Things you did

[neverlandsky]

Things you did for Christmas 2021 that you won’t continue or do for Christmas 2022.

 

[tcufrog]

Honestly, I can't think of anything I'd do differently. It was a great day.

 

[ronandannette]

My DH got a tomahawk steak for Christmas and we had it with lobster for our dinner. At just about 3lbs, it took waaaaay longer to cook properly than it was worth - we didn't sit down until 9:30 pm. Never doing one of those at home again ever - whether it's Christmas or any other time.

 

[neverlandsky]

After Christmas 2021, we’re finally going to retire the tradition of sending Christmas cards.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Things you did for Christmas 2021 that you won’t continue or do for Christmas 2022.

Hopefully Marie and I will not spend Christmas with just the two of us at home together next year. We normally spend with the rest of our family, kids, and grandkids, at my son's home. With Marie dealing with her COVID, obviously, hunkered down for whatever it takes.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I made two Bundt cakes for 8 people. But by the time we got to dessert, everyone was too full and only wanted small pieces or none at all. Next year, I’ll pick one flavor and only make one cake.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I don't think I would change a thing.

 

[slo]

I won’t make the chicken Kiev’s I bought from the butcher next year - they were not good . I made these for Christmas Eve.

Outside of that, everything was great!

 

[kanerf]

Well I am at WDW for Christmas this year. With the huge increase in the cost of APs that will cover the Christmas week, I won't be doing that again any time soon.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Hopefully, we will NOT be home and we WILL be traveling, preferably to WDW (third year trying to get there) but the Northern Lights are looking lovely too, then again a beach Christmas with Mojitos does sound appealing as well . Saw all the cancellations this year so I am very grateful my family was not caught up in that cluster.

Hopefully, NOT having my boosted DS stay in the basement bedroom and wear a mask all day because he went out with friends the night before (80+ & 70+ family members present and who needs to conflict of conscience even if everyone present is boosted) it rots that we have an established protocol.

Hopefully, we will NOT be skipping our beloved tradition of a movie at a cinema next year. We really enjoyed the new Matrix Resurrections streaming at home but I miss the big screen with popcorn.

 

[RedAngie]

Hopefully next year I can have my traditional Christmas Eve dinner on December 24. Due to younger DD and exH not arriving until 1030ish pm Christmas night, I postponed it until tonight.

In the other Christmas Eve thread at least one other person mentioned oplatek (oh-pwah-tek), a wafer the size of a 4x6 index card but slightly thicker. It has a scene pressed onto it during manufacture, usually the Nativity. It has the same (lack of) taste as a Communion wafer, probably the same recipe.

Each person breaks off a piece of another’s wafer and they exchange Seasons Greetings and best wishes for the New Year.

I made stuffed cabbage rolls (golabki, go-wump-key, literally “little pigeons”) yesterday. They taste better when reheated. I also purchased mushroom (grzyb) and sauerkraut (kapusta) pierogi because I didn’t feel like making them this year. “Pierogi” is already a plural word, no need to add “s” or “es.”

Cheesecake is really not a traditional Polish dessert, but so what?

ExH is invited and will attend. He and DH get along smashingly. Probably because they both know a woman they can complain about.

 

[VandVsmama]

I am NOT roasting a turkey again on Christmas Day. It’s a lot of work. We will have a Christmas dinner that’s easier to prepare.

 

[dez1978]

I think the only thing I can think of is that we'd not spend as much on the kids. Tho as they get older, the gifts get fewer but more expensive so Idk. Actually it was a pretty great day to be honest.

 

[j's m]

I won't buy a nonrefundable airline ticket for DS. He didn't want to come home in case he spread COVID from the plane to us (over age 70 parents), even though we were all boosted. We had to see him for Christmas week so we drove 492 miles and back the next day to have him home. Next week we do it again.

 

[tcufrog]

I am NOT roasting a turkey again on Christmas Day. It’s a lot of work. We will have a Christmas dinner that’s easier to prepare.

We did a Christmas brunch. It was a lot of fun and really easy.

 

[ronandannette]

I am NOT roasting a turkey again on Christmas Day. It’s a lot of work. We will have a Christmas dinner that’s easier to prepare.

I never do turkey for Christmas dinner; turkey is strictly a Thanksgiving thing for us. There are so, so many fancy recipes to try and interesting menus to put together for Christmas - almost all of which take a crap-ton less fuss than turkey.

 

[AustinTink]

We did a Christmas brunch. It was a lot of fun and really easy.

We did too! I rearranged my entire menu and went with brunch instead of lunch/dinner and it was great. Kolaches, fruit, spinach artichoke dip before presents and ham, salad and corn casserole after presents. It was much more laid back than usual.

 

[VandVsmama]

I never do turkey for Christmas dinner; turkey is strictly a Thanksgiving thing for us. There are so, so many fancy recipes to try and interesting menus to put together for Christmas - almost all of which take a crap-ton less fuss than turkey.

Yeah, I'm definitely not doing turkey again on Christmas because it's just so much work. We always have Xmas Eve dinner at my sister's house, so we always get home kind of late from that. And I brine my turkey the night before, which means about an hour of prep before I can go to bed on Xmas Eve. Then all of the turkey stuff to deal with on Christmas Day itself....and we often go to the movies on Xmas Day, also, which is tricky with the timing because I don't want to leave the oven on while we're out at the movies.

So from here on out, Xmas Day is going to be much more casual in terms of meals.

 

[mumto3girls]

I am NOT roasting a turkey again on Christmas Day. It’s a lot of work. We will have a Christmas dinner that’s easier to prepare.

I’ve been playing around with this idea myself. I host Christmas dinner for both sides of our extended family and have for almost 20 years. Historically, my family always had turkey (my mother’s favorite meal) and my husband’s had ham. In the early years I would do the turkey and MIL would bring the ham already sliced, glazed and ready to go. I’ve done both for about the last 10 years. MIL, FIL and my mom have all passed in the last few years, several of DH’s nephews have either moved away or go elsewhere for Christmas dinner so what used to be around 25 people was 18 this year. I could just do ham or add something else. The turkey is time consuming in an otherwise very busy day and I feel like I miss out on a lot of interaction with family. I wish I would have paid attention to what my dad ate. If turkey is important to him I would definitely keep it up although I did hear my 9 year old niece ask my sister if they could “take all the turkey home” because she likes it so much. LOL. Tradition is difficult to change.

 

[Kitty 34]

I'm not going to say my Christmas was perfect but it went as well as it did and I wouldn't change anything......on my part.