Food and Christmas

The way I celebrate Christmas revolves almost completely around food. I don't know why but all of my traditions somehow have to do with food. From Christmas cookies to ham, I associate particular food with Christmas and I absolutely expect to consume them as a part of my Christmas observance. I actually didn't realize this until I married Matt and we celebrated our first Christmas together. I kept saying well, of course, we need to eat this... and we'll have to make this... etc. Here's a list of my must-have Christmastime foods and treats.

1. Christmas sugar cookies - these are a perennial favorite. Not a year has gone by without them. There is much to be said about the Camacho family Christmas sugar cookie, but I will be brief for now. They are fantastic and should always be eaten when the frosting has crusted over.
2. Ham - we have this for Christmas eve dinner - side dishes come and go, but ham is the main meal for Christmas eve dinner no matter what.

3. Crescent rolls for Christmas eve dinner. My mom has this fantastic recipe. I can't imagine Christmas eve dinner without them.

4. fudge - I got the recipe in college and I love making this very yummy semisweet chocolate fudge.

5. Beef summer sausage, cheese log and crackers on Christmas day - we would always have cheese and crackers on Christmas day growing up. It was the only time of the year that we had such things in our house. Such a luxury. I loved it! To this day I don't I can spend a Christmas day without eating cheese and crackers and leftover ham.

6. Wassail - we discovered a superb recipe while we lived in Cambridge and have made it for the past two Christmases when we make sugar cookies. It is to die for.

7. Cinnamon rolls - we would always get a Cinnamon roll in our stocking each year along with a banana. It was our breakfast. Again, my mom's recipe and it is extraordinarily good.

That's it for now. Just thinking about all of this yummy food reminds me that there is still some leftovers upstairs. I'm just gonna make a run for some more cookies right now!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a couple of pics of us making cookies and frosting them with our friends.