Please share a Christmas or Hannukah Tradition in your family!I love this time of year, especially Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and would love to hear about Christmas or Hannukah traditions across the country! I think a lot of us would like to hear some!
Thanks!
UPDATE!: Just had to add this! Mr Z and I were sitting in the living room just now and I looked around at the decorations and thought of all the nice things we've done and will be doing for Christmas and I said "You know, I wish this wasn't only just ONCE a year...........GOD SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE KIDS!"
heh. I hope that doesn't offend...I just couldn't resist and we had a good laugh. I hope you do, too!
z
23 comments:
I was an USAF brat...
When I was a child, we lived in an apartment building across from a major soccer stadium in Madrid. On the evening of January 5th, my brother, sister and I used to put our shoes out in the hallway by the front door in hope that the three kings would fill them with gifts, fruits and candies. I particularly remember receiving a small grey velveteen hippo one Epiphany morn... '61.
And of course, when I was a bit older we lived in Caracas. We would always eat hallacas on Christmas Eve... and we'd prepare a good thirty or forty extra to use as refreshments, as the neighborhood boys always formed a holiday salsa band and would go around serenading the neighbors in exchange for christmas treats. And every Christmas Eve they'd pay us a visit, twenty or thirty high spirited boys ranging in ages from 6 to 25.
Now most of the year, gringo's were personae non grata in our neighborhood, but there was always a spirit of acceptance during the Christmas and Carnival seasons, a Pax Navidena. And of course, by the end of the season, dad would have relieved himself of countless cartons of cigarettes and bottles of American whiskey with just about every person we came in contact with over the course of the year... bread man, milk man, newspaper man, gardener, mail man, chauffers, bus drivers, servants, neighbors, teachers, etc.. as American vices were always much more popular and valued amongst the locals than our virtues.
Hallacas
Recipe #309459 | 1½ hours | 30 min prep
SERVES 4 -6
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 lbs diced beef
* 1 1/2 lbs diced pork
* 2 cups water
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 cup canned chick-peas
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 4 tomatoes, chopped
* 4 onions, chopped
* 2 green bell peppers, chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon ground dried chili
* 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
* 4 teaspoons salt
* 3 tablespoons vinegar
* 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
* 2 teaspoons capers
* 1/2 cup seedless raisin
* 1/2 cup sliced stuffed olives
* 3 cups cornmeal
* 4 cups boiling water
* 1/3 cup butter
* 2 eggs, beaten
Directions
1
Combine beef, pork, water, and garlic in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes. Drain and chop coarsely. Add the chickpeas, mixing lightly.
2.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the tomatoes, onions, peppers, chile, parsley, 2 tsp of salt, vinegar, sugar and the meat mixture. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
3
Add the capers, raisins, and olivs. Mix lightly, set aside.
4
Mix the cornmeal with a little cold water. Add to the boiling water in a saucepan, stirring constantly. Add the butter and remaining salt. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the eggs, beating until a smooth dough is formed.
5
Butter a 3-qt round or square baking dish. Line it with 2/3 of the cornmeal mixture and pour the meat mixture into it. Spread the remaining corn meal on top. Cover the dish with a piece of foil and tie it. Place in a pan of water. Bake at 350 deg. F for 1 hour.
6
Venezuelan method: The dish is prepared in teh form of tamales. Banana leaves are used for warpping the hallacas, but foil or parchment paper will serve as a substitute. Cut 10in squares of either. Spread about 4 tbsp of the cornmeal dough in the center and press as thin as possible. Place 2 tbsp of the meat mixture on the dough and fold over, sealing the edges as well as possible. If the dough breaks, patch it wiht a little more dough. Fold the paper around the hallacas carefully and tie securely. If foil is used, it is not necessary to tie it. Boil in a large saucepan of salted water for 1.5 hours.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE, BUT THAT SOUNDS SOOOO GOOD TO ME I HAVE TO TRY THAT. THANKS FJ..GOT IT ON THE 'NET...MMM
On Christmas Eve, everyone opens 1 gift.
Vegas guy..very nice! One gift the night before!
Since Mr. Z's German, Christmas Eve is the big event at our home, then Christmas Day with my family...we open all our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. Took a while for me to get used to that!
When I was little, I'd have KILLED to get to do that, right!? Thanks!!
FJ....what wonderful memories.. ..Has Mrs. FJ made hallacas? I'd pronounce that HA YA KAHSS but the internet says AH JOCK OSS......I know double l's sound like a J when Mexicans say two L's..too but...what the?? Isn't it HA YOCK ASS??
Z,
In my family Christmas Eve has always been the big night with the gift exchange. I never thought of that as a German thing. Is my German heritage to thank for that?
Re hallacas, "h" is silent in Spanish. My mom was trying to teach a song about phonetics to my niece. The refrain was, "Every letter makes a sounds and [name of letter] says [sound of letter]." My niece, maybe 5 at the time, quickly pointed out, "The h in Spanish doesn't make a sound."
As for the doulbe l, I have heard that pronounced as a j. There is a Venezuelan girl at the gym where I go. I was practicing my broken Spanish, and she was replying with less broken Spanish. She used body language to help make up for my deficiency in comprehension. She pointed to herself when she said the first person singular nominative pronoun yo, which she pronouced "joe" as in Scarburough rather than the "yo" as in hello in New York. For a while the scene stuck in my mind and caused me to think her name was Jo, which it is not. Based on that, I would say there is a precedent for pronouncing ll as a j while in Venezuela.
All that just to say I think ah-jock-oss has a credible claim....zheesh.
And for the Christmas traditions, raw shrimp and fake crab meat with cocktail sauce is pretty close to a requirement.
-Tio Bowser
Thanks, Tio...I'm hoping you mean boiled cold shrimp, not raw?
Yes, Christmas Eve is definitely a European thing!! Their St. Nicholas comes Dec 6 and puts stuff in your shoes which you left outside your bedroom door the night before if you're a child. The parents in Germany get the tree done Christmas Eve and then after late afternoon church, they come home, open living room doors after having lit the real candles (bucket of water on floor near tree, of course) and everyone has a good time! You never leave the tree unattended when the real candles are lit.
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Since the Supreme Court has now prevented itself from acknowledging the question of whether Barack H. Obama is or is not an Article II “natural born citizen” based on the Kenyan/British citizenship of Barack Obama’s father at the time of his birth (irrespective of whether Barack Obama is deemed a “citizen” born in Hawaii or otherwise) as a prerequisite to qualifying to serve as President of the United States under the Constitution — the Court having done so three times and counting, first before the Nov 4 general election and twice before the Dec 15 vote of the College of Electors — it would seem appropriate, if not necessary, for all Executive Branch departments and agencies to secure advance formal advice from the United States Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel as to how to respond to expected inquiries from federal employees who are pledged to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” as to whether they are governed by laws, regulations, orders and directives issued under Mr. Obama during such periods that said employees, by the weight of existing legal authority and prior to a decision by the Supreme Court, believe in good faith that Mr. Obama is not an Article II “natural born citizen”.
FJ! You are making me homesick! we celebrate like Venezuelans on the 24th, we normally eat hallacas at midnight on Christmas eve.( We have no corn meal here to make them!) With Pan de Jamon, and drink Chicha with a sweet fruit bread called Paneton.
On Christmas day we are gringos and the kids wake us up early to open gifts. I usually make sweet rolls the day before for our breakfast. At noon we have the traditional American Christmas meal.
Here in Paraguay Christmas is not celebrated very much but January 6, King's Day is. We have also always celebrated this with the putting of the shoes outside for gifts. My husband has Mexican family and this is how they always celebrated.
So we start on the 24th as Venezuelans, turn into Americans for the 25th and become Mexicans on the 6th of January!
Mrs. FJ has never made hallacas, but when we lived in California we used to be able to buy them already prepared and wrapped in banana leaf in the grocery store. And I guess if I were in Caracas I would pronounce it AYE-YA-KAS and if I were in Madrid it would be more HAI-JAQUES-ATHS spoken more "nasally".
...and JM, having heard rumours about how some "chicha" was made, you'd never catch me drinking any...
*spit* ;-)
FJ, You have to try my chicha, no spit! My son found a place to order hallacas on line!
I love hearing other peoples ways too Z!..makes the holiday sooooooooo interesting eh!..have a happy ho ho ho girly!
My family in Cajun and my husband is 1/2 German and 1/2 Palestinian. Interesting combo. Since we spend Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas with mine...the Cajun way wins.
We do most of the celebrating on Christmas eve. Abig dinner, We read the Christmas story, we sing songs and then open presents. Christmas day Santa has come and left our stockings full. Another day to eat and celebrated Christ's birthday.
menu:
oyster dressing, seafood gumbo, fried turkey, corn moch-shu(sp?), homemade pies and pralines, maybe some crawfish e-tufe (sp?)
good cajun fare
Z,
we give each kid a sippee cup of hot chocolate (eventually a travel mug?), don their p.j.'s, load up the car, put on the Christmas music, and drive around looking at Christmas lights. I love to hear the 'ooooooohs and aaaaahs' coming from the back seat. Oh, and how sweet it is to hear them sing along with the music.
We used to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve, ate New England clam chowder, opened gifts after dinner, went to midnight service, and slept in...then fixed the dinner and spent time visiting or calling family and friends.
tmw
Super stuff! And I LOVE when the comments include FOOD..THANKS!!
Pinky, we lived in an area where our home (when I was young and still living with my parents) was one of many which went gaga on Christmas lights. Dad would put a Santa costume on once a week or so and go out and give candy to the kids whose parents would roll down their windows and thrill the kids! The cars went by VERY slowly, bumper to bumper. Wasn't too easy to get in or out when you LIVED in those homes, but we had a ball! I love that you do that with your children!
Angel: THANKS!!
I must try that Hallacas, no matter how I pronounce it! OR look for some around here. Nothing South American too difficult to get here, TRUST me :-)
Kris, CJ here and I were talking about oyster stuffing around Thanksgiving. I just can't PICTURE it but I do like oysters........I should try making that some day, too...
Do you put normal stuffing bread, etc., in with them? What's the 'glue'?
On Christmas Eve, we have dinner with my Mom's half of the family, and it always includes a ham, a roast, and an insanely chocolate cake.
Once that's done, we go home and the kids make cookies and pour milk for Santa... And we try to stay up super-late to make sure that they're out when Santa does show up with the goodies. ;)
The next day, we watch the kid's joy!
Later, we go to my Granny's house for another feast. More food and fun than you can shake a stick at.
All this is topped off with a reading from Luke.
Thats cute. You really love blogging dontcha Z?
I can picture you running to your computer to record your little update.
Keep giving thanks this holiday. You have a lot to be thankful for.
We go outside at about 9:30 on Christmas Eve to hear a brass quartet play carols on top of the hill across the street from us. They put up lights so we can see where they are, and the music rings through the air.
We send our approval after each song, by flashing flashlights and clapping. You can hear the clapping up and down the street. It's a lovely tradition these men have created.
In our family, Christmas Day is the big day. We open our gifts in the morning (our kids and grandson come over for that). Afterwards I fix a big breakfast for us all.
When our children were young, there were no gifts under the tree until Christmas morning. The children would squeal with delight at the sight, and every year they would say it was our best Christmas.
There were no lists or demands for certain gifts. They grew up appreciating what they received, but of course Santa always had a pretty good idea what they wanted.
My grandson is the same way. He likes to be surprised and always has. He's 20 now, and loves Christmas as we all do.
We have our Christmas dinner in late afternoon with my family and my sister's. She and I take turns having the dinner. There are now 17of us.
A wonderful time is had by all. And oh, there are never any arguments. We're all conservatives! Ha, Ha.
Turkey and all the trimmings are traditional Christmas fare for us.
But the best thing is sharing this beautiful day with our loved ones. It doesn't get better than that.
Merry Christmas
Pris
CHristmas Greeting from FreeThinke
Nowell! He is Born
Nowell! Our blessed Savior now is born
Once again to give this troubled world ~
Wary, beetle-shelled, enraged, forlorn ~
Eagerness and energy unfurled.
Looking for an end to doubt, distrust ~
Longing for affection and compassion ~
Hard-heartedness shatters, as it must,
Effacing cynicism without ration.
It’s time ~ right now ~ to set aside suspicion.
Salute the future confident and brave.
Believe your soul need make no strange transition.
Our lives go on forever past the grave.
Rejoice at each new day. Abandon scorn.
Nowell! Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is born.
~ FreeThinke, Christmas 2008
That's so cool that your dad did that, Z. He must have been a fun-loving man!
We ALWAYS host a Mexican dinner party on Christmas Eve. Family and friends are welcome. We've tried to implement some of my husband's ethnicity into our celebrations! This year our menus will be both pork and chicken tamales, with "salsa verde", refried beans, Mexican rice, tostadas! Our desserts will be more of the American fare!
At midnight, we open our gifts! As a child, we always opened gifts up on Christmas Eve, if my daddy could wait that long! Some years he would talk my mom into letting us open gifts several days before Christmas!! So cute to think back upon how my daddy turned into a restless kid during the Christmas season.
On Christmas morning we find our stockings lying under the tree stuffed full of goodies! Then a huge meal, usually at our home as well. Just family members usually for this one.
Pinky, I swear that, of all people, you'd have loved my dad! And he, you...except for the pink hair, gotta admit he was pretty traditional. But, he'd get to know you and not notice!
PAM...DON'T ever tell me about tamales..I LOOOOOVE tamales and now I'm wishing I could trade some goose on Christmas Eve for ONE TAMALE~!!
Your Dad sounds like ME! I grew up with a scad of sisters and used to try to lure them into opening my gifts to them early.."I'll give you a DOLLAR if you'll open what I got you now" None of them ever took me up on it.
Mom had to lock my gifts in suitcases when I was little because I could find anything..I had a hound dog's nose for gifts! Awful girl!!
Your Dad sounds fantastic..I'm SO not surprised, knowing Rita and, now, you a little better. Keeep those stories coming...I melt for sweetness like that!
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