Our traditions for C-Day dinner are a sit down meal with all dressed for the occasion; suits and ties not needed just try to remember what the day is about and put some effort into your appearance. One year my oldest son rolled out of bed, and ran into the d/r like the house was a fire, in gym shorts and bed hair. Before I could pick my jaw up from the floor to ask if he really was raised by wild ravening wolves, my mother ordered him back into the bedroom to make himself presentable. Incident now duly entered in the family annals, LOL.We seem to mix it up every year. If it is just dh and our own kids (all adults now but still single), we like to order Chinese Food or just make a bunch of favorite appetizers to munch on.
This year, however, we are hosting about 20 family members and will be making a Prime Rib dinner with tons of fixings.
Do you have a Christmas meal tradition?
Guests begin arriving around 2:00PM and generally the last ones leave @ 11:00 PM. Lots of appetizer platters and hot cider for grazing until 4:00 PM when it's time to sit at the dining room table. A solid 2 hours of eating and talk followed by a singsong of holiday songs accompanied by older sister's flute (keeps her from singing off key), a nephew's electric piano keyboard, and sometimes our Bermudian cousin's acoustic guitar. No TV on until after 8:00 PM and if you want to watch sports, watch it in a bedroom. Many of us live in different parts of the world and only get together for holidays, weddings, and funerals, so there is a lot of family gossip going on after dinner. First one who decides it's dessert time is the runner for the oldster's sweet desires which can be eaten where ever you want.
There are no food traditions beyond accommodating the pescatarians; easy enough to put more than one meat on the table.
Oh and the sit down meal has to have 2-3 courses: soup, main dish and sides, salad. When it's mostly the North Americans, I serve salad first; otherwise I put it out after the meat. Also must serve a bowl of fruit and unshelled nuts which can be placed on the d/r table or on the dessert buffet. Somehow this is a tradition with the Bajan part of the family; don't know the story behind it but it's comforting nevertheless.
Christmas Eve however does have meal traditions: must be gifts from the sea. Picked that up from the ex who came from a country where CEve was the big day as opposed to CD. Go to church in the evening, eat, open presents. To give equal time to all, presents were opened on the Eve and Day when my kids were small.