When the holidays come around, people
may have many traditions within their family that they want to keep
going. Whether it be traveling many miles to find the perfect
Christmas tree to cut down, to the baking of Christmas cookies in
mass, to the singing of Christmas carols to shut-ins, everyone seems
to have their own traditions.
In our family one of the traditions was
that no matter where we were, we had to have Grandma's creamed pearl
onions for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember watching her
carefully peel each little pearl onion until it was ready to by put
into the pot with the cream sauce. Gradually we could all smell the
lovely and comforting aroma of Grandma's onions. Yum! But the best
part was being able to sit down together with family and friends to
enjoy the feast.
Another tradition was cutting down the
Christmas tree. We would take a long time to carefully choose which
tree would be the best for our home. Usually we would decorate the
tree a week after we cut it down. Mom always said that we had to let
the tree sit in a bucket of water for a week so it could get a nice
long drink. Then came the fun of decorating the tree. All of the
ornaments, new and old would be pulled out of the attic and gently
put up on the tree, while Christmas music played in the background.
Afterward, we would sit on the couch exhausted but satisfied in
knowing that we had a fun time completing our task. Usually there
would be tea or hot chocolate to drink too.
Now that the holidays are upon us, be
sure to slow down and take time to keep with old traditions and maybe
start new ones. I would recommend incorporating tea into a new
tradition. Maybe add tea to your tree decorating time. Try using
some Christmas Star, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, or Up North! tea
during this time. You could even start a small tea party tradition
with a few of your family or friends. Keep it simple. Each person
could be asked to bring a dish of food to share with everyone.
Someone could bring scones, another chocolates, another sandwiches,
while yet another brings shortbread. However you plan it, it will
work.
