1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child? Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends? Was a big deal made of the month in your family or town? What does your countdown look like now?
Christmas season was always super busy for kids. We not only had Christmas programs at school to rehearse and prepare for but we also had Christmas programs at church to rehearse for the congregation. December was a nice, celebratory month in my town but I don't recall big and ostentatious Christmas displays. It was a small town after all and most people who decorated did so modestly. We children looked forward to getting the presents under the tree each year and to having a feast at Christmas dinner and all kind of snack foods throughout the season. Our house was a place for relatives and friends to drop by throughout the day to eat and visit. This was the case at every holiday and mom absolutely loved having everyone over and making sure they had too much to eat. Mom didn't go all out baking cooking and sweet snacks but she did make a big batch of Dream Bars and also shortbread and sugar cookies. I still absolutely loved and still love Dream Bars and make them on occasion for the Christmas season too. A day or two before Christmas and New Year all sorts of snacks would be set out which including things like nuts and mandarin oranges (the only time of year we could get these oranges in local stores), fruit cake, deli meats, variety of chips and dips, smoked oysters, pickles, cheese, crackers and cheese balls. We had this basic selection all through my childhood and into adulthood too. There was always plenty of food.
2. As a kid did your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?
My family usually stayed home on the holidays and people came to us. These days, I find most of our relatives stay in their own homes celebrating with their own immediate loved ones or they travel far to gather with loved ones. After all the families have grown up with children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren so things have changed. I hosted both friends and local relatives for years but these days don't do much of it.
The snacks that were always out were mixed nuts most of which you had to crack yourself, Christmas candy (the red and white or green and white ones that tasted of wintergreen or mint, mandarin oranges, fruit cakes, Dream Bars, cookies,potato chips, pickles, cheese cubes, cheese balls, crackers, smoked oysters and deli meats. The only real baking was the Dream Bars which have a shortbread like bottom with crunchy coconut flavoured topping. I basically make the same Dream Bars but not every year and we have a lot of the same snacks. I guess the other home baked goods were the cookies, usually shortbread and sugar cookies.
4. Did you have a traditional way of spending the day with time to open gifts, visit, special breakfasts, special dinner, guests? What do you do now?
Christmas morning was always for our immediate family. The children woke early and excitedly waited until parents rose and said it was okay to open gifts. Then everyone sat around together and opened their gifts one after another while we all oohed and awed and commented on the revealed gifts, lol. I don't remember if there was a special breakfast until much later when my mother and sister always made waffles with fresh fruits, whipped cream and bacon for breakfast. Then we waited for the full feast at dinner. I still basically do the same but we don't have the special breakfast every year and I do not put the Christmas turkey on the table until supper time. Mother always wanted the 'dinner' early so it was more like late lunch growing up. Then we ate leftovers throughout the day and into the next.
