Xmas Only 3 Months Away. What do you do on 24th / 25th ?

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Francesca

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With Xmas only 3 months away, have you given any thought to your holidays ? Do you celebrate at home ? At your parents´ home ? Siblings if you have any ? Do you utilise these days to travel ? What are the traditional classics that you serve ?

We spend the 22nd December through the 30th up in Cadaques with my parents, inlaws, 2 sons, 2 daughter in laws and 2 grandsons .. Very relaxed and very Catalan, Spanish and French Provençal traditional ..

The 24th is only shellfish, seafood and fish traditional dishes .. Of course, the appetisers or tapas are always a family favorite .. We all pitch in and help my mom and mom in law ..

The 25th is usually a roast ( normally ducklings or venison ) .. which is prepared by my parents and in laws ..

We prepare some traditional Catalan, Spanish & Provençal desserts with my daughter in laws and grandsons ..

We also begin our Xmas Shopping in early October so that we do not have a mad rush and long queques or lines to wait in ..
 
Blimey! We have members posting about how early Christmas goods are appearing in the shops. Now CookingBites is also guilty of premature Christmas marketing. :laugh::laugh:

I haven't given Christmas a single thought (until now :mad:). I am in denial. This Christmas may not happen. In fact, I am going to discuss this with my family to see if we can come up with some alternative ideas. :D
 
morning glory said:
Blimey! We have members posting about how early Christmas goods are appearing in the shops. Now CookingBites is also guilty of premature Christmas marketing. :laugh::laugh:

I haven't given Christmas a single thought (until now :mad:). I am in denial. This Christmas may not happen. In fact, I am going to discuss this with my family to see if we can come up with some alternative ideas. :D
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@morning glory

We do not have any Xmas decorations up until after our national holidays, the week of the 4th December .. However, with prices on rise during the Xmas season, we purchase the grandsons their gifts and discuss the rest of the family. We always spend 31st with the family but in Barcelona and then we travel from the 1st or 2nd through the 8th. January 6th and 7th are national holidays here ..

I agree that it is too too early, however, if we buy our plane tickets & book our hotel now, we save tremenous amounts of money.

So for this reason I had created the post ..

Have a nice weekend ..
 
epicuric said:
I am trying to convince myself that it is still summer. I'm still wearing shorts, so it must be summer, right? I refuse to discuss, or even think about Christmas at least until December.
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@epicuric

Thank you for your feedback .. Quite chilly here over in Barcelona in the early mornings ( 15 degrees ) and we are wearing denim or light leather jackets as it is quite windy here and scarves / foulards of cotton or silk blended cotton .. It is a cold front as Indian Summer usually is in October here ..

Enjoy the last days of Indian Summer .. Autumn shall kick in surely on the 21st ..

Have a nice wkend ..
 
We start planning Christmas in October too, just because its easier to buy presents without all the crowds. Usually we have Christmas day here with my daughter, grandson, hubby and his son and girlfriend and I do most of the cooking. This year we have been invited to go to my daughter's and she is cooking. I am sure I will help out though.
 
jennyb said:
We start planning Christmas in October too, just because its easier to buy presents without all the crowds. Usually we have Christmas day here with my daughter, grandson, hubby and his son and girlfriend and I do most of the cooking. This year we have been invited to go to my daughter's and she is cooking. I am sure I will help out though.
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@jennyb

Thank you for your feedback .. Lovely, great news .. Yes, I agree as it is easier and less expensive ( especially kids ítems and food ) to buy presents before the "mad rush" ..

Have a lovely weekend ..
 
When our family was large, as in WE weren't the oldest generation, I would start with shopping in July. With our kids in school, sports, and scouts, once school started up in the fall I seemed to have not time for Christmas shopping. By the time school started up in September, I would have the bulk of my shopping done, wrapped, tagged, and hidden in the storage space above our garage. With only a pull-down staircase that was too high for them to reach and too heavy for them to operate, I knew my secrets were safe.

Now we spend Christmas back home at our daughter's with just her and her twin brother. We wait with any purchase until after Thanksgiving. Often their requests are for something practical, so we oblige. However, I do start to think about something cute and personality-specific to get them right around the beginning of October. We aren't big on gifts and spending money anymore. We cherish time and food spent together.
 
jennyb said:
We are a a bit the same but grandson of course gets spoiled rotten. He is the only child in the extended family so he does well for presents!
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@jennyb

We celebrate gift giving on January 6th in Spain, The 3 Wise Men or The 3 Kings ( Los Reyes ) .. However, at 12am 24th going into the 25th or early in the morning on the 25th, we do have some tiny presents for my 2 grandsons, as both are going on 6 years old .. Usually a book on their fave themes and a sport ítem as they both are quite Athletic .. No toys ..

My husband and I travel from the 1st of January through the 8th ..

That is our present ! Always local Europe ..

My twin sons and daughter in laws are doing a fine job with their sons .. No t.v., No computers and No cell phones at this point .. They are both avid readers of books in paper .. and go to Bi Lingual School and already speak 4 languages .. Spanish, Catalan, English and French ( their French great grandmother never speaks to them in Spanish or Catlan ) ..

As an only child, which I am and so is my husband, we are not t.v. watchers .. The news for 15 - 20 minutes at night .. And we do not spoil our grandsons. They are only children so, they are quite self entertaining ..

They have their moments, as all kids do, however, relatively they have exemplary manners and know Please, and Thank You !

Have a great day .. Thanks for your feedback ..
 
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