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Festive Food!

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crostini

When I was young, my family had the same meal for Christmas that we had for Thanksgiving: Turkey, dressing, potato salad, macaroni salad, cranberry sauce, green beans, collard greens, candied sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese. If we were having a ton of people over, my mom might also cook a glazed ham. For New Years, she’d make a lasagna and black-eyed peas and rice with greens and cornbread, a traditional southern meal that is supposed to usher in good luck.

Today, Christmas celebrations are much simpler. We make a small charcuterie board and appetizers: pigs in a blanket, brie en croute, tiny quiches. We munch on them from Christmas eve through Christmas night. We get a little fancier for New Years because it’s my partner’s birthday. This year—Crab legs! I can’t wait.

What do you eat for the holidays? Do you have any food traditions?

Holiday Transformation

Our Christmas Tree. Every ornament has special meaning. For instance, we bought a house. We LOVE Rhode Island Comiccon, and chips are our favorite snack.

Like so many other things, how we celebrate holidays changes overtime. Elaborate celebrations become incrementally simpler yet more precious. Large gatherings shrink into cozy, intimate groups. It’s a bittersweet process.

We also change in terms of the gifts we give. Gone is the need to demonstrate how we feel by the caliber and expense of the gifts. Instead, we look for gifts with meaning. In both cases, getting a surprised and delighted reaction was the goal. But gradually this becomes more difficult. What do you get for that person who needs nothing and wants little?

The pandemic and years of gift giving set the stage for dramatic changes in how my partner and I exchange gifts. Instead of each one buying for the other, together we buy gifts we both want. Often these were experiences instead of things—a weekend in Rhode Island, a few days at a casino resort. When we went to stores more frequently, we strolled the malls and specialty stores looking for nothing in particular but buying things that made us both smile.

Part of our christmas visit. We may need a special table for this next year.

This year, we declared every package that comes to our door to be a present. At this point, the floor around our tree is covered with boxes, and bags and poster tubes. The funny thing is, by the time the holiday gets here, we both will probably forget what we bought. We’ll be surprised after all.

How do you “holiday”?