Christmas Conversation Questions ... take two

[Kim Loves Snow]

When do you start shopping?
I shop all year long - it's like a never ending cycle!

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Tough question but probably all the sweets...they are my downfall!

Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Which tree? :grin: I put up six trees and some have color but most are white

Favorite Christmas song?
I love all Christmas music!

Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Oh, do you have to remind me??? With SO we spend many hours on the road. Still trying to figure out how to balance the two families that live smack dab 3.0 hours from us in different directions.

Angel on the tree top or a star?
Snowflake on main tree, snowman on another tree, I think I have one angel topper.

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning?
Morning

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions?
A cookie bake although we all live far apart now so it's harder. My SO and I are making new traditions.

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas?
Maymont has a wonderful Christmas season - take a carriage ride (small fee) or visit their lovely decorated house for no charge! Downtown Richmond does a lighting which is fun as well. There is always that tacky light tour which was actually a story on HGTV one year!

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family?
It depends on where we are. I will sometimes do a lasagna but my mom always manages to sneak in a turkery breast "for sandwiches". We are really flexible and it just depends on who is where and what they want.

Fun questions! Thanks for posting them!

 

[Lana]

When do you start shopping? Always thinking Christmas

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies/Candies

Clear lights or colored on the tree? colored

Favorite Christmas song? Winter Wonderland

Travel at Christmas or stay home? home

Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Morning

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? Christmas Eve is at my house with our immediate family. I do the same menu of meat, appetizers, punch, and cookies/candies (that varies) and everybody brings a dish. Christmas morning is for my DH, DS, DD and her BF and then I do the whole turkey and meal and whoever wants comes back.

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas? They have a Santa Land for 1 afternoon for kids under 12. Very rural area so you have to go alittle way for the bigger stuff.

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, rolls, dessert (usually chocolate trifle but it changes), cookies/candies.

 

[Pam Spaur]

When do you start shopping? Generally after Valentines day

Favorite things to eat at Christmas? Chocolate, cookies, ham, sweet potato casserole

Clear lights or colored? Clear

Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night

Travel at Christmas or stay home? Go to my daughter's

Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas day

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? Being together is very special

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas? We have a community choir sing and a luminaria walk.

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? Ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, hot roles, and then several desserts

This is fun to see what others do at Christmas!!

 

[dreamto]

When do you start shopping? USUALLY ALL YEAR, BEEN TOO BUSY THIS YEAR. I'LL PROBABLY START IN NOVEMBER. I HAVE BEEN SAVING MONEY FOR THE GIFTS!

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? FUDGE

Clear lights or colored on the tree? CLEAR

Favorite Christmas song? SANTA BABY

Travel at Christmas or stay home? HOME

Angel on the tree top or a star? BOW

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? EVE WHEN I WAS A CHILD BUT WHEN I HAD KIDS OF MY OWN WE CHANGED TO MORNING (VERY EARLY 4-5AM)

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? NOW THAT THE KIDS ARE GROWN AND MARRIED, WE HAVE CHRISTMAS AT MY HOUSE EVERY OTHER YEAR. ON OFF YEARS I GET THEM AT THANKSGIVING. WE ALWAYS HAVE THE "TRADITIONAL SNACKS AND SIDE DISHES" BUT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I'M LOOKING FOR SOME NEW IDEAS, ITS GETTING BORING TO ME TO DO THE SAME MEAL OVER AND OVER. (LAST YEAR I HAD 3 SEPARATE CHRISTMAS DINNNERS TO ACCOMODATE 3 DIFFERENT FAMILIES) THIS YEAR WILL BE ONLY 1 AS THIS IS MY YEAR :grin:

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas? WE HAVE A PARADE OF LIGHTS

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, SWEET POTATOES, rolls, CORN, HEAVENLY HASH, cookies/candies, PIES, CAKE, PICKLES, OLIVES, CHEESE, SALAMI, FUDGE.

 

[give_me_a_latte]

When do you start shopping? Just about all of us have birthdays between Jan. and May, so I usually start on Christmas after I get through the birthdays!!

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? The desserts! We go crazy with about 10 kinds of cookies, three or four candies...5-6 pies, and a few cakes or cheesecake. Plus something yummy for Christmas breakfast...last year was pumpkin spice donuts. (this doesn't count all the goodies I bake leading up to Christmas

Clear lights or colored on the tree? only only ever clear. I hate colored lights.

Favorite Christmas song? The Charlie Brown song....where they're all dancing

Travel at Christmas or stay home? Christmas has always been at Grama's house, so I usually travel since I haven't lived near her in awhile

Angel on the tree top or a star? the same angel that was on my childhood trees. She's from the dime store, and her head falls off, but she's beautiful to me

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? the children open one gift each, and we do the pickle hunt on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning we wake up and see what Santa brought...then we take turns with our stockings...then after breakfast we start on presents, opening one at a time

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? I'm sure we do, but nothing stands out....because I've never spent Christmas anywhere else, so everything we do seems normal to me...

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas? nothing....we're a very small rural area

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a veggie dish or two, corn bread casserole, devilled eggs, pickled beets/onions/eggs

 

[Winged One]

When do you start shopping? Whenever I see something I know will be perfect (that may be before Christmas the previous year)

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mince pies

Clear lights or colored on the tree? Coloured but plain bulbs (no chillis or lillies or carriage lanterns here)

Favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells (but always have to have "Driving Home for Christmas" on if we are travelling, at least once!!)

Travel at Christmas or stay home? Alternate years. Stayed at home last 3 as toddler was expected, then wanted her birthday at home, but travelling this year.

Angel on the tree top or a star? Star - a beautiful straw one we bought for our first tree when we were smashed broke - very cheap but oh! so delicate

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Even later - after we go to Mass, do the visiting and get home with the turkey in the oven, so about 4.30pm when at home. PIL's house is as soon as you wake up, my parent's is about 4.30pm as well when all the visitors are gone. Santa presents are found as soon as everyone wakes though.

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? My Dad brings most of my siblings to the local city on Christmas eve when he buys my mum's present and buys lunch for whoever is with him. (I was usually at home being chief potato and carrot peeler and stuffing maker and last minute ironing maid - the joys of being the eldest!). They still do that - anyone who is at home on the day goes to the city and they have a nice lunch in a different restaurant every year.

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? Turkey and bread stuffing, ham, spiced beef, roast potatoes, either potato stuffing or plain mashed potatoes, gravy, glazed carrots and onions, brussels sprouts. Usually either melon and parma ham, or smoked salmon on brown bread before that. Always followed by Christmas pudding and a bowl of jelly.
And that's whether it's dinner in my mum's, DH's mum's or our own house.
(Although in our house, we have tried pheasant one year, and duck another - but went back to turkey).

 

[momtomaddie]

When do you start shopping? *Usually November, tried to start a little earlier this time.

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? *My grandfather-in-laws ham and of course the cookies

Clear lights or colored on the tree? *Clear, DH likes colored but I win!

Favorite Christmas song? *All of them!

Travel at Christmas or stay home? *We go to 4-5 different places but they are all real close together.

Angel on the tree top or a star? *An angel my great grandmother gave me as a child

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? *Now DH and I do morning, when I was little we got new PJs on Christmas eve.

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? *Mom and I spend a whole day together baking. We do Black Friday and we put up Moms tree together.

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas? *All the little shops stay open late and have hot chocolate and cookies for their "open house".

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? *Everything! Turkey, ham sometimes someone will have roast beef, cheeseball, cookies, pies, mashed potatoes!!! Mmm

 

[Syanda]

When do you start shopping? late July

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? eggnog and christmas cookies!

Clear lights or colored on the tree? when i was a kid we had coloured lights, now on my own tree i have white

Favorite Christmas song? le cloche du hammaud (I KNOW i'm spelling that wrong!) it's a french song on Celin Dion's Chrismtas CD

Travel at Christmas or stay home? we have been alternating locations since I got married 5 years ago. This year will be the LAST year we travel as DD will be 3.5 next christmas and we want her to enjoy our own christmas traditions at home

Angel on the tree top or a star? I have a star right now..but only because I'm still searching for that PERFECT angel.

Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? as a kid we did christmas eve, but now that i'm married i've incorporated DH's tradition with DD and we open family gifts on christmas and the ones "from santa" on christmas morning.

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? eggnog MUST be served when the tree is being decorated

What interesting things does your community do at Christmas? parade!

What is the typical menu for a Christmas meal in your family? good old turkey and cranberry sauce, all the fixings and pumpkin pie!