July 6, 2021

The Christmas Eve Tradition 2014

16  comments

I’m not sure where to even start and stop with this post.  How does one even start to describe the festivity, the joy, the love, and the incredible amount of delicious food that is in our home on Christmas Eve, my favorite day of the year?! We always celebrate in style, and this year was no exception.  
Chels worked her wonders decorating the table.  By the time she was done it looked like this:
The color scheme was simple black and white, with elegant place settings…..
…..and a profusion of white candles.
Throughout the day all sorts of delicious concoctions were being assembled.
Our time cooking together was a riot of delight!  There was much good natured banter and cooking tips passed all ’round.:)
Even the youngest were allowed to pick a dish and try their hand at gourmet cooking.
On our chalkboard door, I scripted the classic phrase that exemplifies what Christmas is all about.
These guys can cook up some seriously delish “victuals”!!!
The coffee pot (backround) was kept busy by Carson as he supplied us with fresh coffee throughout the day.  
The time spent together was truly the best part of the day.
Here is Carson making “THE” onion rings.  Yes, there is a story……A few years ago Carson tried deep fried onion rings for our Christmas Eve celebration and they were tremendously enjoyed.  As in THE. BEST. EVER.  He has made onion rings (or fried shrimp) every year since.  This year when we were all discussing what to make, he said something like, “I think maybe I will try something different this year.  I wouldn’t have to do onion rings.  Maybe I shouldn’t be so boring.”  At which a loud chorus of dissenting voices arose and would not be quieted until Carson agreed to “fry”.  We thence all murmured our thankful approval and gave ourselves up to visions of golden piles of onion rings.  The end.:)
It is fun to see the little ones improve year by year in their culinary skills.  They are really quite creative!

Even little Rebecca helped with the preparations.

Dad poured the sparkling juice.

Seriously……these two.:)  They keep things alternating between very intense and very humorous!

Doesn’t this look like a fine dining experience?  

I shall introduce you to each of the scrumptious dishes that graced our table.  And let me say, I cannot even describe how utterly tasty each and every dush was, and how our taste buds (and tummies:) throbbed with enjoyment all evening long.  First….meet Chelsy’s Italian Potato Skins.

THE Onion Rings (Carson)

Creamy Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms (Denver)

Zesty Quesadillas Deluxe (Taylor)

Marinated Kebabs (Elizabeth)

Bacon/Leek/Mozzarella  Bruschetta Bites (Chelsy)
Cripsy Oven Baked Scallops (Mitchell & Hudson)
Queso Fundida (Joshua)
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (Taylor)
Espresso and Vanilla Cheesecake Truffles (Allison & Rebecca)
Lemon Curd & Berry Crepes (Mother & Allison)
We put lemon curd filling in the crepes, topped with some berries, and rolled it all up.  
Elizabeth helped assemble the crepes when dessert time arrived.
the ladies, setting out the food on the table

There are always last minute preparations to do and then finally…….

………….it’s all ready and we do a quick group photo before turning off the lights and enjoying our candlelit dinner.

Sometimes I feel like we should take a picture like this every single week because some people’s heights are changing just about that fast! Here were are, youngest to oldest…

…and shortest to tallest. The females in our family are involved in a losing battle. =)

After dinner, there was clean-up……

…..a few more photos……

…..and games!

We played a super competitive version of “Spoons” that involved the people who got “out” not being allowed to talk.  Then if you were “out” and got someone that was still “in” to talk, you switched places with them.  It was hilarious!

Finally, there was “Take One” for those who desired a bit more brain stimulation before calling it a night.  We all finally went to bed somewhere around midnight, most of us sleeping on the floor (another Christmas Eve tradition).

I think this quote says it so well, “Christmas presents come and go, but Christmas memories last a lifetime.”  

-posted by Allison


Tags

christmas, family, food, home, memories


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  1. Uhmm. Interesting Did mean say buttery an not utterly the test was lol an don't worry ur alone cuz don't speed stuff or forget to put letters I. Words all of the time so it's ok buddy even it is shortage of funny thou when but in a blog like this thou lol an love post yummy looking food an fun Post lov Ashley Evans hugs lov u guys an God bless u guys=)

  2. Allison…Yay for this post! I love that you have this tradition…This is one of my favorite posts to read:)
    The "height battle" picture is pretty funny:) I guess Denver grew since family camp?-cause I don't think he was taller than Chels then:) All of the special dishes that were created look amazing and delicious!
    Thank you for sharing about your Christmas Eve dinner. Your family is such a blessing and I love how all of your pictures have siblings working together and lovin' it! Thanks for your good example!
    ~Blessings…and I apologize for the lengthy comment=)
    {your family picture is beautiful, by the way}

  3. My family has the same Christmas Eve tradition! Although we don't tend to go quite as gourmet. I had to laugh at the onion ring story – one year several of us decided to try new recipes, and at the end of the night we agreed it just was NOT the same! That was the last year we tried that 🙂

  4. Hey guys I won when are u guys going to be posting the full tour schedule an also wonder going to post from ur tours from this month also I really want a day in the life on the bus to so yea love Ashley Evans hugs. Lov u guys an God bless u guys=)

  5. Oh this is our families favorite post of the year….Smile
    We talked about it over our family dinner "talk" time as we had just looked at it! Can you related….all of us 'chattering' away about our friends and what we like the best? Ha Smile
    Looks like yet another year of yummy foods, beautiful décor, family love and most of all "memories made" time "TOGETHER"! Yes, we have this moment!
    Love you all & praying for your travels, ministry, health and more memories' made!
    Blessings~ The Mayo family
    P.S. The height pic's…(sniff)

  6. Adore this idea! The cooking creations look absolutely scrumptious and the memories sound even sweeter. 🙂 Excited to try the new twist on spoons with our family – sounds like such a blast! And ah, yes, I can resonate with the "shrinking sisters" thing. 🙂 These recaps are so fun to read -> you girls are on a roll w/blogging. 🙂 Blessings!

  7. Hi Mel,

    Actually, we are blessed with a large kitchen, but we also aren't usually all in there at once.:) Since we cook the Christmas Eve dinner all day long, different ones of us are in and out of the kitchen at various times.

    Allison

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