Happy with Christmas non-Traditions

Of all the normal Christmas “traditions” my family has, we only kept one of them this year. First, let me clarify the idea of “traditions” in my family. I wish we had more traditions, like Christmas pajamas and expected stocking stuffers, but we don’t. Out typical Christmas traditions are as follows:

Prime rib roast for Christmas Eve dinner
Opening presents with cousins and aunts on Christmas Eve after dinner
Midnight mass
Wake up Christmas morning to open presents with Mom, Dad, Anni and Grandma
Make french toast for Christmas Day breakfast
Eat prime rib leftovers for lunch/dinner
Catch a movie that night

Pretty much the only “tradition” we kept this year was having prime rib for dinner (that’s a Christmas staple!). Everything else was pretty much thrown out the window, which bothered me at first, but eventually turned out for the better. Anni and Morgan were able to spend Christmas Eve at Morgan’s house with his family for their traditional Christmas tacos and enchiladas (now there’s a family very set in the Christmas traditions and sometimes not very flexible about them). Anthony and Nina were actually able to EAT dinner with us instead of showing up for dessert (as they usually do for our family dinners). And my aunt was able to get here BEFORE 6:30PM because she got off work a little earlier on Christmas Day than she did on Christmas Eve… so overall.. it was a good Christmas.

Mom was too tired to go to Mass a Midnight (which was fine by me), so we ended up going to mass Christmas morning. When we got home, Anni made GF chocolate waffles..

chocolate GF waffle batter.. YUM!

Then we opened presents!

The MORNING tree...

Awesome "Italian" presents from Minh and a super comfy, cute scarf from Anni

I spent the rest of the day getting dinner ready, which turned out AMAZING!

The COOKBOOKs used for Christmas Dinner

The Christmas Dinner Menu:

Ribeye Roast with Roasted Root Veggetables
Garlicky Green Beans
Baked Beets
Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Creamed Corn
Croissant Chocolate Bread Pudding
Gluten Free Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Buttercream

The DELICIOUS ribeye roast... cooked perfectly...

After dinner, we all gathered in the living room to open presents.

The EVENING tree..

Grandma got a BRAND NEW 32″ LCD HDTV, that we all watched Morgan and my uncle mount to the wall.

"What's THIS???"

Didn’t get any shots of everyone else opening presents, but it seemed like everyone like what they got, which is always a good sign.

: Finished off the night with Croissant Chocolate Bread Pudding.. DELICIOUS!

Here’s a shot of my Christmas HAUL:

The 2010 Christmas "HAUL"

From Mom and Dad: Coach make-up bag and a camping light
From Anni: Hand-knit scarf and three flavored sea salts (Wild Porcini, Hickory Smoked, and Herbes de Provence)
From Minh: Marcato pasta maker, The Silver Spoon Pasta cookbook, Bialetti Moka 3, Illy coffee (I think it’s a hint that he wants Italian food in our future)
From Minh’s parents: 14-piece Pyrex round glass container set
From Anthony and Nina: two bracelets from SEED
From Di Nhan: $50 giftcard to REI
From Michele:Fiesta Head Chefs cooking utensils
From Angie: Cuisinart Electric Fondue Set and Melting Pot cookbook
From Lampa: Wine from Opera Prima and cheese/crackers/salami
From work gift exchange: Dexter Season 1
From Scott and Laurie: Beers of the World

And here are some things I see in my future from other’s presents:

A pair of homemade socks from Anni’s Sock Looms
Homemade icecream with Dad’s Cuisinart Icecream Maker
Beef jerky and dehydrated fruits and veggieswith Mom’s new NESCO Dehydrator
Home-brewed IPA from Minh’s Beer Making Kit
Camping food cooked in a CANcooker

Overall.. it was an AWESOME CHRISTMAS!!! and all traditions can get thrown out the window as long as holidays are like this. Now just waiting to close out 2010…