christmas dinner

The Christmas tradition for the last 28 years of my life was to have Christmas dinner at either of my Grandparents house - sometimes both! Over the last few years, with everyone growing older - that tradition has fell to the wayside. My grandfather on my mother's side passed away quite a few years ago, and now my grandmother is in a nursing home, my other grandparents are getting older. Everyone's getting older, and there are no little kids running around (which I believe to be a big pre-requisite for Christmas traditions).

Last year, we still had dinner at my grandparents & visited my grandmother. This year, we're not having any sort of dinner - just snacks (which generally means shrimp cocktail and vegetable trays- blech! & boring). It's pretty sad - but my grandfather has trouble eating due to medications his doctor has him on. So to make things easier on him - snacks it is! We'll then go out to visit my grandmother & a few other family members. But there will be no conversation around the table, no passing of the mashed potatoes, failed dishes, second helpings.

If I had it my way - I'd cook dinner for everyone! This would be the menu:

Grandma's Deviled Eggs

Fruit & Cheese Tray

Hazlenut Cranberry Field Roast
Field Roast covered in puff pastry
stuffed with cranberrys, nuts, and
field roast sausage - the YUM!

Grilled Asparagus

Garlic Mashed Red Skin Potatoes

Bread Pudding

Maybe I'll have to try to make this dinner next week as a New Year's dinner - I have 3 days off! Perhaps this could also be a new tradition. I've got to figure something out because I expect last year was the last year.

Are you skipping any family traditions this year?