In my last entry, I talked a lot about my family’s Christmas traditions and how comforting they are to me. However, I did not go into detail about the almost 20 year tradition that the Klein family celebrates. As I stated yesterday, our family would descend upon Grandma and Grandpa Klein’s house on Christmas Day afternoon and stay through the 26th. Grandma had a way of making large meals for all 20 plus family members, which usually meant LOTS of dishes. Once all of the dishes were cleaned and put away, it was time to start the next meal so that meant more dishes…a work intensive cycle ensued. But no matter the quantity of dishes, the meals were excellent and every one of us walked away from the table uncomfortably full, and of course, there was always room for dessert.
Following the passing of my Grandpa Klein in January 1991, Grandma, my mom and the aunts decided to shake up our Christmas tradition and spice it up. It was also in hopes of sharing the cooking/cleaning duties for the Christmas dinner. Ultimately, they decided that our Christmas celebration and meal would revolve around a theme, specifically an ethnic theme. Starting with the Christmas of 1992, we celebrated an English Christmas with traditional fare such as beef wellington and an English trifle. We also try to incorporate certain customs of that country such as for the English Christmas we opened crackers, the festively wrapped tubes of cardboard that you pull apart and prizes fall out.
Each year at Thanksgiving, the master minds of our family pull out books and various recipes to select that year’s country. Sometimes the country is selected based on the food menu or based on the fact that it is from a region of the world we have not covered yet. But, to be very honest, most of our countries have been selected based on the beverage of choice, for example Mexican margaritas, Hawaiian or Caribbean daiquiris, French wine, German beer, or Scottish whiskey. What’s more fun than sampling those great beverages!!?? A few beverages do remain ethnically diverse though: Miller Lite, Bud Light, Hacker Pschorr, and A&W Root Beer…funny how that works.
The one Christmas that had a different theme than the others was the 2000 Christmas, which followed the passing of Grandma Klein. I am not sure how the theme changed…don’t know if it was due to lack of creativity, too much creativity, adjusting to change or just because. The 2000 Christmas theme was “Christmas-On-A-Stick,” and yes, everything was on a stick…beef kabobs, cheese on a stick, fruit kabobs, carrot sticks, etc. This Christmas also began the rotation of who would host Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. Mom and Dad had the pleasure of hosting “Christmas-On-A-Stick.”
One other tradition within this tradition is related to the dessert. Now, I cannot remember which country had this tradition, but it was one of the earlier ones. The custom in this country was to hide a ring in a cake, and whoever had the piece with the ring in it received a small gift or prize. So take caution when eating cake at our Christmas because you do not want to choke on a small ring. Since that year, we have hidden a ring in every dessert to have a little extra fun and excitement during the night. One additional rule of thumb is to select your winning slice of cake before Chris.
Here is our list of ethnic Christmas since 1992:
1992 English
1993 U.S. Southern
1994 Italian
1995 Mexican
1996 Hawaiian
1997 Chinese
1998 French
1999 German
2000 Christmas-On-A-Stick
2001 Greek
2002 Australian
2003 Brazilian
2004 Belgian
2005 Caribbean
2006 Swiss
2007 Scandinavian (Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish)
2008 Scottish
2009 Peruvian
2010 Egyptian
2011 Moroccan
As I look at this list, I feel like our family has covered a great deal of ethnics; while at the same time, I feel like we have just begun. Each year we have put together some great menus, delicious food and tasty cocktails. Some of which I have added to my every day menu. While, some have been a one-hit wonder because of the intense work that was involved or because they destroyed kitchen appliances (Kurt and Amy may have lost a blender or two to making a cheese ball).
One other thought comes to mind as I look at this list of ethnics we have celebrated. Grandma would be proud of us for continuing this tradition and would have loved our creativity to expand beyond our comfort levels. As we prepare for our 20th year of ethnic Christmases in 2012, Dad will be hosting an Irish Christmas, and so far Jameson whiskey, Guinness beer and Irish stew are already being discussed as potential beverages and menu items. Stay tuned as we plan next year’s Christmas, which has already begun just days after our Moroccan Christmas.
Cheers to your family and your traditions! Hope they are unique and creative as ours or purely special and unique to your own family. Until next time, take care and talk to you soon!
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