With the start of holiday music playing in stores and big sales over the internet so begins the run up to Christmas. It is a holiday that I sometimes have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, once all the shopping is completed and the food is bought, I can relax and actually enjoy it, but on the other hand, the shopping and planning must start earlier and earlier each year if I am to actually get a hold of the things requested by others or the traditional items I can’t do without.
My holidays are an interesting mash up of British, American, and Italian traditions. When we lived in London when I was growing up, I came to love some of the traditions there which included pulling Christmas crackers and wearing paper crowns, eating an elaborate trifle made with fresh whipped cream and fruit, and reading Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas books. I wasn’t too excited about mincemeat pies or Christmas pudding which tasted a lot to me like a heavier fruitcake. But I loved some of the fancy chocolates. My favorites to this day are the Terry’s chocolate oranges in either dark or milk chocolate. My kids still find those in their stockings just as I did, and they are fun to crack open and enjoy on Christmas morning. The Italian traditions naturally always centered around food. My mom and aunt made thin and crispy orange and almond scented pizzelles and we had Sicilian fig cookies every holiday with a little Pavarotti singing in the background while we were decorating the tree. Sometimes there would be a pasta dish – a lasagna or homemade ravioli. But more often than not, we usually opted for the American tradition of eating yet another turkey. My mom changed it up though and tried to make it a bit more interesting than Thanksgiving. Sometimes we even had a crown roast of pork, but there were usually a lot of vegetables and always a gratin of potatoes.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the happy holidays I had with my family growing up. My dad always put a fire on and used these colorful crystals that he added to make the flames look blue and green, which I loved. We had lights and we visited all of the members of our family on both sides, and I got to see my cousins, which was always fun. We always ate way too much and would fall asleep the second we got in the car. What I remember is how carefree I felt. Of course, that is the perspective of a child being cared for by family, but everyone was alive and healthy and happy. Now, I feel that people are much more stressed and not just due to the pandemic. End of year work assignments, expenses due to the holidays and stress with family members don’t always make for happy times.
To try to lighten the mood in my own house, we try to focus on what is positive about the holidays. The wonderful movies: It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Love Actually, and A Christmas Story are almost always on in the background. And the music: Nat King Cole’s Christmas Song, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas, Bobby Helm’s Jingle Bell Rock, and Burl Ives Holly Jolly Christmas to name a few. There is also the religious aspect – the birth of Christ and attending church in all our finery. I still remember the days when I was an angel in the holiday pageant at Our Lady of the Fields when I was young. Such fun memories! Here in Annapolis, there are a few fun traditions too including shopping during Midnight Madness, where all the shops stay open until midnight in the historic area. I love going with my kids and posing for pictures in snowflake alley each year, while enjoying hot chocolate and listening to carolers. I also enjoy the Parade of Lights, where people decorate their boats with amazing displays of lights. At home, we usually buy a fresh tree. My husband, the Irishman, would have it no other way. I grew up with a fake tree and found it no less delightful, but John loves the fresh pine scent and tradition of picking out a tree each year. He came to the marriage with many more decorations for the tree than I had too, and each year he lovingly looks at the ornaments recalling happy times growing up in New York.
I’m already starting to plan the menu for our holiday feasts this year. Last year on Christmas Eve, John and I went to the wholesale seafood market about 30 minutes from where we live and picked up a slew of oysters. Inspired by our dear friend Ed, who fried oysters one New Year’s Eve to perfection, we decided we wanted to try it too. We ate them raw with cocktail and mignonette sauce and prepared a few oysters on the grill with Pernod and spinach and a shallot butter mixture. Everything was delicious. This year, we are hoping to do the same, but will also prepare a seafood stew. We have traditionally prepared the feast of seven fishes with my mom over the years, but the preparations can be quite elaborate and sometimes you want to simply enjoy the festivities. For Christmas Day, I have promised my father-in-law that we will make a roast beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce. I will also put out an elaborate shrimp cocktail, liver pate with toasts, and some stuffed mushrooms. There will also be a potato dish of some kind and a vegetable (with little to no onion). Dessert is still being considered. I normally do a trifle, but last year we did a banoffee pie and it was a big hit for the kids. There will also be many many cookies. I make so many I sometimes lose count. Pignoli cookies for my sister, rainbow cookies for my nephew, Welsh Terrier shaped sugar cookies in honor of my dog Murphy, chocolate fudge for my mom, and pretty much anything for the boys. John loves biscotti, but I might try something new for him this year. I bought beautiful decorations to make Sicilian fig cookies and my mom will make pizzelles, which I cannot resist. Everyone always says I make too much, but it’s amazing how empty the cookie tins are by the end of Christmas!
To me though, the holidays will always be about family and friends. I love receiving cards from dear loved ones near and far and donating gifts at the Santa Run in our neighborhood each year. This year after a two-year delay due to the global pandemic, we will finally make it back to New York. I have been to Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx during this period, but didn’t make it to Manhattan. With the tree at Rockefeller Center coming from my home state of Maryland, it seems like a good time to make it up. My dad always delighted in taking us to the city during the holidays and we will toast him on our trip. The kids are already clamoring for pizza and bagels and all the things they love about being in the city. My first stop though might be to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the angel tree. There are just some things that can’t be replicated anywhere else and to me, this is what makes it all special.
No matter where your holidays take you – I wish you the very best this season and hope you will enjoy some of the recipes I plan to post. I always make a special cocktail and will be sure to add it to what I intend to share!
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