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Christmas Eve Traditions
updated: Dec 24, 2012, 9:16 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I'm curious what other Christmas Eve traditions are out there. My fiance and I are discussing family traditions and trying to figure out if we should blend ours or create new ones. What do Edhatters usually do?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 357094	2012-12-24 09:27 AM
Peak at presents and try to figure out what everyone got me. Then pick out the one I want to open after Xmas Eve dinner. Then go to the opera.
COMMENT 357102	2012-12-24 09:41 AM
When I was young and Catholic, we would always go to midnight mass then come home and as it was Christmas we would open presents. It was great.
COMMENT 357103	2012-12-24 09:42 AM
My mother is German so, every year we go to her house and have a simple meal of borsht (spelling?) and cheese and bread. Then we all walk up to the manger at the mission and while we're gone, the "Christkind" (Baby Jesus) comes and leaves a little present by the tree. The borsht is her own tradition she started and has blended in with the others to create a very magical Christmas every year!
COMMENT 357106P	2012-12-24 09:47 AM
Chinese food and a movie.
SEEDLADY	2012-12-24 09:48 AM
Drive around looking at light displays and playing old 78 Christmas Carols from the 40's--on a turntable!! Eggnog or Hot Buttered Rum and with brandy balls or chocolate covered walnut stuffed prunes. and a wood fire in the fireplace.
SBSURFERLIFE	2012-12-24 09:54 AM
As a new couple I think it's great to create your own traditions. My wife and I invite the in-laws and a bunch of friends over for drinks, appetizers, and desserts. The kids open their presents from the in-laws, then we all watch A Christmas Story until midnight. Christmas morning is designated for Santa and immediate family.
COMMENT 357112	2012-12-24 10:19 AM
Candle light service and out to dinner!!!
COMMENT 357114	2012-12-24 10:21 AM
Tamales and posole!
COMMENT 357115P	2012-12-24 10:22 AM
just make it up as you go along through the years--do what is fun and interesting to you, it will grow into something that is meaningful and anticipated all year!!
ROGER DODGER	2012-12-24 10:24 AM
Bah Humbug!
COMMENT 357123	2012-12-24 10:41 AM
oh Roger...I got over it.smile. I am ringing bells in Greenwich!
COMMENT 357132	2012-12-24 11:07 AM
Watch the folks fight...
SBVOICE	2012-12-24 11:16 AM
Holiday martinis followed by a candle-lite chicken picatta dinner. I've tried to mix it up over the years, but everyone insists on this favorite!
COMMENT 357135	2012-12-24 11:26 AM
When I was a kid we were allowed to open one present on Christmas eve night, but it was always one my mom picked for us to open. Inevitably it was a new set of pajamas, each time. Then we put on our new cozy pjs, bundled into the car, and she would drive us around to look at the best lights on houses in town, until we got sleepy enough to be able to take home. Got tucked into bed, and then she'd be up all night wrapping gifts while we slept, just in time for them to appear on Xmas morning.
SHOREBIRD	2012-12-24 12:04 PM
2nd vote for tamales and posole followed by a million tasty Christmas cookies. Piano solos and guitar solos by grandsons. And dogs who are trained to open presents. Cherchez la squeakers. When asked what he wanted to get for Christmas Ricky Gervais said "fat and drunk."
NATURE BOY	2012-12-24 12:09 PM
Lobster mac n' cheese for dinner every Christmas eve!
COMMENT 357145	2012-12-24 12:25 PM
Fear not Roger, I second your HUMBUG with emphasis. It's good to not drink the kool-aid.
COMMENT 357146	2012-12-24 12:28 PM
These days, I watch Christmas Vacation and drink a quart of 'nog. When I was a kid, we did the "one present" thing. Never a "Santa" gift because those were the good ones reserved for the big day.
SBROCKS	2012-12-24 12:28 PM
Big family get together. We eat tamale pie. We have had this Christmas Eve in our family for over 100 years. Great Grandma had a cook. She would leave a big pot of tamale pie in the oven for the family on Christmas Eve. Yummy.
ROGER DODGER	2012-12-24 12:32 PM
I wanna watch the Folks fight the only way Christmas feels normal 3rd the Hum Bug!
COMMENT 357150	2012-12-24 12:33 PM
Saturnalia traditions.... naked caroling!
SHOREBIRD	2012-12-24 12:40 PM
-150. Inside or outside? If outside please post your address so we can drive by and enjoy the "show."
COMMENT 357158P	2012-12-24 12:56 PM
When I was a kid my family let me open one present on Christmas Eve. They did not give any present hints. One year I opened a huge pack of C batteries. After my sisters and I opened one present each we'd play Tank and Pong on our Atari while mom cleaned up from dinner (something like liver and onions with stuffed cabbage or swiss steak with a variety of jello salads). Then as a family we'd pop a movie in the betamax, maybe Bedknobs and Broomsticks or Benji and enjoy the show until my Easy Bake Oven cakes were done. That was our intermission. I don't know how many times I burn myself on that thing.
COMMENT 357159	2012-12-24 12:57 PM
Way up in Northern California, on Christmas Eve we always had: - Home made clam chowder - Anchor Steam Beer - Dungeness Crab - Fresh Hot Sourdough Bread with the bread and crab from Buzz's Crab stand. This year we're having home made Cioppino in lieu of crab and chowder.
COMMENT 357160P	2012-12-24 01:10 PM
What 106P wrote.
COMMENT 357171	2012-12-24 02:42 PM
Hot chocolate and a fire while wrapping presents; warm cinnamon rolls just out of the oven, and a hot cup of coffee on Christmas morning.
COMMENT 357177	2012-12-24 03:10 PM
2nd the Chinese food and a movie.
COMMENT 357179	2012-12-24 03:46 PM
lasagna!
AUNTIE S.	2012-12-24 06:50 PM
I agree with 115P. Our traditions usually started with doing one or two little things for a couple of years, then as kids come along and grow, they turn into solid traditions that last for years. One magical Christmas Eve really stands out - when my kids were young. We lived in Mission Canyon and my parens in Montecito. Every year we'd drive over APS for Christmas Eve dinner at my folks then back home to Mission Canyon. IOne year as we were passing the creche in front of the Mission we stopped because saw that one of the sheep had given birth to a lamb.. We walked over and one of the friars picked the littleguy up and came to the fence and talked to our kids, holding the lamb for them to stroke. It was cold and crisp - perfect Christmd weather and there we all stood talking with the friar and stroking the lamb. It was really special and I'll never forget that year - I think the kids (now in their 50s still remember too.
COMMENT 357220	2012-12-24 08:38 PM
Tamales and Enchiladas!
COMMENT 357263	2012-12-25 09:00 AM
Sportsman!
MTNDRIVER	2012-12-25 10:32 AM
Whether out of town family are here or not, we usually go out for dinner on Christmas Eve. Last night it was Olio Pizzeria--great pizza! Then we go to the Mission and pet the animals. Occasionally stop in to a late mass either at the Mission or Our Lady of Sorrows, just stand in the back for a while. One ex-Catholic in the family, the rest heathen from birth.
COMMENT 357319P	2012-12-25 01:38 PM
hah--'heathen from birth'--actually that's me but from 2nd grade!
COMMENT 357339P	2012-12-25 03:42 PM
Being Italian and Catholic until I was Confirmed. I Then left the church. I went to one class by Father Virgil Cordano ( What a beautiful man he was) which was titled "For Catholics who have been offended by the church".(I had been offended by a sign in the back of the church which read Pew Rentals 10 cents) Meanwhile the priest would drive a new Cadillac each year while I had to beg for theater admittance if I wanted to see a show. I now refuse to permit organized religion to interfere with my personal relationship with God or Jesus whom I love dearly. I recall many Italian families getting together Christmas and New Years Eve and eating the traditional 7 different types of fishes and then falling asleep in a pile on whomever's bed we were visiting. Many fond memories

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