Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Past what were your traditions when you were growing up?

When I was a child our Christmas Eve tradition was always to go in the early evening to my Italian grandmother’s house. The women and the children would play bingo and gin rummy for pennies in the basement while the men would play poker upstairs. We would snack on Sfincioni and my grandmother’s homemade Italian Christmas cookies. Sfincioni is like a cold Italian pizza or a cross between pizza and Focaccia. There is really no other way to describe it. It is served cold or at room temperature. It’s perfect for Christmas Eve because it can be made a day or 2 in advance. It gives the hostess the opportunity to join in the fun or go sneak off upstairs to wrap a few gifts.

At midnight we would all go to Midnight Mass at Immaculate Conception Church at the corner of KK and Russell in Milwaukee. Some of the adults would stay back and cook for when we all got back from church. After church we were greeted with Italian sausage and peppers. I don’t recall us ever staying to eat, and I surely ate my fill of Sfincioni and Italian Christmas cookies. It was close to 2am when we would get back from church and Grandma's house was filled with the smell of Italian sausage and peppers.

Christmas Day we would open our gifts at home, then head to Grandma’s house around 1pm. Grandma and my Aunts would prepare a Ham, mashed potatoes (my mother made them, no one made them like she did), along with spaghetti, meatballs, Braciole, Italian sausage, Italian salad served along with Italian bread, olive salad and fennel. As the years passed the menu shortened. The first to go was Braciole, I’m sure because it was rather expensive to make. When Grandma cut out the spaghetti one year everyone was up in arms. Even though us kids thought it was peculiar to serve it along with Ham or Turkey, we did miss it when it wasn’t served.

All us kids sat at the kiddie table. We finished our meal as quickly as possible because there were gifts under Grandma’s tree for us. Gifts were opened. After gifts we had cake to celebrate the birthdays around Christmas. And of course, more Italian Christmas cookies.

Grandma even sent each and every family home with a shirt size box full of her Italian Christmas cookies. She must have baked for months to make all those cookies.

Those Italian Christmas cookies were the best.

There were Chocolate Balls with nuts and dried fruit bits inside frosted with chocolate icing, Sesame cookies, Spritz Cookies, tri-color biscotti with white icing and almond slivers, star cookies with dried cherry or jelly in the center, pecan fingers, knot shaped cookies with white icing decorated with nonpareils, tree shaped cookies and star shaped cookies with colored icing decorated with silvers balls, sprinkles, nonpareils or colored sugars.

Tomorrow's post will be "Christmas Eve/Christmas Day traditions now", so hold on to those until tomorrow.

What was the best Christmas Gift you've ever gotten?

Apparently no one who has stopped at my blog since last night's post has ever gotten a bad Christmas gift.

Either that, or you just drop your card and move on and don't read/comment. How disappointing. I was really looking forward this morning to bunches of comments.



Why did you think it was the best?

Was it something you asked for?

How long ago did you get that gift?

Who was it from?

What's the worst Christmas Gift you've ever gotten?

Why did you think it was the worst?

How long ago did you get that gift?

Who was it from? (You don't need to name names, you can use their title - mother, father, son, spouse or if you really must keep the givers identity a secret to protect national security, you can use an alias.)

Tomorrow's question will be "What was the best Christmas gift you've gotten?", so hold onto your answers and watch for the post tomorrow.

Prop 8 - The Musical

You've got to watch this video. Jack Black as Jesus.

Nuf said.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

And the finale, I won't spoil it for you, but all I can say is awesome!

Not enough votes for Auto Bailout?

Auto Bailout Lacks Enough Votes to Pass

It is December 3rd. I thought this was an EMERGENCY?

I thought they needed the money this month?

Are they seriously going to wait until it's almost too late? So that there are even more repercussions in the economy?

United Nations - Protection Laws for Gays

Have you read this article from The Advocate?

Vatican: Gays Don't Need Protection Laws - December 03, 2008 - Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com

Wow!

If I weren’t so angry, I’d be speechless.

The Advocate article states, “The resolution, Archbishop Celestino Migliore said, would ‘add new categories of those protected from discrimination’ and could lead to the decline of heterosexual marriage, Reuters reported Tuesday.”

Let’s connect the dots. Shall we?

These new categories of protection basically are seeking to end the criminality of homosexuality. As The Advocate article states, “Homosexuality is still punishable in at least 85 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, and Ghana. Some countries kill those who are found guilty of such an offense.”

So if the United Nations passes this, then heterosexual marriage will decline?

I’m not following here.

How can the decline of heterosexual marriage be the fault of homosexuals?

How can saving the lives of the poor souls who are being killed for being found guilty of the ‘offense’ of homosexuality cause the decline of heterosexual marriage?

How about we blame the decline of heterosexual marriage on what is really causing that decline?

It’s called failure to follow one of the Ten Commandments…

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

President Elect Barack Obama's announces Secty of State

Ok, I watched President Elect Obama's speech this morning. (I had a bit of trouble getting video of the entire speech, but finally found it on CNN. Watch about 3-4 minutes into President Elect Obama's speech.

Why does it seem like Hilary doesn't want to be there? She looks angry, bored, even disinterested. Look at her face as President Elect Obama announces that he is naming Hilary as his Secretary of State.

Did she have a root canal before the speech this morning?

Did someone steal her kitty cat?

Did she lose her best friend?

I realize she must be terribly, terribly disappointed to not be our new President Elect, but she has obviously accepted the position of Secretary of State, why the sour puss?