Christmas Traditions

[pamjsa]

I started thinking about this while posting on another thread and thought I'd open it up to others here.

Some years ago my little family of four started celebrating Christmas with what my husband now calls "the traditional orange meal." By way of background: both of my parents grew up poor during the Great Depression. By "poor," I don't mean they lacked money for luxuries; I mean my father had to visit the welfare office in town to get a voucher that would allow him to buy shoes for his mother's funeral. In late October. In the Midwest. My mother's family was slightly better off--she always had shoes, albeit hand-me-downs from one of her many older sisters--but she tells a story that always breaks my heart, about watching a schoolmate eat an orange for lunch one day right after Christmas. "The smell of that orange just sent me through the roof," she says. "I remember just watching her eat it and being so sad that I didn't know when I'd taste an orange again."

So, in celebration of the bounty we now enjoy, my family uses a silver bowl full of oranges as the centerpiece for our Christmas dinner. (The bowl was inherited from my husband's grandmother, who also grew up in abject poverty but went on to make a small fortune in real estate.) I use "orange" as sort of a general theme for the Christmas Eve meal--not just the taste, but also the color. I vary the menu, but in the past it's included ham with orange sauce, apricot-glazed chicken, sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, cheese souffle, etc. I don't obsess about being monochromatic--we usually have a few non-orange items on the table as well--but it's a nice way of honoring the work that our ancestors put into bringing us to the place we enjoy now. I live far from my extended family these days, and my mom's very touched that she inspired this tradition--it makes her feel like she's with us in spirit during the holidays, which of course she is.

I know lots of people with unusual holiday food traditions, but I'm the only person who serves the orange meal. What traditions make you or your family unique?

[Kim Shook]

pamjsa, what a wonderful story. I love that you honor your family that way! I think that food traditions mean a lot, even to people who are not food obsessed like us! Everyone has something that must be on the holiday table, even if no one eats it anymore or just takes a token spoonful - it has always been there, so it must always still be there. My Christmas Eve menu: turkey, gravy, oyster stuffing, bourbon sweet potatoes, stuffed cheese potatoes, fruit salad with Miracle Whip is the same one that my grandmother served starting in the 1930's. I add a few things every year, but those items always appear. I love the history in that meal and I love knowing that my daughter is sharing the same meal that I remember as a child. If I could find those tasteless little butter cookies with the jujubee cherry in the middle of them, I'd serve them, too! Thanks for the post!

[jackal10]

Does the tangerine at the bottom of the Christmas stocking count?

[Sugarella]

Oranges in the stocking here too, when I was a kid. My grandmother told me oranges were a huge deal to get in your stocking when she was a girl because citrus fruits were so scarce and expensive, and so it was considered a very luxurious gift at the time. To her it gave a sort of reassurance that everything was going to be ok, especially as she grew up during the depression. Apparently kids back then would rather get oranges than candy.

Thanks for bringing this up...... yet another food tradition in my family that I hadn't really noticed before. We always have oranges, even if they're just for decoration.

.....Pears seem to be a prevalent Christmas food symbol also....wonder why?

[BarbaraY]

Do you remember reading the Little House books? The girls were thrilled to get an orange in their stockings. Getting an orange in the middle west until recent years was probably as rare as getting a durian now.

Perhaps the pear is because of the partridge in the pear tree.

[Lori in PA]

I grew up on a farm -- not a hobby, picnics-in-the-meadow farm, but a working, sweating, wouldn't-life-in-town-be-easier farm. In addition, my dad was a full-time airline pilot, so we were busy. Winter was our slowest time, and about once a year some time in the cold months my parents would make an indoor "picnic on the floor" in the living room. Mom spread out an old tablecloth and she and Dad put cut up bananas, orange and apple wedges, cubes of cheese, and Ritz crackers or Wheat Thins on paper plates and put them in the middle of the tablecloth. The two biggest things about this supper were that it was:

A. In The Living Room, that sanctuary where no food save popcorn or a sick-day 7Up was ever served to a child

and

B. accompanied by Coke, that rarest nectar drunk daily at lunch by my parents but reserved for Very Special Occasions for the short persons in the family.

When my siblings and I grew up, the Indoor Picnics went by the wayside until one year my brother requested one. Christmas is the only time of year we are all together, so the new tradition for the last 10 years or so is to have an indoor picnic on the family room floor at my parents' house on the day we celebrate Christmas with them. We most often have this picnic and afterward open presents, which is a very long process as we open them one at a time in turn. The leftover picnic food is moved to a nearby table to provide sustenance as needed during the present-opening.

Oh, the picnic menu still includes all the old tidbits, but my sister and I usually make some more complicated appetizer type dishes to go with them. Sis always requests my brie wheel with calvados/brown sugar spread and pecans to go with pears or apples, something we'd have never imagined having in 1970.

[Jenny McClure]

We always had a couple of mandarin oranges in our stocking too.!! For some reason they were always the sweetest and juiciest. That and a bag of choclate money

[judiu]

Oh, the picnic menu still includes all the old tidbits, but my sister and I usually make some more complicated appetizer type dishes to go with them.  Sis always requests my brie wheel with calvados/brown sugar spread and pecans to go with pears or apples, something we'd have never imagined having in 1970.

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Oooooh, ooey-gooey good! Could the recipe be shared? Pretty please?

[Lori in PA]

Oooooh, ooey-gooey good! Could the recipe be shared? Pretty please?

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Edited December 1, 2005 by Lori in PA (log)

[pamjsa]

I grew up on a farm -- not a hobby, picnics-in-the-meadow farm, but a working, sweating, wouldn't-life-in-town-be-easier farm.  In addition, my dad was a full-time airline pilot, so we were busy.  Winter was our slowest time, and about once a year some time in the cold months my parents would make an indoor "picnic on the floor" in the living room.  Mom spread out an old tablecloth and she and Dad put cut up bananas, orange and apple wedges, cubes of cheese, and Ritz crackers or Wheat Thins on paper plates and put them in the middle of the tablecloth.   The two biggest things about this supper were that it was:

A.  In The Living Room, that sanctuary where no food save popcorn or a sick-day 7Up was ever served to a child

and

B.  accompanied by Coke, that rarest nectar drunk daily at lunch by my parents but reserved for Very Special Occasions for the short persons in the family.

When my siblings and I grew up, the Indoor Picnics went by the wayside until one year my brother requested one.  Christmas is the only time of year we are all together, so the new tradition for the last 10 years or so is to have an indoor picnic on the family room floor at my parents' house on the day we celebrate Christmas with them.  We most often have this picnic and afterward open presents, which is a very long process as we open them one at a time in turn.  The leftover picnic food is moved to a nearby table to provide sustenance as needed during the present-opening.

Oh, the picnic menu still includes all the old tidbits, but my sister and I usually make some more complicated appetizer type dishes to go with them.  Sis always requests my brie wheel with calvados/brown sugar spread and pecans to go with pears or apples, something we'd have never imagined having in 1970.

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Lori, I love this Christmas tradition! I grew up in the same sort of "sacred living room" household, but my mother would never have thought to profane that space with a picnic, under any circumstances.

The orange-in-the-stocking story seems to be pretty common among a certain generation (the writer Haven Kimmel discusses this fact in her wonderful memoir, A Girl Named Zippy, which also makes mention of sugar cream pie--something I was pretty sure my grandmother had invented, until I saw it in this book, because no one outside of my family seemed to know what it was.) My parents put oranges in our Christmas stockings when I was a kid, but that tradition has fallen by the wayside. I can only imagine what my kids would say to that: "An orange? That's weird. Why would Santa put an orange in my stocking?"

Another reason why I started the Orange Meal, to keep the spirit of the past alive.

Edited December 1, 2005 by pamjsa (log)

[Lori in PA]

We are on a tight budget and have always stuffed stockings with practical things like toothbrushes, deoderant and shaving cream for those who need it, etc. I usually put fruit in each stocking (just what we already have in the kitchen) and buy one bag of inexpensive candy to share amongst them. Low expectations can be a very good thing. :-)

[racheld]

Years ago, one of our distant relatives sent us one of those small cheese assortments every Christmas. It was usually perhaps six small wedges of different cheeses, a little round Edam or Gouda, and a maybe four-inch stick of sausage on each end, the whole nestled in a box of shredded yellow paper, with punctuations of those red-and-green-cellophaned strawberry candies.

There were four of us, and we'd make a big production of dinner one night during the season, with lovely cracker assortments, crisp wedges of apple and pear, and bunches of juicy red and green grapes, crusty baguettes, a little dish of sweet butter, and a big ole crock of wonderful Mississippi State Cheddar, ordered in September for Christmas delivery. We'd set the table beautifully, with the cheeses all arranged on pretty trays with doilies or leaves from the magnolia tree. We'd pour apple juice into wineglasses, toast the holiday, and I'd cut each small cheese wedge into four slivers, making sure each person got a taste of each kind.

Coins of sausage were sliced, the bread broken and buttered, crackers distributed, and servings of fruit and good dips into the cheddar crock were enjoyed. It was perhaps a silly thing, a frivolous dining experience, with sometimes hats and dressup costumes and fans and boas, with the boys seating us ladies in their best gentlemanly fashion.

That relative is long-gone from us, but not from the memories. The children still mention those cheesenibble dinners as a memorable, pleasant part of their growing-up.

[rooftop1000]

We always had a couple of mandarin oranges in our stocking too.!! For some reason they were always the sweetest and juiciest.  That and a bag of choclate money

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The real question about the chocolate money is ...did any of our relatives know that was actually for Chanuka

same here though orange, nuts and gelt....I still do it too

tracey

I always got to open the present from my aunt Ni Ni on Christmas eve because it was new pajamas for the pictures in the morning. Oh and the pictures geeze, grandpa had rigged up a light bar to blind us all so the Super 8 movies came out perfect.

[andiesenji]

The first Christmas holidays I remember were in the early 1940s, most of the men in the family were away in the services but some managed to get home for the holidays.

I can remember my dad and uncles sitting and the kitchen table and drinking huge amounts of milk and scarfing down equally large amounts of fresh eggs, bacon, ham, sausage and etc.

My stocking always had an orange and a tangerine in the toe, candies and little toys, barretts for my hair and at least one of the Big Little Books. I wish these were still printed, they were a lot of fun for me.

There was also always a small, decorated, tin of little mints that were ordered from someplace far away. I loved the minature paintings on the lids and stil have two (both with dogs) that I have managed to hold onto all these years.

I think I was 11 the last year I put up a stocking, I felt I was a big girl then and no longer needed to do like the littler kids. However my grandpa and grandma still filled one and left it on my bed.

[Abra]

Yum, that brie looks delicious!

Our relatively new Christmas tradition is to make tamales all together as a family. There was a great tamale thread last year. Here's where I posted photos of making the mole for black tamales, and then later in the thread I show the tamales themselves being made. We're not Latino, but we've adopted this Christmas tradition from Latino culture, and we all love imaking and eating them.

I make a huge amount of tamales and freeze enough to enjoy them for several additional meals after the holidays, plus sending some home with our sons. And I make sure to have lots of additional mole for the freezer, since it's such a great sauce and such a project to make. I look forward to making it again in the next couple of weeks, in preparation for our now-annual tamale party.

[ruthcooks]

When I was growing up in the 40s and 50s, we had oyster stew for Christmas Eve supper and went to the Methodist Church for the children's program. Back at home, my brothers and I were allowed to open one present before bedtime. Our Christmas stockings were not special ones, but rather my dad's work socks, with an orange in the toe, nuts and that old fashioned coconut candy which I've seen called "chop suey". There was one gift each from Santa Claus (no gifts from parents), the inevitable dollar from my paternal grandfather, books from my maternal grandmother and great aunt Ethel, a homemade apron from great aunt Bertha. Sometimes there would be a gift for all like a record player. Christmas morning we would open the rest of the gifts, the grandparents would come and we would have a turkey dinner which almost exactly repeated our Thanksgiving dinner. Friends of my parents would usually show up Christmas night for turkey sandwiches on hamburger buns.

Absolutely none of this--with the sole exception of opening one gift on Christmas Eve--got passed on. Looking back, it doesn't seem so much like tradition as a dull sameness. I'm sometimes sorry that I didn't institute some new traditions for my family, but I do have a tradition with my grandchildren. Each year I give each child one special Christmas tree ornament so they will have a start when each leaves home.

[maggiethecat]

Our stockings were double-orange; we received a tangerine in the toe and a Droste chocolate orange higher up. I might have more sophisticated taste in chocolate than I did when I was ten, but the magic of striking that brown orange against the table and seeing it splay into sections never palls.

Always a quarter, wrapped in tissue paper -- the denomination I used in my daughter's

stocking, although its value had depreciated. In the 60s, it was half the price of a paperback! But it's all about the tradition, including wrapping each stocking gift as carefully as those lolling under the tree in all their beribboned splendour. We often received other food goodies in our stockings -- some Callard and Bowser Butterscotch, say, or a box of licorice allsorts.

Back to tradition: When we spend Christmas with my parents I still get a stocking, and it still holds a tangerine, but the Duth orange has been replaced with other edible and potable gifts -- might be a split of champagne, some candied mimosa or a teeny jar of caviar.

[annanstee]

s --  might be a split of champagne, some candied mimosa or a teeny jar of caviar.

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Lucky you! I wish that my husband would start that tradition.

I still do stockings for my husband and son, and it would never occur to me not to put an orange in the toe...I have actually never thought before now of its history.

My mum always did it for me- she was born in England in 38 and an orange was a rare treat, especially as the war and then rationing wore on. She shared with me her elation upon squeezing the toe on Christmas morning to make sure the orange was there, and the time her Doctor brought her a peach when she was ill as a child- she had never even seen one before.

She also always gave us walnuts in our stocking...and we had this wonderful silver dish with a litttle squirrel perched on the end of it. It was full of nuts of all kinds.

We have always had plum pudding, called in my family "firecake" from the time when its blue fire ran up and down my aunts table cloth. I thought this was thrilling, and called it firecake from that moment on. I have never fallen in love with hard sauce, but we always have it anyway.

My mother makes tourtiere for every Christmas eve, which for some reason we eat with guacamole. New Years Eve we have always had toad in the hole, and I still love that. She also makes the best mince tarts on the planet.

I am now enjoying creating some new traditions for my own family-trying new recipes to add to the tried and true, making magic oats for the reindeer, and trying a new "make the night before" french toast every year (Creme Brulee was a favourite).

Joy to all.

Ann

Edited to correct my creative spelling

Edited December 5, 2005 by annanstee (log)

[Katie Nell]

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I always got to open the present from my aunt Ni Ni on Christmas eve because it was new pajamas for the pictures in the morning.

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Were they bunny pajamas with a big fluffy tail on a trap door in the back?!?

Edited December 6, 2005 by Katie Nell (log)

[Teri Everitt]

My stepdad always made tourtiere for Christmas. He always cooked it himself and spent half the day making the filling (Mom made the pastry for him). He grew up in a family of 7 kids with a single parent so their version was very bluecollar (not like the ones at my work which have venison etc)......his version was equal parts ground pork and ground beef, a very large yellow onion, some savory, salt and pepper and a tiny bit of sage and thyme. Sounds uncomplicated but because there are so few seasonings it is quite difficult to get them exactly right. He died at age 41 unexpectedly of an aneurism and never gave out the recipe, so I had to figure it out myself. This year I get to go "back to the drawing board" now that my oldest daughter is a vegetarian.

Our other family Christmas tradition: my mom's ceramic moose gravy boat ---apparently the best part of holiday dinners during my childhood was having the "gravy moose" barf on your mashed potatoes!

Edited December 21, 2005 by Teri Everitt (log)

[rooftop1000]

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I always got to open the present from my aunt Ni Ni on Christmas eve because it was new pajamas for the pictures in the morning.

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Were they bunny pajamas with a big fluffy tail on a trap door in the back?!?

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Maaaaybe, well Yes usually

the last year I got them they didnt have the rubber grippee feet and I slid down a whole flight of stairs. Good thing it wasnt a bicycle year, Santa usually put them right at the bottom of the stairs.

tracey

got my oranges

[bavila]

Hubby and I have decided to carry on a tradition set by my parents which started with the family cat.

Before I was born, my parents and two sisters loaded themselves into the car to head off to Christmas Eve mass. As they turned out of the neighborhood, they heard a screeching noise that was obviously coming from a cat. They pulled into the parking lot of the A&P and our big fat tabby (aptly named Tom Cat) ran out from under the car, hiding under another car nearby (not so bright, this critter). By the time my dad managed to wrangle the traumatized cat in the car, they were hopelessly late for mass.

"Forget it," said my dad. "Let's go to Don's." They feasted on seafood gumbo that night, and every year since they've had dinner at the same restaurant in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana.

Well I don't live in Louisiana anymore, but I thought I'd honor Tom Cat and his influence by starting a seafood dining out tradition with my family. And since we wouldn't be with them this year one of my sisters and I bought a gift certificate to treat my parents to their Christmas Eve dinner.

[pamjsa]

It's that time of year again, so I thought I'd bump this discussion and ask for suggestions for the upcoming Orange Meal. My kids have requested cheese souffle, and I always make sweet potatoes of some derivation for my husband-- other than that, I'm completely open to suggestions.

Since it's just my family of four, we tend to approach this meal as a sort of quasi-buffet--meaning we all sit down at the table together, but I don't worry about having the component parts of the meal go together (apart from their orangeness, of course.) I think of Christmas as a time to enjoy old favorites and try a few new things as well.

I'm always interested in hearing about others' family traditions, too. Last week a friend told me about her family's annual Christmas Morning Waffle Extravaganza, which sounds like a tradition worth adopting.

[annecros]

Swedes (rhutabaga) come to mind. I do sort of a coarse mash with butter and brown sugar and it is a staple for Thanksgiving. Quite good, and a nice break from carrots, which are not my favorite.

Peaches work well with poultry or pork, as well as apricot.

Orange zest can be microplaned onto almost anything!

I'm a BIG fan of Orange and bitter chocolate. You might be able to do something interesting for dessert with one of those Chocolate "Whack an Orange" things (that my grownup kids still expect in their stockings!). A cake with orange curd and a ganache?

There are about a gazillion pumpkin recipes out there, and butternut squash will work in most of them as well.

Here is a great page full of Orange recipes:

http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Category:Orange_Recipes

Mostly desserts - but some interesting salads (Orange and Tomato sounds good, but I would use bacon fat instead) as well. That Kingfish with Celery and Oranges intrigues me. Sounds similar to something I had in the keys on yellowtail. I would toss some white wine and garlic in there, I think.

Allrecipes has another 400 or so. I usually sort by ratings on Allrecipes, because I have caught a few dogs there, and would rather work with something tested.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Fruits-and-V...anges/Main.aspx

Anne

Edited December 10, 2006 by annecros (log)

[Carrot Top]

It's that time of year again, so I thought I'd bump this discussion and ask for suggestions for the upcoming Orange Meal.

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Mango Smoothie?

Orange Sorbet or Sherbert?

Grand Marnier for the Grownups?

Marmalade or Orange Curd Tartlets?