Holiday Specials ~ Tuesday 4

Christmas is fast approaching for billions of people.

1. Do you have a favourite Christmas carol and if so is there a particular version you especially like?

My favourite Christmas Carol that I sing if I'm at church is "Oh Holy Night".  I love the entirety of Handel's Messiah for a concert and go see and hear it once in awhile during the Christmas season.

2. Do you have a special dinner for the holidays? What foods are included? 

In past years, the Christmas Dinner consisted of turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies like Brussels Sprouts, various salads, cranberry sauce, pickles, a variety of appetizers and desserts.  Now with only two of us, sometimes three, I've opted not to make the large turkey. Instead I make a roasted chicken but the others foods remain the same. On New Year's Day we often have a roasted ham, sweet potatoes or scalloped potatoes and various appetizers and desserts. The leftover ham is good for a few meals and for making pea soup.

This year I may not be making a Christmas meal. We're visiting out of town and my niece has requested an Italian meal.

3. Holiday movies ... which do you like to watch?

I don't watch Christmas movies every year but there are a number of them I enjoy when I'm able, such as It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, Home Alone and Home Alone 2, and Miracle on 34nd Street.

4. What traditions do you continue to keep year after year for the holidays?

Actually I'm in the process of doing away with most of the traditions because our family has gotten so much smaller and for years there haven't been any young children to celebrate with. The generic kind of traditions I've kept are sending Christmas cards, making handmade gifts (a newer tradition of about 7 years) and calling one or two loves ones on Christmas and/or New Year's Day.  Oh I guess also, we open gifts on Christmas Day not on Christmas Eve like many others do. I also decorate every year even if I'm not expecting to be home. I like to see the lights before and after Christmas but I take them down before the Epiphany.

Last year, I said I wanted to start making new traditions.  Depending on what happens in the the world, one of the things I'd like to do is travel to a warmer climate but it wouldn't be right at the Christmas season because I don't like a mad rush of people and a chaotic travel experience.