In my family, Christmas Eve is a time for food, gifts, and laughter. My family, in particular my mom and myself, spend hours in the kitchen on both Christmas Eve day, as well as the day before, preparing traditional French dishes. Typically, Christmas Eve is held at my mother’s house, which is packed to the rafters with the kids coming home for the holidays. My mother’s extended side of the family are normally invited, as well as my mother’s closest friends. Which of my mother’s friends are invited depends on how generous my mother is feeling (Crowther 2013:165). We observe a large Christmas Eve meal due to my maternal grandparents’ adamant Catholicism, in which practising Catholics take part in calendar-based feasts coinciding with significant religions events (ibid:155). We normally eat our Christmas Eve dinner at a rather early 4pm so the young kids can get to bed at a reasonable hour after opening presents. Our Christmas meal centres around two main French dishes: tourtière and bouillabaisse. Tourtière, which is my personal …show more content…
The dress code for Christmas Eve is semi-casual, or similar to what one would wear to a moderately priced restaurant. The adults eat dinner in the dining room, whereas the kids are made to eat at the kitchen table. We do not have a formal or traditional seating plan, though typically one of my grandparents sit at the head of the table. For Christmas Eve dinner, my mom will bring out the “fancy” plates and the good glassware, although we do not lay out any extra dishes such as bread plates or salad plates. After everyone sits down, my grandmother will say grace, and then we will begin passing food around, starting with bread. We pass each dish around the table, except for the main dishes, which someone will dish out individually. There is no particular arrangement of food either on the table or on each person’s
Another food is stuffed turkey and roasted stuffed pig. During Miranda(a event where a pig gets fried) a Christmas party in thrown with family, friends and neighbors. Also, families decorate Christmas trees. On Candle day, which is December 7th, candles are lit in window sills and and in streets to celebrate December. Most of these candles are red and blue. On the 16th of December families, neighbors and friends pray for 9 days. Santa does not exist in Colombia, instead Jesus gives them presents. A way that children hope to get presents is on the day before Christmas Eve, children write notes to baby Jesus and put these notes in the pesebre (nativity). These notes also can be called Carta Niño Dios. On Christmas, which is the 25th, they eat leftovers from Christmas Eve. On Christmas people in the U.S. eat ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, ham, stuffing and bread. In the U.S. people decorate Christmas trees with ornaments and lights. Families also hang stockings above fireplaces, bed posts, stair cases, window sills, door knobs and other places. Also, some children leave out cookies for Santa, they also write letters to him. It is believed that Santa Claus eats cookies that are left out for him, and he leaves presents under the Christmas trees for all the good boys and girls, and if you don’t be nice you get coal in your stocking instead of candy. Also, a tradition that started in 2005 is Elves
... Religious Customs, History, Legends, and Symbols from around the World; Supplemented by a Bibliography and Lists of Christmas Web Sites and Associations. Detroit, Mich: Omnigraphics, 2003. Print.
Gift-giving nowadays is no longer an act of kindness, but rather a political measure, taken to ensure one’s status with one’s acquaintances. While the general feeling of "goodwill towards men" still pervades the season, albeit filtered through television and municipal decorating projects, there is a great tension that precedes the actual Christmas holiday itself. I remember Christmases of my youth as enjoyable times, to be sure, but also as times when it was best to stay clear of my mother, who was inevitably in
Of all religious holidays that have been adopted by secularists, one of the most popular would be Christmas, originally meant to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. With the exact date of Jesus' birth unknown during ancient times, Christmas was initially assigned to January 6th, but was changed to December 25th under the influence of the winter solstice (Nothaft 903). Peculiarly however, is the universal celebration of Christmas al...
When I think about Thanksgiving and Christmas, the first thought that comes to mind is the good food. Every year my family and I prepare many homemade dishes to celebrate the holidays. For Thanksgiving, my family and I will go all out the way in preparing dinner. We will actually start preparing the food two days in advance, so we can make sure that we have everything is prepared. The food is traditional with Thanksgiving, turkey, ham, collard greens, yams, stuffing, egg nog, cranberry sauce and sweet potato pie. For Christmas, my family does not prepare as much food as we do ...
Every Christmas, my family comes together to celebrate our Roman Catholic faith. Church is emphasized in my family; my great-grandfather would go to two different masses on Christmas Eve. My
On Christmas Eve, churches around the world hold evening services. At midnight, most Catholic and many Protestant churches hold special candlelight services. The Catholic midnight Mass was first introduced by the Roman Catholic Church in the 5th century.
Before we examine the new Christmas celebration during the Victorian era in England- due to Mr. Dickens, we must review the pre- victorian, or Regency Period Christmas (1811-1820). The Regency Period was the contrary to popular belief, early Christmas celebrations were very much different than the Christmas we all know and love today. This Christmas was much more boring with “Simple decorations” according to Paula Wrightston. Unfortunately for the younger people Wrightston says that a Regency Christmas was more of an adult affair. Not only were traditions and age requirements different, but the actual dates differed as well with the first day of the season being the 24th of December running through the 6th of January making the Christmas season 12 days in length (Wrightston). So far it seems as if dickens’ made Christmas much more enjoyable for future generations most definitely. Although the early Christmas was different, some traditions never change. One example of this is the Christmas puddings, Wrightston says that although the Regency era people did not specifically have Christmas Pudding, they had a more liquified version of this t...
Linguine with clams, or linguine alle vongole, is a dish that can be enjoyed on any day throughout the year. However, the linguine with clams that is had on Christmas Eve is much more special. When my mother makes this dish for dinner, she uses clam sauce with small pieces of clams from a can. Although it is delicious, there is nothing like the fresh white sauce my grandfather makes and the whole clams you eat right out of the shells. The linguine with clams we have on Christmas Eve is also more special because of the occasion. For some people, Christmas Eve is just a day to prepare for Christmas Day. However, for Italians Christmas Eve is a holiday in itself and is just as special as Christmas Day. What makes Christmas Eve special for Italians is the meal that is enjoyed on this day. The meal that is made on Christmas Eve is called either The Feast of the Seven Fishes, La Festa dei Sette Pesci in Italian, or the Vigil, La Vigilia. It is traditi...
Christmas used to be a time when families gathered and love enclosed each member. Meals and stories were shared and times were simpler. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mass were special times for families to sit back in a pew and remember the true meaning of Christmas as carols were sung in the high choirs. This serenity and peace seems to be a thing of the past. Now, people are drowning in the pressure that Christmas is all about presents, and that unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning is what this joyous occasion is centered around. Another misconceived thought is that Christmas has to be bought and given away in order to have a good time. In 2010, a stunning “4.8 million people [found] time on Christmas Day to go online and shop.” On the contrary, only “4.5 million people who attend an Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist or Pentecostal church,” was present in church on Christmas Day. The thought that shopping is more important than the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is appalling to Christians throughout the world.
People have celebrated a mid-winter festival since pre-historic times. They marked the beginning of longer hours of daylight with fires and ritual offerings. The Roman festival of Saturnalia -- a time for feasting and gambling -- lasted for weeks in December. Germanic tribes of Northern Europe also celebrated mid-winter with feasting, drinking and religious rituals.
no reason to get up early so they can stay out late and sleep late in the
We spend the day baking cookies, making fudge and preparing a big Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings. The children love to see each other. They spend the day playing games and sharing their new gifts and toys that Santa Claus brought for each of them. They get so eager to decorate, that it is hard to restrain them.Decorating for Christmas is so much fun. My father always draws a new background scenery, for the Nativity scene, that he displays, every year. He, my brother-in-laws and my husband start with the decorations for the outside of the house and the front yard.
Everyone has a Christmas Eve routine. Christmas Eve starts with getting ready for mass. My family is Catholic, so Christmas Eve mass is always long. Christmas Eve mass starts at around 6 o’clock, and usually gets over at around 8 o’clock. It is usually close to two hours long, but we do not mind because Christmas reminds us why we attend. I love Christmas Eve mass because of the music the choir sings. They remind me of the angels that would be singing around the manager of Jesus after he was born on Christmas Eve hundreds of years ago. The music is soothing, and makes a person realize how beautiful celebrating Christmas is. After church, my family heads back to
Soon, we all sat around the dinner table enjoying my grandma’s culinary specialties. There was one dish that had stuck in my mind though, possibly because it was the last dish served that night.