Holiday Traditions

What I love to do around the Holidays

I married into a family full of traditions and I love it. I also grew up with many traditions that I still keep to this day. Christmas is a special time of year for traditions and it got me thinking of some of my favourite ones today.

Decorating the Tree together: We always buy a real tree with my family and decorate it with ornaments that are both handmade and store bought. Each one has significance and a story, which usually gets brought up during the hanging process. I love the smell of a real tree. Some people will scold me for saying this, but I think it's beauty and scent are something that are synonymous with the season. I throw on my most classic Christmas CD's and drink hot chocolate to set the mood.

Baking: Whether it was to have at home or to give to others, we baked every year and still do today. Now my mom and I bake separately, but for years we would bake together. She had a tradition of getting together with other women and exchanging different types of cookies. Each one would bake a dozen for each of the attendees and then they would trade at the end. I'm hoping to start this tradition with my friends some day.

Cooking Family Recipes: Fish on Christmas Eve. Before anyone knew about the feast of the 7 fishes, from the Bear, the DeSotto family was making salt cod in milk every Christmas Eve. My mom has a very old book of handwritten recipes that have writing from many women in my family in it. This recipe book contains their recipes and their memories on paper and makes us gather at the table to enjoy their food, even with them not being here.

My husband's family makes Latke's on Channukah every year from a very old book of recipes. I like to skim through the large pages and look at each old recipe with a smile.

Mom's Recipes

Studying Photo Albums : This is a tradition I have started myself recently. After dinner is finished, I will sneak down to my parents basement and find a photo album. I will bring it up to the table and go through the pictures with everyone there. Sometimes this hurts a bit since some of the people in the photos are not around anymore, but I think it's such a lovely activity. You can look on those memories fondly and think about those who are not able to be with you at the table, sharing a bit of family history with each other.

Playing Cards After Dinner: This is not my tradition but one I have adopted of late. It actually is very nice to gather together and not have your devices handy or be in the front of the TV. Playing cards is social and challenging and keeps your mind active. I have also gotten back into making puzzles and I have enjoyed that as well. The holidays are a perfect time to do something quiet and switch off for a little bit.

Lovely Afternoon Walk in the City

Going for A Winter Walk: This is also a tradition I have started on my own of late. I like to go between 2 and 4pm since that's when the sun goes down these days. This way you can catch a little vitamin D since it's not easy to find. If not, then after dinner is the time to go. Work off some of calories from the large meal and take a stroll along the street to look at Christmas lights. If you dress appropriately, you won't be cold and once you're done you can come back to the warmth inside.

What are your family's traditions around the holiday season? Maybe you can take one of mine and adopt it as your own.