When I was a child I remember our family having lots of homemade cookies and a tree. Not too many gifts. I guess we could not afford much of that. We were a family of 4 brothers and me and I was the middle child. Now that I am a grandmother and great GM also we have our own traditions. Ham and scallop potatoes for dinner with all the trimmings. Sometimes on xmas eve we have Italian meatballs and cheeses and crackers and food out for snacks as you can help yourself. We exchange gifts on Christmas eve. There is a White Christmas Pie my Mother and I have made for years and it is a homemade custard with coconut and whipped topping with more coconut. It is just to die for but takes several steps to make. My Mother made lots of date filled cookies that were old recipes. I made tamales once by myself and at the time I did not know it was supposed to be a family affair. I made so much beef filling that I myself made 13 dozen, and I was so tired I never did it again. The tamales turned out real good. The black olive in the center is to represent a present.

In our family gatherings, we all pitch in and help cook. We have turkey, ham, chicken & dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, potato salad, macaroni & cheese, rolls, and don't forget the cranberry sauce! Then the desserts.....if there is any room left......

My Mom always made Stollen on Christmas Eve day. We went to Church on Christmas Eve for the Children's Christmas program and I was the organist (thrill for me). Then we would come home and have Stollen for our dessert. It has nuts, candied fruit and a really good white icing on the top. Mom made Stollen on December 24, 2012 and on December 26, Mom had a stroke. She died in July, 2013. I made Stollen last year and my heart just wasn't in it. I'd like to try again this year - I have all the ingredients. Maybe I will. But that Stollen was food for the angels. She made it so good! It is a recipe from my great grandmother from Germany. I'd like to pass it on to my daughter in law. I will!

Edie

Christmas traditions
 

As long as I make lefse for the family (Norwegian tortillas) everyone is happy!

I was intrigued by the cookie Cuccidati. Never heard of it. I thought it sounded very English what with the mincemeat and nut filling. What I found out is very interesting and sounds like a wonderful cookie. I will keep the recipe and hope to get them made one day. In the meantime the link is shown below. What I learned about the history is that while the cookie is a Sicilian tradition, its roots are in the middle-east from when the Moors ruled that part of the world and the original traditional filling is dates and nuts. I love mincemeat so will use that when I make them but what fun to learn a little history about Sicilian cooking traditions on the Quilting Board!!

http://www.americanfoodroots.com/recipes/cuccidati/

Correction. I said the Cuccidati was traditionally filled with dates and nuts in the original usage stemming from the Arabs and the Moorish influence in that part of the world int he 9th and 10th centuries. That is wrong. The filling was figs and nuts. Even moor Moorish!

Our traditions are nuts, candy, an orange, and an apple along with one small gift in the stockings. We had to wait until dad was up, dressed, and had his first cup of coffee before we could open presents. After opening presents, we would dress in our finest, then go to grandmas house for Christmas dinner. (Another tradition that started with me, is trying to get me to taste grandmas fruit salad. I hate whipped cream, and she used a lot of it!) after dinner we would go to church services to sing and celebrate the birth of the savior. Sounds like a Norman Rockwell painting, but I sure miss that now.

Being in the Land of Oz we usually have quite hot weather for Christmas Day however my grandparents were English and we have always kept the tradition of a hot Christmas lunch - turkey, roast vegetables, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce followed by Christmas pudding with custard and or ice cream. Afternoon tea consists of fruit mince pies and Christmas cake, tea or coffee - if you can fit it in.

Seafood is also a popular choice for Christmas lunch here.

We have always opened our presents on Christmas morning before breakfast then go to church before returning home to celebrate with our family and enjoy our hot lunch.

My family celebrates on Christmas Eve. I started the tradition of reading "The Night Before Christmas" with my DGS when he was only 1 month old. I brought a new age-appropriate version each year. They're too old now (15 & 18) to appreciate grandma reading that to them anymore. :p The last time it was read was a couple of years ago, when DD bought a recordable book and had the kids read the story to me. I pull it out now on Christmas morning and listen to it. I still get teary-eyed when I read it.

Another tradition we had was planning for left-overs while cooking Christmas Eve dinner. We had a lot of friends without family in the area, so they were all invited over for Christmas Day dinner.