Our Family Food Traditions with Not Just a Mom

This month's Not Just a Mom group is discussing our Family's food traditions.  

I hope you'll head over and check out my co-hosts posts too and if you wrote up one of your own please link it up with us below. 

I was stumped with this one for a bit since I wasn't all that sure what food traditions we have; see while tradition usually implies eating the same special food for a specific occasion, I tend to get bored eating the same thing each year and often encourage my family to mix it up and try new recipes.  But we do celebrate most holidays big and small with special meals so for today's post that's what I decided to focus on. 

Here are a few I've come up with:

For birthdays in our house the birthday boy (or girl!) gets to pick the menu and dessert either for their actual birthday or their party or sometimes both.

Ian always picks something with PB, chocolate, and usually a bit of coffee flavor too

On New Year's Day, I usually cook up a big dinner something like a roast or a ham (depending on what we just had with Christmas) with all the side dishes and we enjoy a quiet day at home just the immediate family.

Valentine's day I usually cook up some sort of chocolate dessert and try to make it heart shaped when I can. 

We have corned beef (my recipe here), cabbage, potatoes, and carrots on St. Patrick's day and usually mix up some sort of green and minty dessert.

For Easter we typically have ham and mashed potatoes with some veggie sides. 

For Mother and Father's day my husband and I pick out our menus (or sometimes we leave it up to my mother in law if we have plans with her for Mother's day).  

My husband's family has a huge party the Saturday closest to the 4th of July at their cottage on the lake and we have always brought the same few things-- a fruit platter (or salad), a veggie platter (or salad), and a dessert or two to share.  Then we pack up a cooler full of drinks & sometimes I make up some flavored ice tea. Each family brings pretty much the same thing each year with a few new added variations thrown in.  

Alec took over the dessert making years and years ago and brings something new each year

He once made a key lime pie and got requests to bring it again for the next couple years! (he usually would comply too but just add in a second fun and new dessert)

For my mother in law's birthday in August she always requests burgers, tater tots, and salad and then Alec will bake up a yummy dessert for her that's usually coffee inspired... 

espresso cheesecake with chocolate ganache 

This easy tiramisu

Thanksgiving we always cook up a big turkey and mashed potatoes but the other sides are switched out each year-- I usually make sure to have a few types of vegetables and some sort of bread/ rolls.  Then we have pumpkin pie, apple pie, and usually chocolate chip pecan pie but sometime we'll swap out the pumpkin or pecan pie with a new and different dessert. 

Christmas eve we go to my mother's and started a new tradition years ago where we just order pizzas and have appetizers and desserts so it's a pretty quick and easy meal regardless of how many of us turn up. 

Then we take turns hosting a Christmas brunch (every other year) and while that menu changes up from year to year we usually have muffins, some sort of egg dish, a pastry that Alec will make, some fresh fruit, and bacon/ sausage.

This year Alec really outdid himself with this snowflake cinnamon roll.

I used to plan a big Christmas dinner too of pot roast, mashed or roasted potatoes, and veggies but a couple years ago we realized that no one is ever hungry enough after brunch to bother so we started having sandwiches or going to my mother in laws for dinner or dessert.  

I hope you'll join us next month when we share our favorite binge worthy TV shows

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