Are your holidays "Ethnic"?

[SewCrafty]

Just curious on how you celebrate the holidays. As we all know the USA and Canada (and many other countries) are the melting pots of the world. I love to learn about new countries and traditions.

What traditions or special recipes did your family bring with them to thier new country?

Do you still celebrate this way?

Don't forget to put the country of origin.

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My Mom's family is from England/Canada, there are certain cookies recipes that HAVE to be made for Christmas. Grandma's Butter Cookies, Scandinavian Nut Balls, and Lemon Curd Tarts.

My Dad's family is from England/Germany and it wouldn't be Christmas unless I (no one else can seem to make this but me!)make Aunt Dot's (Dad's youngest sister, now passed away for many years) Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge.

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Ok, who's next??

[bamamomto4]

We just have the traditional Southern holidays.

What sticks out the most is of course ham,turkey and dressing.
A few of us have certain things we make every year.
I make homemade pecan and chocolate pies.And a green bean/corn type casserole...it doesn't have a name,I don't think.Or the lady who gave me the recipe didn't say it did LOL


I'll post the recipe

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1 can (14.5 oz) French Style green Beans~Drained
1 can (11 oz) white shoepeg corn~Drained
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 roll ritz crackers
1 small onion
1 stick butter

layer green beans and corn in a baking dish.In seperate pan add onion, cream of mushroom,and sour cream.Cook on low till mixed really well.Pour over green beans and corn.Top with crushed ritz and dot butter over top.Bake @ 350* for about 30 mins!

*note-Besides layering the green beans and corn,I drain them both in a colander and mix them up a bit...works better for me!

[heaven]

what is shoepeg corn? sorry i have never heard of it. where can we find it.

[captclearance]

I wondered the same..... I have never heard of shoepeg corn...
We have a traditional american holiday here....1 of our traditions, although not ethnic, is to have dd make the decorations for the dinner table..she has done it since she was about 4. Now ds #4 helps her...... We have had some wild centerpieces nd decor, but I love it........

[dozymom]

Mum was of Scottish background, Dad was English and Scots. Both born here. So was I --I would count myself a rather typical Canadian

but I married a man from Russian parents, who escaped the Russian revolution with their parents to live in China. They (dh's parents) met married and dh was born in Shanghai China the year of the revolution.

He emigrated to Canada as a toddler in 1951, just after the Chinese revolution. They settled in Canada, took a Canadian name due to the intense dislike of Russians (my sister in law was coming home beaten and bloody for her Russian name and accent) and at that time decided they would go with a Canadian Christmas but still celebrate Russian Orthodox Easter.

So we are a Canadian christmas with my grannies scottish shortbread, a Russian Easter complete with the trimmings there, and we love real Chinese food, in fact dd and ds's first restaurant food was won ton soup.

It's a fun mix and works for us.

[SewCrafty]

Tammy - Thank you for the recipe, it sounds good!

Lori - I wish we had children to share the holidays (and everyday!) with. My furbabies love the wrapping paper and bows!
Your family sounds wonderful!

Dozymom - WOW! That sounds like a great mix! I am fasinated with Russian history. Just last night (very late) I watched a program on Peter the Great!

Thanks ladies, anyone else wanna join in?

[SewCrafty]

Anyone like to add thier traditions?

[lottaLove]

My family is French Canadian. We have a special tradition on Christmas Eve, called a "Réveillon" (read ray-vay-own). We go to midnight mass together, then the whole family returns to my grandparents home to open gifts and eat eat eat!

Foods that we would not go Christmas Eve without serving are: tourtiere (meat pie, very delicious), sugar pie and plum (rum) pudding. We generally also have a meat tray, cheese tray, crackers, raw vegetables, raw fruit, apple cider, egg nog, cookies and chicken wings.

The socializing with the family and eating is something I look forward to all year long! (the kids get to stay up late and eat sweets and open presents, so they're pretty excited too hehe)

[FrugalWitch]

My Momma's family is mostly Scots with some Irish, and English tossed in. My Ninny was a firm believer in "First Footing" on New Year's Day, which is an old Scottish tradition. The first person to step across a threshold on New Year's Day should be a man, preferably with dark hair, this brings good luck for the year. Shouldn't be a woman and definitely not a redheaded woman...that brings bad luck. I'm a redhead (thanks Clairol) so Momma starts giving me the gimlet eye and muttering her reminders/"threats" about this time of year to remember not to walk into the house first on Jan 1st.

DH is blessed with very thick black/brown hair so his job is to do First Footing for our house and Momma's. After the First Footing he and I usually do a cleansing/Blessing ritual at both houses for the upcoming year.

[sunshine]

As far as Christmas goes-- it's pretty down home American traditional. We serve just snack foods for Christmas though, as everyone just wants to visit and the little ones want to open their gifts.

We do "celebrate" Winter Sol on the 21st. Native American traditional foods-- generally either buffalo or venison stew, fry bread, feast day cookies (made with pine nuts - similar to snickerdoodles).

[mommymath]

We're a fourth-gen Japanese American and third-gen Jewish marriage.

We have pretty lights and a tree to brighten up the solstice, and bake a lot of cookies to send to loved ones.

We light a menorah for Chanukah and Santa brings DS a present or two -- and then for the New Year, we celebrate Japanese-style with a kadomatsu (corner-pine) for good luck; ozoni (special soup); and mochi (sweet rice cakes). I might take DS to the Buddhist temple so he can see the traditional New Year's blessings.

[danni]

My dad was born in Holland so we celebrate on the 6th and the 25th. On the 6th we have a buffet and open one present and then on the 25th we open presents and stockings and have a big turkey dinner. I always make ollibollen(tastes like an apple fritter but with lots of apples and raisins and then rolled in icing sugar) and german cookies(type of shortbread cookie and has jam in between 2 cookies with icing on top).

[leezza]

A few weeks before Christmas my Mom would get together with a friend of hers and they would make homemade, carmel, fudge, rockyroad, peanut brittle, and all types of cookies.......It took all day long, but was fun for us kids because we got to lick the bowls......

We had traditional American Christmas at our house but borrowed some things from family friends, Christmas eve spent with our friends from Switzerland watching them open there presents and have Boshtitilies (a type of pork stew served over pastry crust, Yummy).......Then Christmas morning my Mom would make Prune Kutines (a sweet bread with a sweet prune mixture on the inside) and we would have this with Ham, this borrowed from a friend from Germany........

I feel very lucky to have had the wonderful Christmas memories that I have now!

Kind Regards,
leezza

[Scattymum]

I was trying to think of the tradiations we have in Ireland and i cant think of any LOL.

Christmas eve the presents are put round the tree and with great ceremony a tray is left for santa and rudolph, there is a carrot for rudolph, a mince pie for santa, and a glass of Jamesons or budweiser for santa.

Christmas morning we all get up to see if santa had his food and drink the night before and to see whatever he left, while the kids play DH makes a huge fried breakfast, rashers, sausage, eggs, beans, mushrooms, black pudding and white pudding. after we have troughed all that then we all sit round the tree for present opening.

Quite a few hours later we make christmas dinner, turkey, roast spuds, bacon rolls, all the veg etc and then before we eat we always pull crackers and sit there and put the silly hats on and read the jokes in them.

In the evenings we would eat - if we have any space left LOL, Mice pies and brandy cream. In the last few years the TV will not go on as we have huge scrabble/monopoly tournaments

[SewCrafty]

Everyone's traditions sound wonderful, thank you for sharing them with us.

Okay Denise, I'm curious, what does buffalo taste like?