True Story. When I met Damien back in college- we had a big talk about the different traditions that our families had. We went over how we were raised, how it was growing up in big families, and then of course how we celebrate all of the holidays throughout the year. When it came time to talk about Christmas, we had really different traditions. First of all- my family always goes to 4:30 p.m. mass on Christmas Eve. His family went to midnight mass. I went into great detail about how amazing our Christmas Eve dinner was. We stick to the very traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal which consists mainly of fish. I have always loved this meal. I look forward to it all year long. We have shrimp pasta, fried calamari, deep fried prawns, shrimp
calzones, and salmon. When I said fish- I meant it! When I described all of this to Damien I expected to see him salivating and wanting to start the Christmas countdown with me so we could look forward to eating it. Instead- he said, "You eat what?" I was caught off guard. Wait a minute. Doesn't everyone eat this on Christmas Eve? We then went on to talk about Christmas Day and I told him how we always eat Spaghetti and Meatballs with
Braciole (pronounced
bra'zhul). He looked puzzled. "You mean you don't eat turkey on Christmas Day" he said. "No. That's weird." I replied. He then went on to tell me that most people eat turkey on Christmas (think Thanksgiving meal- just on Christmas). I thought he was crazy until he started referencing movies like
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (remember the turkey is so dry it explodes) and
A Christmas Story (where the
Bumpus' dogs come in the back door and steal the turkeys from
Ralphie's kitchen). I found myself dumbfounded. For all of these years- I guess I thought people just ate like we did in our family. It was a crazy
revelation and while I accepted that a great number of people across the country eat a Turkey Dinner on Christmas Eve- I was going to look forward to the homemade/handmade feast that would greet me after Mass.
It should come as no surprise that I was looking forward to this meal. Everyone in my immediate family and extended family wait a whole 365 days for this feast. Everyone, except my husband who has a hard time buying into the seafood fest. I don't blame him but I don't let it keep me from getting my fill! (Editorial Note: My Mom made Damien a 'Turkey Dinner' two nights before Christmas. What a gal! He loved it and I felt happy for him that he got a little piece of his own tradition, too.) Back to the Feast! What I love more than anything these days is watching Michael eat the fried calamari. He is
unstoppable. For a fairly picky eater- he has always loved calamari. Not just the cute little fried ring of the calamari but the tentacle part that looks a little tarantula-
ish. He must have eaten about six or seven calamari bodies. You can see he has one more left on his plate but it wasn't there very long before he snatched it up!
I love spending time with my cousins, aunts, uncles, Nana, sisters, parents, and friends. It is such a great group of people and it warms my heart when we are able to spend time with them. We have never had a small family but are definitely growing bigger. My Nana now has twelve great-grandchildren. Here she is pictured with them. Isn't that amazing? She is amazing. All of the kids were gathered here waiting patiently for Santa to come and bring them each one present. They had all been upstairs moments earlier and swore that they saw Rudolph's nose above the Seattle skyline. It was as if God himself ordered a helicopter with the red light in the front to fly in the distance. They were all freaking out and it was adorable!
Before we knew it- we heard the front door shut and the unmistakable '
Ho, Ho, Ho!'. It was enough to send everyone into hysterics. Santa was here! He came bounding downstairs to my Aunt Carol's basement and the kids were going crazy! Once everyone settled down, he started calling everyone, not just the kids, to come up and
receive their present and sit on Santa's lap. All of my kids are kind of in that 'safe zone' where Santa doesn't scare them so it was nice to get a few cute pictures of them with him. Emily was a little bit nervous but didn't crack to the pressure. That's my girl!!
Later that night, we all went back to my Mom and Dad's to kick off our heels and just relax for a bit.
After all, it was already midnight by this point. Soon, the kids were asleep, cookies and milk were out on the hearth, and a big magical night lay ahead. We knew we better get some shut eye before the
pre-dawn knocks on our door to come up with the kids to see if Santa had come. It was a truly wonderful night and I thank each and every person in my family for making me feel so happy, grounded, and loved.
True Story. When I met Damien back in college- we had a big talk about the different traditions that our families had. We went over how we were raised, how it was growing up in big families, and then of course how we celebrate all of the holidays throughout the year. When it came time to talk about Christmas, we had really different traditions. First of all- my family always goes to 4:30 p.m. mass on Christmas Eve. His family went to midnight mass. I went into great detail about how amazing our Christmas Eve dinner was. We stick to the very traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal which consists mainly of fish. I have always loved this meal. I look forward to it all year long. We have shrimp pasta, fried calamari, deep fried prawns, shrimp calzones, and salmon. When I said fish- I meant it! When I described all of this to Damien I expected to see him salivating and wanting to start the Christmas countdown with me so we could look forward to eating it. Instead- he said, "You eat what?" I was caught off guard. Wait a minute. Doesn't everyone eat this on Christmas Eve? We then went on to talk about Christmas Day and I told him how we always eat Spaghetti and Meatballs with Braciole (pronounced bra'zhul). He looked puzzled. "You mean you don't eat turkey on Christmas Day" he said. "No. That's weird." I replied. He then went on to tell me that most people eat turkey on Christmas (think Thanksgiving meal- just on Christmas). I thought he was crazy until he started referencing movies like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (remember the turkey is so dry it explodes) and A Christmas Story (where the Bumpus' dogs come in the back door and steal the turkeys from Ralphie's kitchen). I found myself dumbfounded. For all of these years- I guess I thought people just ate like we did in our family. It was a crazy revelation and while I accepted that a great number of people across the country eat a Turkey Dinner on Christmas Eve- I was going to look forward to the homemade/handmade feast that would greet me after Mass.
It should come as no surprise that I was looking forward to this meal. Everyone in my immediate family and extended family wait a whole 365 days for this feast. Everyone, except my husband who has a hard time buying into the seafood fest. I don't blame him but I don't let it keep me from getting my fill! (Editorial Note: My Mom made Damien a 'Turkey Dinner' two nights before Christmas. What a gal! He loved it and I felt happy for him that he got a little piece of his own tradition, too.) Back to the Feast! What I love more than anything these days is watching Michael eat the fried calamari. He is unstoppable. For a fairly picky eater- he has always loved calamari. Not just the cute little fried ring of the calamari but the tentacle part that looks a little tarantula-ish. He must have eaten about six or seven calamari bodies. You can see he has one more left on his plate but it wasn't there very long before he snatched it up!
I love spending time with my cousins, aunts, uncles, Nana, sisters, parents, and friends. It is such a great group of people and it warms my heart when we are able to spend time with them. We have never had a small family but are definitely growing bigger. My Nana now has twelve great-grandchildren. Here she is pictured with them. Isn't that amazing? She is amazing. All of the kids were gathered here waiting patiently for Santa to come and bring them each one present. They had all been upstairs moments earlier and swore that they saw Rudolph's nose above the Seattle skyline. It was as if God himself ordered a helicopter with the red light in the front to fly in the distance. They were all freaking out and it was adorable!
Before we knew it- we heard the front door shut and the unmistakable 'Ho, Ho, Ho!'. It was enough to send everyone into hysterics. Santa was here! He came bounding downstairs to my Aunt Carol's basement and the kids were going crazy! Once everyone settled down, he started calling everyone, not just the kids, to come up and receive their present and sit on Santa's lap. All of my kids are kind of in that 'safe zone' where Santa doesn't scare them so it was nice to get a few cute pictures of them with him. Emily was a little bit nervous but didn't crack to the pressure. That's my girl!!
Later that night, we all went back to my Mom and Dad's to kick off our heels and just relax for a bit. After all, it was already midnight by this point. Soon, the kids were asleep, cookies and milk were out on the hearth, and a big magical night lay ahead. We knew we better get some shut eye before the pre-dawn knocks on our door to come up with the kids to see if Santa had come. It was a truly wonderful night and I thank each and every person in my family for making me feel so happy, grounded, and loved.
1 comment:
I have to admit, we are turkey eaters. Occasionally, we will do a prime rib roast. My family always does fondue on Christmas eve. I love all of the different traditions each family has. I'm sure your kids will look forward to the fish dinner like you do :-)
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