Tradition

In our family over the years we have developed many different traditions.

If you think Tasha Tudor style, that been our life.

Mama and Dad have gone out of their way to make holidays a special and exciting time.

And as with all holidays, food has played an important part.

Here below are some of the days that we, as a family celebrate in our home.

...

~New Years Eve~

New Years Eve is a big night.

We get pizza, snacks, root beer floats, lots of movies, games and stay up until midnight to welcome the new year in!

Some of the games we play are, Clue, Apples to Apples, Curses!, Chess, Card games, Scattagories, and many more.

Some of our favorite movies that we like watch on this night are, Bleak House, The Lord of The Rings (all three!), Little Dorritt, Master and Commander, Cranford, Arsenic and Old Lace, Suspicion, Gaslight and And Then There Were None.

~ Valentine's Day~

We make a post office box, valentines, and have a heart shaped cake for tea.

....

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~St. Patrick's Day~

"Follow the ways of your ancestors."'

-Old Irish proverb-

This, being Irish is a must-celebrate for us.

At our feast there is, corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, and colcannon (traditional St. Patrick's Day fare), lots of good talking-being Irish that's a lot of talking :), good music (The Chieftains) , and some dancing.

The table all set for this past St. Patrick's Day.

Colcannon (a traditional Irish dish),
with Wesley, in the corner looking like a leprechaun.

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~Easter~

At Easter time we color eggs, have an egg hunt, watch The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, have a small Easter service with friends, eat a big breakfast with cinnamon buns, and there is always a ham dinner (but not necessarily in that order).

A great cake that Wesley and Claire's neighbor made it for them,

and they brought it over so we could all enjoy it.
.

The littles colored Easter eggs.

The egg hunt.

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~St George's Day~

This was a new one for us, but it is a wonderful way to celebrate something with a medieval flair, and the littles love it.

.

The menu:

Baked Potatoes

Fried Pork

Rolls

Hardboiled Eggs

Soft Cheese

.

And we had to eat it all with only knives, because that's the medieval way right? It was a lot of fun though.

We had little bags with gold coins, candy and things as " dragon hoard " treats and everyone dresses in medieval outfits.

The table (with lots of candles, pottery and wooden bowels).

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~Fourth of July~

On the Fourth of July we often have a big picnic with lots of friends over, fireworks, and swimming.

Lots of food.

Dad's in charge of the grill.

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::Thanksgiving::

The table set with my grandmother's turkey dishes, that my Dad's family used every year at Thanksgiving, and now we use.

And here is last year's menu:

.....

Turkey

Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Apple Sauce

Cranberry Sauce

Steamed Broccoli

Baby Carrots

Corn

Rolls

.

Dessert

.

Apple Pie/ Sharp Cheddar cheese

Pumpkin Pie/whipped cream

Cherry Pie

Pudding Cake

(Dad's family always made this growing up, it is chocolate and vanilla pudding with a layer of graham crackers in between)

Chocolate Torte

And of course, lots of ice cream.

Sounds good doesn't it?

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~Christmas~

At Christmas time we start early with a gift exchange in the fall. We make lots of ginger bread, cinnamon raisin bread and cookies to give to friends and enjoy ourselves. We have a big tree the we string popcorn and cranberries for, and hang homemade ginger bread ornaments on. And on Christmas day we open gifts, have a special big breakfast and of course turkey dinner later in the afternoon.

Making gingerbread this past winter.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing some of our holidays,

and I would so love to hear about how you celebrate some of your holidays :)