Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas Eve! I have to admit Christmas kind of sneaked up on me this year, and I can’t believe the celebration is about to begin.

The two things I look forward to the most during the holidays are spending time with family and holiday traditions. It’s always fun to ask people what their holiday traditions are. I didn’t realize so many people get a new set of pajamas!



Picture credit: aidanbrooks.blogspot.com

We do the bulk of our celebrations on Christmas Eve. My mom is from Poland where they serve seven courses of fish. This always meant my grandpa would bring home a live carp to swim around the bathtub for a few days before it ended up on the dinner table. We like to celebrate our Polish roots, but we’ve adjusted this tradition to fit our preferences and lack of desire to kill fish by hand.

Instead of the traditional fish courses, my mom cooks all of our favorite Polish food, including mushroom soup, pierogi, boiled potatoes with fresh dill and butter, Greek fish, golumpki (stuffed cabbage rolls), and kugel and makowiec (poppy seed cake) for dessert. Most of these foods are considered “peasant food,” so my mom would be so embarrassed to know that I broadcast that we eat these dishes for the holidays.

Following the Polish tradition, we also open all of our presents on Christmas Eve. After opening stockings on Christmas morning, we spend the day gorging ourselves on homemade cinnamon rolls and other sweets (very American of us) while watching some of the “classic” holiday movies, including A Christmas Story, Love Actually and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

What are your favorite holiday traditions?

~ Nicole