Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Holiday Foods
This was originally posted on 2 December 2009 for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. Since the foods of my childhood do not change, I am reposting this. I never got the recipe from my Grandma, for the beef in this post, before she passed away. I have a cousin putting together a family cook book and I am hoping he includes this because I know he has the recipe, since it was his favorite dish from my Grandmother.
Day 2 of the Advent Calender asks: Did your family or ancestors serve traditional dishes for the holidays? Was there one dish that was unusual?
I grew up in a divorced family and we split our holidays with each parent. Christmas Eve was spent with my Mom and her family, Christmas Day was with Dad and his family. So there are different traditions on each side.
Christmas Eve at Grandma Richmond’s meant hot italian beef sandwiches. I am sure there was a ton of yummy food to go with the beef. But the beef was my favorite part! Sometimes, if we were lucky, the beef was homemade (and not from the Italian store)! I need to get this recipe from my Grandma. To this day, when Christmas Eve comes around, I crave the beef sandwiches. Unfortunately, most of this side of my family has moved away and this tradition does not go any further. Hopefully, one day when I have grandkids, I can start it up again.
On my Dad’s side, we would have the traditional dinner or turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, and I am sure many other good things. Don’t forget dessert, Aunt Betty always had homemade cookies and fudge, lots and lots of goodies! My goodness, did we eat. I love the holidays and these great dinners. I am getting hungry as I sit and write this….
