“Christmas Traditions”

Kids, teenagers, adults and even grandparents look forward to Christmas

for different reasons. For some, they are just in it for the gifts, others for the money,  for some  

they’re excited to be reunited with their families and for the others, they can’t get enough of the parties and the  food that is going to be served. People usually go out of town or country for Christmas but, in our family we make sure that we celebrate it at home. Nothing beats the traditional way of celebrating Christmas.

There is nothing more enjoyable than sharing Christmastime with the people you love the most. Christmas is something we look forward to in our home. Christmas is more than a season of  giving of gifts ,attending of parties and eating our hearts out. It is a season where we celebrate the  birth of Jesus, the greatest gift we have received. It is the time to celebrate the reason for the season—Jesus!

Christmas Season is time when traditions are observed by our family. We usually put up the tree a week or so before December. By these time all the plates, decors and almost everything, even the candles in the house have been changed to those with Christmas motif or design. Christmas carols are played and we even have a compilation of Carols which we gift our friends with as  they enjoy listening to it. We also look forward to our  Advent wreath tradition, where we read excerpts from the Bible leading to the birth of Jesus, we light one candle per week and on the eve of Christmas we put the baby Jesus in his manger. Another tradition we observe is  attending  Christmas service where we celebrate with friends from church.

The most loved tradition of all is the Noche Buena or Christmas Eve dinner.  We have dishes that are staples in our family Christmas Eve dinner. It is something we look forward to. My grandmothers White beans with chorizo,salted pork and whole garlic and onions is the best!! The recipe has been with her family for centuries, She has been cooking it together with Beef Estofado  for more than 60 years. Her grandparents were originally from Spain and they grew up with authentic Spanish recipes, like paella, callos and a lot more but it is her white beans that we look forward to as we cannot and have not seen any restaurant  serving it.  The aroma of the beans cooking together with the other ingredients make you want to eat it now! Christmas dinner is composed of different kinds of pasta, but of course the star is our favorite, my mom’s  super ultra rich and creamy  baked macaroni. Although my dad’s spaghetti puttanesca is not far behind. We also have surf and turf,garlic butter mashed potatoes, mixed veggies on the side. My grandma’s chicken macaroni salad goes really well with the Christmas ham, Apart from the usual cakes, pastries, cheese and fruits, Christmas Eve Dinner is not complete without Fruit Salas which I have been preparing since I was 8!! No one makes the fruit salad other than me. I do variations and they always like it. Another dish which we prepare that goes well with Ham is another kind of beans, Baked Beans with Bacon and Brown sugar. This has been my dad’s favorite since he was old enough to eat.

Christmas to me is a celebration, which includes spending time with my family, decorating the entire house, inside and out, buying gifts. Doing the traditions this with the people I love is what means the most to me. Christmas dinner is special,  the  recipe of our Christmas staples are not
only formulas, but they are memories and traditions being passed down from
generation to generation. The tradition of preparing for the Christmas season and the celebration itself is something to look forward to every year and it is something I hope to carry on with my own family one day.