Christmas Traditions – Personal
When my kids were little, I wanted to create Christmas traditions that would make the holiday season even more special. I decided to make Christmas Eve a special night with family and friends. I planned a special dinner that I only make on Christmas Eve…Swedish Meatballs with mashed potatoes topped with sauerkraut.
When choosing our special meal I decided to make something that connects to our family heritage. Their dad’s family is Swedish and mine is German. Now, we don’t have any deep roots to our ancestors, no recipes passed down from generation to generation…nothing. In my attempt to do something unique and fun for the kids, I started researching foods connected to those cultures. Thus our Christmas Eve menu was born!
Though we are divorced now, I continue the tradition for my kids. It is still something we look forward to each year. The people gathered around our table may be different than before, but it is still a fun time filled with love and laughter.
For some reason, I have never remembered to take an AFTER picture of the meatballs!! Just so you know, after they get fried up, I put them in a baking dish, whip up some gravy, and slather those babies in the gravy and bake for about 35 minutes. They come out bubbly and oh so tender!
Another tradition that we started, when the kids were young, was allowing them to open one Christmas present before bed. That present is always matching Christmas jammies for them to wear to bed.
This picture is an old one, two years ago…we didn’t take any pictures this year of the whole family. Ginger, the blonde cocker, crossed over the rainbow bridge in early fall last year. Vinnie, the gray and white cat, crossed over in January. We have added two more dogs to the family and our other two cats were camera shy.
Want to make Sweedish meatballs? Here is a recipe you can try.
