What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I absolutely love Christmas! The being together, the food! and yes, even the cold weather in The Netherlands. I love it so much that I developed my own Christmas tradition some 35 years ago and still keep to this to date. I buy a little Christmas ornament when we visit a new place. This means that once a year when we start decorating the tree, we open that box and all the memories of the great times we had in Holland but also all over the world ‘come flooding back.
Opening that memory box and decorating the tree really gets me into the Christmas spirit. When the boys were little, | allowed them to pick one little tree ornament every year from 2 to 10 - I also still have all of these and the whole eclectic mix together looks just wonderful in our tree (although the more discerning interior designer may have a different view - ha, ha).
Here's to friends and family. For their love and laughter we are truly thankful.
The other traditions are: making a Christmas fruitcake 2 months before and pouring a nice Scotch or Brandy on it once a week (with a little glass for the cook, of course) and making copious amounts of cranberry jelly (which I could eat all year). Christmas lunch followed by a long walk to walk off the calories and make room for some more deliciousness.
One final thing: our family toast. Here's to friends and family. For their love and laughter we are truly thankful.
Here's to all of you. Eat, drink and be merry. Keep safe and see you in the New Year. x
