Christmas Traditions

by Julie Johnson, Tastemaker in Residence

Every family embraces Christmas traditions unique to their family dynamics. These traditions are often religious-based or simply to add a little fun factor to the spirit of the Christmas season. Hands down, my favorite fun factor tradition is to gift my children each year with a Christmas tree ornament that is unique to their personality or interests. They always look forward to the element of surprise in opening their new ornament and pride themselves in hanging their own ornaments on the tree year after year.

Other fun factor traditions for our family have included Santa and Elf on the Shelf. Well, we all know that at some point the novelty of Santa and Elf on the Shelf diminishes as kids cruise through the teenage years. So, my husband and I were on a quest to come up with a new idea for some added fun with our teenagers.

We talked with the kids about some ideas to bring new excitement to our time together this Christmas season and decided on a cook-off as a way for them to bring their own culinary skills to the table. Although we have not yet decided on a theme, preliminary conversations are leaning towards a dessert or appetizer theme. The kids are typically eager to help cook dinner or do some baking but I’m really excited to see them challenge their own creativity and skills in the kitchen (without mom’s help). Let the fun begin!

Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash