NH CHRISTMAS,HANUKKAH,KWANZAA,HOLIDAY EATS,TREATS,RECIPES & TRADITIONS!PLEASE SHARE what do NH people do to celebrate? (fit in, 2009)

[countrylv22]

HELLO NH FORUM FRIENDS!!!

I was hoping that we could ALL SHARE NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW ENGLAND!! HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

EATSTREATSRECIPES


WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY DO TO CELEBRATE?


If you moved recently, what TRADITIONS are you

bringing over to CELEBRATE?


WHAT DOES THE HOLIDAY SEASON MEAN TO YOU?


I personally celebrate CHRISTMAS, and we have a CHRISTMAS EVE

DINNER, and we also have a CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER

CELEBRATION as well!

And my family celebrates the 12 DAYS of CHRISTMAS from

DECEMBER 25th all the way until JANUARY 6th,

the day the THREE WISE MEN visited BABY JESUS.


I wanted to WISH ALL of the NH FRIENDS a WONDERFUL

HOLIDAY SEASON!!! Whether you live in NH, or you are planning

on moving to NH, and or to NEW ENGLAND!

I THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WONDERFUL & HELPFUL POSTS

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!!Thank you for all of the HELP &

information you provide everyone stopping by.



HAPPY HANNUKAH to ALL of our

JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS, and this year it is

celebrated from DECEMBER 21 through DECEMBER 29

BEST OF WISHES, PEACE & BLESSINGS!!TO YOU & YOURS!

SHALOM!!



And to those that celebrate CHRISTMAS

DECEMBER 25th

HAVE yourself a VERY MERRYMERRY

MERRYCHRISTMAS!!!

May this magical time of the year bring you

and your loved ones a very BLESSED CHRISTmas

FULL OF LOVE JOY HAPPINESS PEACE HEALTH,

and PROSPERITY for 2009!!ENJOY YOUR LOVED ONES, FRIENDS,

NEIGHBORSAND MAY YOU BE HEALTHY & HAPPY!!



HAPPY KWANZAA

KWANZAAis celebrated from DECEMBER 26 through JANUARY 1

PEACE & PROSPERITY TO YOU & YOUR LOVED ONES!!

I WISH YOU ALL A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

BLESSINGS,PEACE,CHEERS TO ALL!!!



Regardless of what HOLIDAY you celebrate, PLEASE

REMEMBER the LESS FORTUNATE around us, especially in these

tough economic times!ITS A TIME TO SHARE, TO GIVE

OF OURSELVES, OF OUR TIME to others in need!!!




I am sending you ALL GREAT CHEER!!!

AND MY BEST OF WISHES FOR YOU & YOURS!

HOMEMADEEGGNOG KAHLUA BAILEYS COOKIES GOING

YOUR WAY!!Some MISTLETOE And LOTS OF

SMILES!!! Regardless of the conditions we might be facing

CHEER UP NEW HAMPSHIRE!!!THINGS WILL GET BETTER!!!

MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALL!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY NH FORUM FRIENDS!!

CHEERS!!PEACE!

GOD BLESS!

((HUGS))

COUNTRYLV22

[renlouis]

Great Thread Country! I'm always interested to hear how others celebrate and sometimes find new ideas to try with my family. My husband is Jewish and I was raised Methodist, so my lucky daughters get to celebrate both hannukah and Christmas! We decorate the house with both a Christmas tree and Hannukah decorations - it's kind of a multi-cultural fiesta! We celebrate each night of Hannukah (which always starts sometime before Christmas) by lighting the menorah with prayer after dinner. Then the girls go sit at the kitchen table, cover their eyes and wait for dad to go get them their gift - even at ages 10 and 13, they still are excited and have trouble sitting still while they are waiting! Christmas Eve we usually go to church with my family and then off to bed so Santa can come (last year was the first year they both know the real deal, but they still kind of pretend to believe - just in case!) Then Christmas morning, the excitement of opening gifts, then getting together with local family and eating a big meal. It's a very exciting December in our house!!

[notdancingqueen]

Depends on whose family we're with! I'm Italian and my father likes to do the "feast of the seven fishes" on Christmas Eve. Techcnially I think its supposed to e seven different seafood dishes but the ice storm set me back so we are cheating and having smoked salmon, grilled shrimp and a seafood Cioppino (seafood stew) with 5 other kinds of seafood in it. Christmas day we make whatever feast my brother and I have agreed on -- we both like to cook. If we are at my dad's, sometimes my step-sisters are there...in which case CHristmas is a little blander...my step-mother is Irish.

If we're with my mom it's pretty similar to a holiday with my dad but she doesn't care about the 7 fishes...we just cook pretty elabborate meals Christmas Eve and Day and we have a lot of christmas cookies that my grandmothers and great gandmothers used to fix. Lately we've gotten into wine tasting - everyone brings a bottle of some certain category of wine (merlot, anything white, goes well with mexican food, etc.) That's a lot fo fun.

If we're at my in-laws, we have a huge polish feast instead. I'm not a huge fan but I can handle it every 3 years. :-)

[Verseau]

My mother's side of the family always has a get-together on Christmas Eve down in Rhode Island... it's a big, French-Canadian Catholic family and I'm not sure how much longer we can have these gatherings, because the family's getting too big to fit in one house.

One dish that you'll find there without fail is French-Canadian meat pie, or tourtière. I imagine that a lot of New Hampshire families have this during the holidays. I like mine with ketchup.

My father's side of the family usually gets together a week or so before Christmas. We always do a Yankee swap, which is a lot of fun. Do any of you guys do one? (You may know it by a different name, especially if you're not from New England...)

[notdancingqueen]

Originally Posted by Verseau

We always do a Yankee swap, which is a lot of fun. Do any of you guys do one? (You may know it by a different name, especially if you're not from New England...)

We do it with my husband's (very large) extended family in Indiana when we are there for Christmas -- it's got nowhere near as cool a name (we call it the Cousin's Grab Bag). Same idea s a Yankee Swap, though.

[jthibodeau]

Originally Posted by Verseau

One dish that you'll find there without fail is French-Canadian meat pie, or tourtière. I imagine that a lot of New Hampshire families have this during the holidays. I like mine with ketchup.

Heck, it not just for Christmas. And, thanks for the spelling, Verseau. Your showing your Acadian roots. I recall the pronunciation sounding like "toout kay"...but, it's been many years. However, some traditions never leave. "Meat Pie" is on our menu nearly once a month..... at least when I'm near the stove.

And, thanks for the thread, Country!

[renlouis]

notdancin-I love the idea of wine tasting on Christmas! How fun!

Verseau and jthibodeau- what ingredients are in this canadian meat pie - I've never tried that!

[NH2008]

Thanks, Country! We're excited to have our first white Chanukah in a long time! We have family visiting and will light the menorah, listen to music, exchange gifts, and eat the traditional dinner - smoked fish, potato pancakes with homemade apple sauce and sour cream, brisket cooked in merlot and prunes, and a cake because we're also celebrating my mom's birthday.

So the eight days don't turn into a materialistic frenzy, I try to make each day's gift be more about spending time together than an big gift. (They do get plenty of presents, too, but I try to give little things/activities.) So one day is usually a gingerbread house kit that we decorate together, one day will be wooden dreidels that they can paint themselves, one day they are getting a tin of good cocoa and little mugs for a tea party, one day Twister and we'll all play together...I don't want them to "expect" big ticket items.

My husband is Christian and will be arriving from out of town on Christmas Day so we'll celebrate Christmas on the 26th with dinner and gifts.

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday, a wonderful new year, and lots of heat, light, and hot water!

[njguy]

Country - this is sought of what we do that evening/night with some variation depending on the company and mood of what to eat, but in summary:

Per La Vigilia di Natale si mangia pesce, pesce e' pesce con insalata, legume, e una cosa o due che mia mama ha fatto.

Poi doppo si mangia la frutta e doppo quello si mangia le paste italiane comprati da la pasticceria con le pizzelle che mia mama ha fatto con caffe' expresso.

Do you get it?

lol!

This post will be further discussed at a later date - lol!

[Verseau]

Mmm... ho fame dopo aver letto il tuo messaggio, njguy! Il cibo italiano è magnifico!