We do traditional American for Thanksgiving and then traditional Puertorican for Navidad. That is: arroz con gandules(spanish rice w/pigeon peas), roast pork, pasteles(the carribean version of tamales---instead of corn, the dough/masa is made out of finely grated Yucca or finely grated green bananas and some other tubers that aren't common here(yautia---aka Malanga, aka Taro root). They are then wrapped in banana leaves after they are filled with a meat mixture(usually pork). You thought tamles were a pain in the butt to make!!! Even with the food processor I spend 4 hours just making the masa---ever peel green bananas??? The other sides are usually potato salad, pan con ajo(garlic bread), and for dessert arroz con dulce (a concoction similar to rice pudding---very sweet and made with coconut cream), and tembleque---a custard made out of coconut milk, sugar, and cornstarch that is cooked on the stove and then poored into a dish to chill and sprinkled w/cinnamon. In Puerto Rico they drink coquito(like egg nog, only has coconut milk in it and usually rum). Yummy---unless you don't care for coconut. It is a lot of fun for my kids to learn about the Christmas traditions there. They get gifts from relatives here on Christmas, and more gifts from relatives in Puerto Rico on January 6th---Three Kings Day. Sorry I wrote a novel about our Christmas traditions. Tyffanie

Oh wow...there is alot missing from the Death cookies, isn't there! I never noticed before and I've made this recipe countless times. I use the 12 oz bag of chocolate chips. I go big on everything! ;) Pat here is the Lemon Pistachio Cookie recipe from Mary. LEMON PISTACHIO COOKIES (Mary) 2 Cups flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 3/4 Cup butter or margarine, softened 3/4 Cup plus 3 Tbs. sugar, divided 1 Large egg 1 Tbs. lemon zest, grated 1 Tbs. lemon juice 1/3 Cup pistachio nuts, finely chopped In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, mixing until just combined. Add lemon zest and juice. Blend in dry ingredients, mix to thoroughly combine. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour. Combine pistachio nuts and remaining sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in pistachio-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press cookies down with a small glass to flatten slightly. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Transfer to racks to cool. NOTES: I add the zest from a entire lemon. And I add about 2 T. fresh lemon juice. I worked and worked on a lemon cookie recipe and it took me about a year before it dawned on me to add cream cheese which made the cookies just perfect. I have to admit they are the best lemon cookies I've ever eaten but of course they are to my taste and puckery lemon. Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies (My recipe) 1 c. butter 1-3 oz package of Cream Cheese 1 c. sugar 1 egg 1 TBL fresh lemon juice (you can add a bit more juice I DO!) Grated lemon Peel (I grate the entire lemon) 2 1/2 c. flour 1 tsp baking powder Lemon Glaze Juice of 1 lemon Grated Lemon Peel (I grate the entire lemon) Powdered sugar Cookies: Cream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar, egg, lemon juice and rind. Add flour and baking soda and blend into cream cheese mixture. Chill dough. Use cookie press, drop and crisscross with fork or press flat or you can roll out and use a cookie cutter. Cool cookies before glazing. Glaze: Mix lemon juice and rind and add powdered sugar until you have a nice glazing consistency. You can grate more rind and sprinkle on top too. Michelle

Cold Duck! I had forgotten all about that! I thought it was so fancy because my parents weren't wine drinkers. I do remember them drinking whisky sours with the foam on top and a maraschino cherry! Stacy, great photo! Your Mom had style. Just like my photos of my mother - always with the cig but it looked cool! We always went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, which was a candlelight service - even when we were little and we were dressed up. I always think I want to do that now with my kids but never make it for the midnight. We always had Kielbasa and Sauerkraut in the crockpot Christmas Eve and "noshes" my Mom called it like cheese and crackers. We lived in the country but there was a Tavern down the road which always had hay rides and hot chocolate and dunkin dounuts on Christmas Eve day. Desserts - hmmm Mom wasn't a big baker but her specialty was Lemon Meringue Pie. Sometimes Banana Crème or Chocolate Crème Pie and Mrs. Smith did the rest (coconut custard - ewe). She did make us kids Pudding in a cloud in wine glasses. I loved that! Christmas Day varied. Mom was Bohemian and French and Dad is all Irish so they just boiled something and then added butter - LOL. Kidding! Sometimes she did a fresh Roast Pork with Brown Sauerkraut and Dumplings (my favorite) or more often a Roast Beef Dinner. It was tradition for mom to burn the dinner rolls which I have continued. Another tradition was for my sister and I to get everything the same but different colors which we promptly switched. Always pajamas, underwear and socks. Now, my SIL and I switch off on hosting Christmas Eve for DH's family and Christmas we go to my sisters. I am actually having more of an open house this year so I am not sure of the menu. Actually I have an idea but need one more thing - will probably post about it. My sister usually caters Christmas Dinner - LOL - all Italian dishes. My son is so in to the holidays and loves to decorate. We are making new traditions. I love that even though he is only little he says things like "mom, we are going to do this or put this here because that is how we do it every year". I love doing little surprise things for him this time of year - even if it is just letting him have Reddi Whip squirted in his mouth for breakfast. We also always had bowls of nuts in the shell and chocolate covered cherries and mints and Irish Coffees and Baileys. With the packaging of toys these days requiring power tools to pry open the heavy duty plastic and then all those twisties ties - I think I will start another new tradition for myself this year - a mimosa first thing in the morning. Thinking about the bowl of nuts reminded me of a very unusual nut cracker we had. I can't believe I just found it on ebay! I have to have a talk with my dad when I see him this Christmas - LOL. Here is a link that might be useful: nutcracker

Start of the season...when 101.9 (Baltimore) and 97.1 (Washington) start their all-Christmas music around the middle of November...I never tire of Christmas music and love every minute of it! I just wish they played it until January 6...or at least through New Years Day! If we're home for Thanksgiving, we usually put up our outside decorations - lights, wreaths, garland. Sometime b/w Thanksgiving and December 6, we start decorating the inside - starting with our fireplace mantle. December 5/6 is "St. Nicholas Day", the children hang their stockings the night of Dec 5 with a letter to Santa. Santa stops by that night to pick up the letter and leave a small gift along with some fruit & candy to "tide them over" until Christmas. A week or so before Christmas, we all go out to cut our tree. We like to keep our tree up until well into January, so getting it little later means it lasts longer. (The tree in January helps lighten the drab days of post-Christmas winter.) On Christmas Eve, if our church has a service, we attend the service and then have my brother and his girl friend & her son over that evening. That night my DH and I wrap presents...well, I do most of them. I actually enjoy wrapping gifts, my DH not so much! We'll have a fire, watch "The Christmas Story" until my DH bails & goes to bed, and then I listen to Christmas music! I then "artfully" arrange the gifts under the tree and fill the stockings (more fruit & candy), turn off all the lights except the tree, and gaze at if for a while (I love it!) Christmas Day, is a quiet day spent at home...lounging around in our PJs most of the day! Back when our DS & DD still believed, they would be up at dawn. Once they were older, we had a rule that they could not wake us until 9am. They were free to check out their stockings, but they couldn't open gifts. Now that they no longer believe...well it's the same rule...not before 9am! We unwrap gifts and then I make blueberry muffins. That night, we have lasagna for dinner. The next day, we pack up and that night head north (western NY) to visit my mom and one of my sisters and other brother until around New Years Day. We decided when we had kids that we would always spend Christmas Eve & Day at home...no traveling until after Christmas! We wanted to spend it in our home with our kids. It's worked out very well. Christmas Day ends up being very relaxed!