christmas recipes

As the holidays draw closer, families gather around the dinning room and kitchen tables to plan their holiday menus. The yearly ritual of gathering together the family recipes to slowly read and remember each holiday meal; discussing who attended, what dishes were included, what was good and what was awful. The holiday meal preparation is never more pondered than in those first few weeks of November and December when the hosts and hostess across the America begin to plan their Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes.

Out With The Old And In With The New?

Thanksgiving Turkeys and Christmas Ham, Roasted Prime Rib or Roasted Lamb, the list for a main course depends as much on personal taste as it does family history. Christmas recipes are often handed down from family member to family member and it is often considered a crime to try anything new or original at a holiday table.

For many families, the oldest female within the family clan is the one responsible for the holiday dinner. As the matriarch of the family, she is empowered to create the menu, assign the side dishes to children and in-laws accordingly and to determine which Christmas recipes will be used for the meal preparation. This is not always an easy job but most women that assume the role have spent years being prepared for this enormous responsibility.

Pastries, Pies or Spice Cakes Which One Will Grace Your Holiday Dessert Table

Christmas recipes for cakes, pies and all things sweet are just another of the family secrets that are best kept quiet in order to prevent a family feud. If you are someone that enjoys trying new and exciting Christmas recipes, it is best to create the old family standbys and then supplement with the new recipes. By make the extra effort to provide both the traditional and the experimental, you will be leaving yourself an out if Aunt Mabel goes ballistic when her Pecan Pie has not been served according to her Christmas recipe.

NO Matter Which Christmas Recipe You Prepare, The Family Will Still Gather For The Holidays

Christmas recipes are built upon traditions, long family traditions that grow and change with each new generation. As the world becomes more health conscious, recipes change to accommodate the healthy changes we each make in our own dietary guidelines. It isn’t sinful to modify or adjust a family recipe as long as you keep a copy of the original.

One of my most treasured possessions is a recipe card that is written in my grandmother’s handwriting. It is a simple recipe but to me it is one of the greatest treasures of the world because she wrote it out for me when I was ten years old. I have kept that recipe, through all my life experiences, since she passed away over thirty years ago.

Christmas recipes are not treasures only because they provide an ingredients list and directions but because they are a hand written expression of all the love and creativity that went into the making of the notes and the dinners so many years before.

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