Christmas Traditions

It's that time of year...

I have been thinking a lot lately about Christmas traditions and how I long to start some with H as our own family. We have spent 4 Christmases together as a couple, but have very few constants that remain from year to year.

The only one we have so far is going up to NYC to enjoy the city decked out in it's Christmas best and to take in the hustle and bustle holiday atmosphere. Actually, I am afraid that that one won't even happen this year- between getting our tree last weekend (what an adventure); H's office Christmas party and my girls' night out with friends planned for this weekend; and then my mom's birthday, my office party, and our friend's holiday soirée next weekend, I'm not sure when we'd be able to fit it in. And the weekend after that is Christmas! When did that happen?

Anyway... we are planning on spending Christmas Day with our families- my parents, brother, and sister for brunch and most of the afternoon and then H's parents, his brother, and girlfriend for dinner and the rest of the evening. I can say that we are truly blessed that our families live less than a 5 minute's drive apart from each other and we're able to do that. Therefore, we are spending Christmas Eve together as newlyweds to do a nice dinner and exchange gifts. I'm really looking forward to it!

Our families have their own traditions that we love being a part of, but Christmas Eve is where I would truly like to develop our own. H wants us to go to Mass since he loves the music and the Christmas Eve service. One that I would really like to try is the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. I can't decide if it's a silly idea though, since it's a Catholic tradition celebrating the seven Sacraments- I'm not Catholic and my non-belief in all of the Sacraments is part of the reason why. Oh well, maybe traditions aren't something you can plan out like that...

But here is my hypothetical menu:

• Tomato fish stew with tilapia and cod: this is one of the recipes in our regular rotation, so that would be easy. It also can be made ahead and kept warm.

• Fried calimari: I've never made this, but would love to try it.

• Shrimp scampi: I've made this many times in the past- easy, delicious, can't be made in advance, but not too hard to keep warm either.

• Linguine with white clam sauce: I really don't want to use the clam sauce from a can, but then again I'm no Martha Stewart...

• Seared jumbo scallops with spinach and garlic: easy enough

I just need one more fish, I'll have to keep thinking... or maybe I could just do the six fishes, that may make more sense to me anyway!