Holiday Traditions

I love the holidays! My mother used to go all out on Christmas. Some of my fond memories include tons of presents underneath the Christmas tree. No matter how tight things were, Mom always made sure to make Christmas special for all seven of us kids.

Me and Mom during a 1960s Christmas

Swedish Roll Image: Photo courtesy of http://meaningfulmama.com

One big thing I remember though had to be how Mom stressed the importance of sharing with others out in the community that were less fortunate than us. One of the things she shared was her famous Swedish Tea Roll. The preparation would usually be an all-day event with her making the dough and letting it rise before rolling it out and adding all the yummy things like walnuts, cherries, and topping with icing.

Mom cooking up a storm

Our neighbors across the street would also share some homemade tamales:

Mexican hot chocolate Image: http://www.restaurantgirl.com/

One year one of my friends from Mexico City had me over to help her made a batch of homemade tamales. It’s an all-day event but so worth it at the end!

We also had Mexican hot chocolate, pan dulce, sweet bread, and conchas too. 

Not only do we celebrate with food but our church has some lovely events that we enjoying attending every year. One is a choir production called Sing Noel.

Rick Denos of Mission Viejo and Brianna Hobbins of Trabuco Canyon hold the “baby Jesus”, Claire Himber, in this year’s Follow the Star event held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Photography by Kathleen Himber.

Another one is a live nativity scene that is held in the back of our church meeting house. It’s usually cold (well, for So. California that is!) but I just love sitting outside and having the story behind the nativity reenacted.

Here’s a little backgrounder to our holiday tradition:http://www.smstake.church/blog/2015/12/8/history-of-follow-the-star

What are some of your holiday traditions? 

Kim Baccellia is the author of the YA paranormal Crossed Out.

Originally posted at  http://lachesispublishing.com/?p=6781