Food from Christmas Past

Many of us have foods we remember from our childhood that we enjoy eating during the Christmas season.  Make a list of food that you have had from past Christmas seasons that you loved using the Christmas planning form, Foods from Christmas Past, or a sheet of paper. Don’t forget to include your favorite foods from your aunt’s house or your grandmother’s that always evoke wonderful memories just thinking about them! 

Once you have your list made, make a notation if you have the recipe or not (if it requires one – some of our favorite foods are store-bought!).  If you do not have the recipe but want to make the item, go on a recipe hunt.  Start with your recipes, then ask family and friends if they have a copy of it, and if all else fails, go to the internet to find the recipe.Think about ways to incorporate food from your past into your Christmas celebrations this year. Make a note on your paper next to the item.

While I have several foods, I already incorporate into your present-day celebrations that I remember as a child, something I want to integrate back into my Christmas that we always had growing up was a bowl of walnuts (in the shell) and oranges.  My great-aunt Libby would always send a box of oranges from Florida every year because when she was growing up, that is something they always had in their stocking.  The oranges were something that connected aunt Libby and my mother back to their childhood.  Growing up, they would find the orange in the toe of their stockings on Christmas morning.  This Christmas, I will merge the orange tradition with a family favorite, clementine oranges.