When is it good to change a tradition connected to the holidays?
Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. I'm not crazy about any of these foods. And yet, every year I prepared and served them to my family because that's what you do on Thanksgiving, right? It's tradition. Christmas was a slight variation of that meal. With few exceptions the turkey would be too dry or we would be waiting around for it to get done. The years of the great turkey wait always seemed to be the years we had guests.
After my husband's death seven years ago, our holidays began to evolve. He was the one who loved the traditional meal. Even when I switched to ham, I noticed my kids were eating the ham and the rolls. One of them took some stuffing. I ate the cranberries and sweet potatoes. There were a lot of left overs. It was a lot of work to prepare that kind of meal.
When I noticed all the left overs, I asked my kids if there was something they would rather eat on Thanksgiving. My oldest son suggested Mexican. So that is what we have, some form of Mexican. A taco bar, maybe a Mexican casserole, or shrimp or beef fajitas. Christmas is still a work progress. Last year, we had finger food and sugar cookies (made with sour cream, best recipe ever) that we decorated together.
How about you? Are there traditions that have changed over the years? Are there traditions that you no longer do that you miss? Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win one of my holiday books. Thanksgiving Protector, Alaskan Christmas Target, or Tasha's Christmas Wish.
Since December is our big giveaway and I won't be posting, I would like to take this opportunity to wish every one a Thanksgiving filled with hope and gratitude and Christmas filled with joy and Christ's love.
See you in the new year.
No one in my family really likes turkey. Although we all love ham. We also don’t really care for some of the other traditional foods. We always have ham, but fix what we want to go with it. Same for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I prefer pink lemonade pie for dessert, while the rest of my family wants pecan. Last year we had gumbo, Italian beef, and BBQ sandwiches to go with the ham. 😁
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed Thanksgiving
My family always wants traditional and I cook for days but I don’t really care for it other than mashed potatoes and green beans. I prefer cake but they each want a different pie. I’m at the point I want easy. 😜 Plus it’s hunting season and I have all that mess from the guys. Have a blessed Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas. 🎄
ReplyDeletedon't really have any
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
One year I had a brunch for Christmas dinner and that was easier, but I missed the leftovers. lol Leftovers mean I don't have to cook that day. Never turkey, though. I make a rotisserie chicken. And dressing. And green beans and sweet potato casserole--that's our dessert. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe always had the traditional turkey meal, though a bit simplified, until the year I had a fever and lung infection and broke a special glass trying to clean it all up. I gave up after that - the kids, though usually helpful, were too small to handle all the special dishes and nobody really wanted to do all the work on a holiday. I still love that meal, and so I prepare it sometime within a month or so of the holiday, but we now have lasagna, salad, homemade breadsticks, and fruit. My daughter makes the pasta from scratch and we make the lasagna together a few weeks ahead and freeze it, and then everyone helps throw the rest together morning of. We stick it in the oven and go back to opening presents - it's much easier. There's really nothing to clean up as there are always leftovers in the same dish that just go in the fridge and plates to the dishwasher, so ... easy peasy.
ReplyDeleteWe have kept all of the important traditions, important to us that is. Traditions that have been in the family for generations.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
The only times I changed the holiday meal was when my part of the family was on its own. One year we had lasagna for Thanksgiving because I wasn't cooking a huge meal for 4 people. Another year we went to a diner on Easter. I had a traditional ham plate but the others got what they wanted and everybody was happy. Thanks for the chance to win a book. Boxtopscrazy at gmail dot com.
ReplyDeleteour holiday traditions have changed since my parents passed. no longer do a big meal just mainly sandwiches. sheliarha64(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDelete