This will probably be my last post until after the holidays. I have been pretty busy. But I would like to share with you some family traditions that we do on Christmas eve and Christmas. It's mostly food traditions :) Having Italian blood on my father's side, we celebrate Christmas Eve with the seven fishes. My grandmother on my dad's side always prepared the seven fishes feast every Christmas Eve. And I have such fond memories of the smells and tastes of Christmas eve. The reason behind the seven fishes varies. My grandmother told me it was for the 7 apostles. But others say it's for the seven sacraments of the church. Or the seven days it took Mary and Joseph to reach Bethlehem. Whatever the reason it doen't really matter. Because the outcome is a wonderful family gathering of love and food. Now, I am no Grammy. But I do my best to keep the tradition alive. I want my boys to remember the same things I remembered on Christmas Eve. So, what are the seven fish dishes you ask? Good question. Traditionally, we always serve baccala. It is salted dried cod. You have to soak it in water for a few days to get rid of the salt. But not too much. You don't want to lose that flavor. I am actually going to serve it three ways this year. I am going to do the traditional baccala in the red sauce, another in a white salad type, and Gazpacho De Bacalao a puerto rican salted cod salad. And we will also will be having clams and linguine, shrimp, crab legs, fried calamri, and octopus. I don't think that's seven but it is a lot this year. I typically do smelts too but they don't have them in Texas. I asked and got laughed at. So, they are scratched off my list for this year. Oh, smelts by the way are these small fish that are fried and eaten whole. Well, if you were a real "man" then you would eat them whole. I can eat them either way. They are soooooooo good.
Now for Christmas, we celebrate my husbands Puerto Rican traditions. We will be having pernil, (which is a roasted pork shoulder), rice and gandules, tostones( Fried plantains), and pasteles. And for desert, flan. The best desert ever!
So, I thought I would share with you some of our food traditions we do. But of course the real reason for all of these traditions is for the birth of our savior. Sometimes with all the hustle and bustle we forget the real reason why we do these things. I try not to forget or let my children forget the true meaning of Christmas. But I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
*This post is dedicated to my Grammy. Who I love and miss everyday. Especially, on Christmas Eve.*
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