before nagging us out of bed, when we come out and everyone opens their presents. We are sure looking for a big cup of coffee by then. We have a BIG family and a small living room, so it can be quite overwhelming. Since we've been up most of the night, the Mrs. is NOT into fancy meals on Christmas day - real simple is the key word. Usually that means a ham and some side dishes for dinner, and she has happened upon a very nice, easy to assemble casserole that we have enjoyed for breakfast the past couple of years.

Because we have so many kids and the extended family lives pretty far away, we generally stay home for Christmas.

The rest of the day is usually spent with everyone quietly enjoying their new goodies :jump: and working on cleaning up the mess of wrapping paper and packaging (a few 40 gallon garbage bags later . . . :uhuh: ).

I think we may be starting a new tradition (started last year actually, and continuing this year) of getting together with some close friends who live nearby, on Christmas Eve, for dinner and exchanging presents.

So . . . we wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas, or Happy Hannakuh, or whatever you might celebrate, and keep warm and toasty (or in smokey's case, cool as a cucumber) B) .

Chester :newyear: and the Mrs. :angel1:

Hi Hondo,
you write very touching post. Thank you for that. We all must thank Lord for parents and children and all we have with us. For a pity sometimes we understand this only when the person is gone.
Regards,
Senta

Hi Mike,
I agree, with Vera,
your post was a very touching and poignant one.
It is, as you say, a time to reflect and love, cherish,
and remember loved ones.
I couldn't agree with you more, that it is never the same,
once, one of the family has passed on.
On a lighter note, I am sure, you will all pleased to know,
that as normal, I work all the way through Christmas,
even on Christmas night!!
However I do have a great Christmas Day with the family.
In the evening though,it's off to work we go!!!
On my part I'm glad when it's come and gone, because
to me, it's my busiest time of the year!!
How interesting it is, that we are all so different?

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year,
Keith

hi hondo

not is it the season for giving but for reflecting and your words said it all ,just be glad you dont have a 9 yr old getting you out of bed when the sun comes up which in my case falls about 4:30am :lol: .

just think that from all over the world we will all be thinking of you and yours on this day (some of us earlier then others ;) :lol: ) that goes for every one of us. best wishes and have a great day with your mum tell her merry christmas from down under.

merry christmas to all of your families from one hot hot aussie we are sitting on 32.2C (89.9F)

hooroo smokey

Hi All.

For us Christmas starts on 1st December when we put up the Christmas tree. Over the next couple of days the rest of the house is decorated. From then on the momentum builds slowly. My wife spends a lot of her time in town shopping from mid-November (I stopped going with her years ago, to many arguments over silly things) All I do is drop her off and pick her when she's finished. During this time I cook dinner for the family. By 9th December she will have finished. On the 10th we celebrate our wedding anniversary, 28 this year, we go out for dinner with the family.

On Christmas eve I pick up the turkey and ham early. I will then spend a hour or so in the pub seeing some friends and wishing them a merry Christmas (we exchange bottles of whiskey and wine, it's the same every year).My oldest daughter picks me up and it's home for lunch. Then the veg and spuds are peeled and the turkey is prepared for the oven by yours truly. Later we go to mid-night mass which use to be at midnight but is now at 7:00pm. Is this only in Ireland or does it happen in other parts of the world? ( midnight mass at 7:00pm?) We go to my sister's after mass and we partake of a wee drop of eggnog, then it's home.

On Christmas morning we all wake early and open some presents and have a light breakfast. The turkey and ham are cooked, around 1:30pm we head for my sister's where all the family gather for dinner. Everyone brings extra chairs and the odd table. When dinner is over, the younger one will go off to see friends, we will sit around the table and drink Irish coffees. My brother-in-law and I will then go to his shed and smoke nice Cuban cigars and sip on a fine brandy. ( apart from Christmas the only time I smoke is on my birthday when I smoke another cigar).
We then rejoin the others around the table and talk about Christmas when we were kids. My brother will take up the guitar and we will sing long into the night while enjoying even more Irish coffees. (without the coffee).

A wonderful time of the year to be with family, the only downside is that our oldest son Chris will not be with us as he is working stateside in Pittsburgh for the next 2 years but we'll be talking to him on the day.

To everyone of you wonderful people on this site I would just like to wish a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Emmanuel.

Originally posted by Emmanuel@Dec 7 2005, 07:49 PM
Later we go to mid-night mass which use to be at midnight but is now at 7:00pm. Is this only in Ireland or does it happen in other parts of the world? ( midnight mass at 7:00pm?) We go to my sister's after mass and we partake of a wee drop of eggnog, then it's home.

23604


Hi Emmanuel,
In some churches we have midnight mass, in the others at 6.00 pm. All ortodox churches have midnight service at Easter.
But our Christmas is not at December,25, but only at January,7 according to the old calendar, all Russia lived so before the revolution, now only the Ortodox church helds this old calendar, and because of that many people used to celebrate Old new Year at January 14.
Regards,
Senta

hi senta

dont let the nippers (children) know about the old calendar otherwise they will be wanting two lots of christmas gifts from old st nick :lol:

down under the asian people do the new year like they did in russia on or about the 14th, it is great as we get to have 2 new years as we do tend to be very multi cultured.

have a wonderful christmas no matter which day you do the stuffing of the turkey, we dont stuff the turkey as we have it cold to hot for roast dinner on the day, in all of my life i have only had one hot dinner on christmas day and that was one year when we were visiting the in-laws and the temps dropped down to about 15C on the day heaters going the lot :lol:

hooroo smokey

I've been reading all the posts about everyone's Christmas traditions, and I just wanted say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone here. I am so glad that I came across this site and signed up. Everyone here is friendly, warm, generous, thoughtful, and helpful. I have had a wonderful time each and every time I have visited the forum, and that is due to each and everyone of you. So again thank you and Merry Christmas to all of you and to each of your families. I'm looking forward to several more years with you all here at the best forum on the web.
Sincerely,
Colorado Bob
:newyear:

Originally posted by smokey@Dec 8 2005, 05:29 PM
hi senta

dont let the nippers (children) know about the old calendar otherwise they will be wanting two lots of christmas gifts from old st nick* :lol:

down under the asian people do the new year like they did in russia on or about the 14th, it is great as we get to have 2 new years as we do tend to be very multi cultured.

have a wonderful christmas no matter which day you do the stuffing of the turkey, we dont stuff the turkey as we have it cold to hot for roast dinner on the day, in all of my life i have only had one hot dinner on christmas day and that was one year when we were visiting the in-laws and the temps dropped down to about 15C on the day heaters going the lot* :lol:

hooroo* smokey
23649

Hi Smokey,
you are right about 2 or 3 lots of presents. At the first at New Year, which we celebrate with the rest of the world, when Christmas at January 7 - another parties and presents, and when, if you didn't got tired from all holidays parties and gests you can celebrate Old New Year too. Many people do that (but the celebration is much smaller).
Regards,
Senta

hi senta

have a wonderful festive season may ti be as merry as you wish if i dont see you before be safe and careful

hooroo smokey