Tags: holidays, traditions
Some holiday traditions have gone on for decades and are cherished memories for those involved. Other traditions are in their infancy and being tweaked a little each year. Then there are the traditions starting out as a blank slate yet to be created. We asked our staff to share some of their holiday traditions and we’d love to hear about yours!
When I was young, my family would gather with another family we were close to who came from Mexican heritage. We always had tamales every Christmas. I’ve revived the tradition for the last couple of years and now we make homemade tamales to share with family and friends every Christmas.
We have a bit of non-traditional tradition. My family cooks a really big Thanksgiving meal where everyone’s in the kitchen for hours. This means that come Christmas day, nobody feels like cooking a big meal like that all over again the next month. So we’ve created a tradition where we eat foods from different cultures. Last Christmas, we ate Ethiopian food from a new restaurant that opened up close to home. We’ve also had Chinese, Mexican, and this year we’re going all out with sushi.
My family’s holiday traditions are something I look forward to every year. We usually get together and open gifts on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day, we have a holiday dinner. I am looking forward to my daughter’s first Christmas this year and making new traditions with her!
My family LOVES Christmas ornaments and games. We have a tradition (about 10 years old now) revolving around these two things . A theme is announced at each Christmas for the following year. Everyone old enough (there are now 22 of us) makes an ornament that applies to that theme (connections can be tenuous!). Then we do a White Elephant grab bag, where you can steal an ornament someone else has. But, to do this you have to challenge that person and the games ensue. There is a menu of quick games and the winner gets possession of the ornament.
When my sisters, brother and other assorted family members gather on Christmas Eve, we always play a game (or two or three) of L C R, otherwise known as Left Right Center. It’s a simple dice game where each person starts out with 3 $1 bills. As you roll the three dice, you send your dollar bills according to the roll — to the left, right or in the center for the pot. Even if you run out of money, there’s always a chance a dollar bill will come back your way again and you may be the lucky winner of the pot. Last year my great niece walked off with $60! A pretty nice haul for a nine year old.
Thanksgiving is always at my house and is a very special holiday to me. My wife cooks everything — Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, jello, green bean casserole, cranberry and many, many desserts. However, I make my special part of the meal — a brisket with potatoes. The recipe is special as it was given to me by my grandmother. I did make a few adjustments and my family goes crazy for it. I only serve half of the dish as I hold back the other half for our late night post-Thanksgiving feast. It used to be that my wife and I would wake the kids at 2am for our brisket feast, but now they wake us and we eat brisket and talk about what it is we are thankful for.
Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays and cheers to the New Year!
Kathhy is the Community Engagement Specialist at Second Sense.