Back in 2010 someone on the Internet suggested that genealogists create an Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. It seemed like good idea and many genealogists blogged each day on their memories. It was a wonderful opportunity to think about what kinds of traditions our family had shared throughout the years. There was a prompt for each day from the 1st to 24th of December which provided an opportunity to write your thoughts on that particular topic. Since today is only December 2nd, there's still time to get started. Here are the blog topics for the first two weeks. (I'll add the second set next week.)
December 1 - The Christmas Tree
December 2 - Holiday Foods
December 3 - Christmas Tree Ornaments
December 4 - Christmas Cards
December 5 - Outdoor Decorations
December 6 - Santa Claus
December 7 - Holiday Parties
December 8 - Christmas Cookies
December 9 - Decorations
December 10 - Christmas Gifts
December 11 - Other Traditions
December 12 - Charitable/Volunteer Work
I’m not a great one for writing and the prompts gave me an opportunity to put down my memories. I wrote a blog about this last year and added my memory for December 1st. Since today is the 2nd, here's the blog I wrote on Holiday Foods.
I love to cook and I start my Christmas baking around the beginning of November. When I lived in Connecticut, I had my refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen, but also another in the basement as well as a full upright freezer. They would all be full! When the girls were young, we would bake cookies together, rolling out the sugar and gingerbread cookies and decorating them. The kitchen looked like a hurricane had come through when we finished.
But I also liked the time in the kitchen for my self. All of our friends and neighbors and those attending our annual Christmas party would receive a small Irish bread or date & nut loaf and I would make and freeze about 100 of these. I also made hors d'oeuvres for my party...brie en croute, stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, caramelized onions and blue cheese in puff pastry, biscuits to go with the ham...plus whatever looked good from the annual holiday magazines.
Our traditional Christmas meal was the same as Thanksgiving, turkey and all the trimmings which we shared with my in-laws. I always made Nanny’s cranberry relish and dessert was a Christmas Tree shaped cake, frosted with tinted green icing and decorated with M&M’s.
But, Christmas Day wasn’t the only traditional meal...there was Christmas Eve dinner, shared with my sister and her family at my house with beef bourguignon and homemade peppermint stick ice cream, and of course, Christmas morning breakfast. My children are heavily into tradition and not much would change in these meals from year to year. Although I might add something, nothing could be removed! The Christmas Tree pan was therefore used on Christmas morning to make iced cinnamon rolls, which were eaten with a broccoli cheddar quiche. And there was always plenty of bacon and sausage with english muffins since my husband doesn’t eat eggs.
Food is definitely an important part of our Christmas celebration and requires a massive diet starting January 1st.
Last year I asked my girls to give me some idea of what their memories were to see if they coincided with what I remembered. I wasn't too clear on the instructions but I got a small binder with responses and pictures on 3 x 5 cards pasted on a black background. It seems that our memories were similar, may of them about food.
This blogging idea seems to have fallen away, but I'd encourage you to think about writing your holiday memories even if you don’t blog and share them with the family. This year I'm going to be more specific with my request and give the girls prompts for their memories.
Happy Hunting!
Here's a special Holiday Offer on the Irish Quick Reference Guides. Order before December 10th and get the set of 3 for $20. It makes a great gift for you or a friend.
Continue to check the Promotions page. Some of the offers end tonight. I'll continue to update the page with new offers as they become available.