I won’t pretend that my family is unique, different, or weirder, but we have a few Christmas Eve traditions. They are mainly my rituals built-up since I got married having developed them over the years, but they have become written in stone. I do love Christmas.
The Butcher
I have a thing about getting our Christmas order on Christmas Eve and early is the name of the game and with a 6am opening, I will be in the queue just before the doors open what ever size. I am in the Christmas club, which I would recommend to anyone with a reliable butcher and if there is a club come on join it’s a no brainer. The last few years the queue has been relatively small not because the butchers is not popular, on the contrary the shop as not been busier but it is a bonus for me.
Mind you, I have an active imagination for disaster, something going wrong ‘what if they didn’t have my Turkey!’ or the shop shuts as they do a runner with my money or there is a sold out message on the door, yes even at 6am. I have to stick with the early morning shift.
Newspapers
I buy newspapers daily three to be exact and the only day you can’t buy them is Christmas Day, which sends me into melt down. So on Christmas Eve I buy six newspapers! I keep three for Christmas Day chosen after holding a draw the remaining three I read on Christmas Eve. I like to read papers but with my local corner shop I will have to be quick off the mark they never order enough papers for some reason.
Shopping
I hate Christmas Eve shopping, but for my butchers duties. In the past, we did a very early 6am morning shop, with the help of my sister and her husband plus my parents with mum at my sisters looking after her girls and dad here babysitting our boys. It was all to beat the crowds before the madness. Now the Christmas shops done a few days earlier and fresh food shopping is a Christmas Eve chore. I send the wife out with the boys to get the fresh bread and veg while I stay in pretending to tidy up and get on with things.
I get too annoyed to be stuck in some queue in a shop packed to the rafters, not my ideal way to relax. On the odd occasions I am forced out for the Christmas Eve shop due to my son David clinging to his bed I have noticed how quiet it’s become who needs the madness leave that to the people still looking for hat last present or a cheap Turkey.
Dad
With a reduced bus service he will probably come over on the bus for a visit when he was young and sprightly he would come up every Christmas Day at around 7am. Early yes, but I enjoyed seeing him and mum loved not having him under her feet. Afterwards he would visit my sisters on his way home.
He will wander home on Christmas Eve with a few goodies and later the possibility of a double visit to church, 7pm and midnight mass. My sister will take him up the cemetery
Takeaway
I do not like cooking on Christmas Eve who does Christmas Day is enough for anyone. So it will be takeaway I do love the thought of someone else cooking for me while I sit back watching TV with a drink in my hand.
Over the years, it as been a Chinese our prefer takeaway but we broke our tradition a number of years ago transferring to an Indian takeaway which, is much more expensive but ruddy beautiful. We use Love Curry
Christmas Menu: Breakfast
Christmas Breakfast is a hit or miss these days at Dugdale Towers back in the day when our kids were young they would wait excitedly on the fried gammon bap with a Turkey in the oven and the gammon frying the house would smell like heaven.
Now we have nothing special for Christmas breakfast we are lucky if we see our now grown up sons before dinner and after the giant takeaway the evening before food is the last thing on our minds. Maybe for this Christmas I will reinstate the gammon bap for old times’ sake and bung in a sausage.
Christmas Dinner
When do you sit down to Christmas? Here it has always been between 12:30 and 1:15 the time was set in stone by mum ever since I can remember same with Sunday dinner. At the moment just the wife and I plus two of our sons will be here for Christmas Dinner we will have to wait and see on our eldest he may or may not appear or just drop in to collect his presents but will he stay for dinner? Youngest son doesn’t like Christmas Dinner or pretty much anything and will settle for a plate of pigs in blankets, I know but that is it in a nut shell.
Teatime
With lots of Turkey, left it can only be sandwiches! I will go for Turkey and tomatoes that helps with the dryness of the Turkey With the rest of the Turkey in a curry for Boxing Day doesn’t everyone have a curry with their leftover Turkey.
That is Christmas for me other any watching to lot of TV I will class it a Good Christmas if everyone is happy. After Boxing Day we will start saving for Christmas 2019 like we do every year people are OCD about many things with me its Christmas.
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