Holiday Specials ~ Tuesday 4

Thank you for joining in for Tuesday 4, begun by Toni Taddeo and kept in her memory. 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 don't have a favourite version. I just love it no matter who sings it. I also love the entirety of Handel's Messiah and try to attend a concert to hear it every now and then 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 going to visit my niece and she has requested an Italian meal.  She simply loves all kinds of noodles and is looking forward to spaghetti.

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 34th 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 with whom to celebrate.  The generic kind of traditions that I've kept are sending Christmas cards, making handmade gifts (a newer tradition of about 7 years) and calling one or two loved ones on Christmas and/or New Year's Day.  Oh I guess also, we open gifts on Christmas Day not on Christmas Eve and I 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.  If we do start this new tradition we'd probably do it before or after Christmas so we can avoid the crowds of people and potential travel delays.