We all have some sort of Holiday Tradition during the month of December, so I asked a few of my friends to share with you their Holiday Traditions and a book.
So get cozy by the fire, grab a cup of coco and get ready to read some amazing traditions and some fantastic recommendations for the holidays.
Caffeinated’s Holiday Traditions
During the course of my marriage, we have moved six times and lived in four states. Before our initial move that led us away from family our holiday traditions were quite normal. My Mom’s on Christmas Eve, followed by candle light service. Christmas morning breakfast at my home while the children opened their presents from Santa. We took turns hosting Christmas dinner that began with an Italian course had a middle course with turkey, ham and all the trimmings. The night ended with coffee and homemade desserts from cheesecake to pumpkin pie.
When we moved away from our families, we needed to create memories for our children. Christmas Eve we have a traditional Italian feast. We then exchange presents from family and each other under beside the tree. Afterwards we nibble on Christmas cookies by the fire and the kids drink Coca-Cola from fancy old-fashioned coke bottles while my husband and I enjoy a hot toddy. We spend the evening watching Christmas shows and playing board games. Of course, now the kids enjoy hot toddies and someday Sophia will enjoy a special cola treat.
Since we live far from family and rarely have guests, I began cooking a huge traditional meal on Thanksgiving but for Christmas, we made our own traditional meal. We enjoy surf and turf with twice-baked potatoes. We will have crab-legs, shrimp or salmon with steak or filet mignon plus grilled corn or steamed broccoli. This tradition allowed me to stay out of the kitchen! I only need to prepare sides and we grill the rest. My husband has battled rain, wind, snow, and negative 22 temperatures to prepare our feast and we all love him for it.
After dinner, we all enjoy homemade pies and cookies by the fire as we watch the Doctor Who Christmas special. No one leaves until it is over, and I love that we are all diehard Whovians. Of course, there is coffee, holiday blend, hazelnut, pumpkin spice and more throughout the holiday.
Holiday Reading Recommendations
Two series really kick off the holiday season for me. The first was Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series. Her holiday books for this series set the mood for me. The stories were always heartwarming and each one featured the town lighting their holiday Christmas tree. After I finished reading, I was ready to begin my holiday decorating, baking and Christmas cards. The second series is Debbie Macomber’s Angelic Intervention series. You may be familiar with some of them, as the Hallmark Network has turned the books into holiday movies. I have read and watched them all. While these stories are faith-inspired, they are more about believing in oneself, taking a chance, and most of all hope. They make me all warm and fuzzy and fill me with the holiday spirit.
About the Guest
Caffeinated Book Reviewer is hosted by Kimberly and shares reviews, blogging tips and discussions. Caffeinated hosts the weekly Sunday Post and offers a chance to linkup and share news about your blog. Readathons, hops and challenges are hosted throughout the year. Reviews are from all genres in YA, NA and Adult. Monthly you can find recipes and book recommendations along with Nonna’s Corner sharing a book for the little ones. She also runs a monthly book club group.
Thank you for stopping by to check out today’s Holiday Tradition and Book
Have a great day!
Happy Holidays!
Your Christmas tradition sounds awesome, Kim! For me, the most important part of the holiday is spending time with family, and having good food and drinks on top of that makes everything perfect 🙂
Your feast sounds fabulous! Surf and turf mmmm time to get that grill out LOL. And Italian is always good- we often have lasagna at our Christmas gatherings. Good stuff. 🙂
Great post, thank for sharing!
I love your traditions! I’ve heard of the authors and their books, but have yet to read them. In the book lovers immortal words…they’re on my list. LOL
Thanks for sharing your traditions Kimba! I love Debbie Macomber!!
We do non-traditional Christmases a lot though this year we are doing the more traditional version as my aunt is hoping her son will stop by before he goes to Kuwait and he prefers traditional. I love the Debbie Macomber Christmas books! 🙂
We have lasagna for Christmas dinner. Seafood sounds wonderful… I might be thinking about that for New Years. Happy Holidays!
Thanks for having me Michelle. Merry Christmas to all 🙂
Awww I love your traditions Kimba 🙂 We do our own thing too at Thanksgiving (Mexican Food) and Christmas (Italian Food). We just needed something that changed with the way we celebrate.