The best way to celebrate welcoming the New Year is with fun family traditions. Here is how we celebrate ~

• Make sure the house is spic-n-span by New Year's Eve.  We used Spic & Span cleaner when I was little. My gramma loved it, as well as Calgon bubble bath, and Geritol! Yes, she is one of a kind!
• We get delicious Chinese food from a local restaurant on New Year's Eve. The Chinese believe in lucky dishes that bring good luck for the new year, which is good enough for us! Plus, our local restaurant makes super delicious dishes! Here are China Highlights. We also make a fun dessert; this year, it's banana pudding, a family favorite. We also prepare lots of activities and games to keep the evening fun. Then, we toast the New Year with Martinelli's sparkling apple juice and some Jameson and Ginger Ale for the adults (ok, for me)!
  

On New Year's Day, we prepare a traditional Texas meal... which, of course, is deeply rooted in our Irish ways. Here is this year's menu:

• Snacks: Gramma's Deviled Eggs & Smoked Salmon with Marie Rose Sauce
• Corned Beef Brisket with Apricot Chutney, Texas Fried Cabbage ~ corned beef and cabbage made with carrots, potatoes, and onions for luck and abundance in the new year.
  
• Beef or pork is the meat of choice because these animals do not scratch in the dirt for their food, unlike chickens. Cabbage is light green, like paper money.
• Black Eyed Peas with Texas Caviar ~ black-eyed peas symbolize coins or wealth because they swell as they cook, symbolizing a swelling pocketbook.
• GOAT Macaroni & Cheese and Texas Sweet Skillet Cornbread ~ both are the color of gold, wishing for wealth in the new year.
• Doctored Lemon Bundt Cake ~ a cake in the shape of a ring symbolizes coming to a full circle, a reminder that every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

New Year Irish Traditions ~

• It's expected that your home will be spotless clean by New Year's Eve because a cleanly home is a prosperous home.
• Irish Christmas Soda Bread is made and then used to "knock" on the walls and doors to chase away bad luck and invite the good spirits in before the start of the new year.
  
• Just before midnight, open the front door to let the new year in and the back door to let the old year out. Opening the front door at midnight also allows you to greet your neighbors and wish them a Happy New Year!
• Set an extra place at the table for your family no longer with us.
• Your lucky and delicious dishes may make you want to stuff yourself silly; it's essential to be mindful of greed. Food left on your plate symbolizes a full icebox and a stocked pantry in the New Year.

I am having the most fun I can remember at Christmastime this year. I am fully embracing my Irish side ("um, it's just the good half," ~ Henry, Goodfellas).

We are going all out in celebration of our Irish heritage! We have decorated every room in the house and placed red holly berries on everything, for good luck in the next year. We created a traditional menu of meals to celebrate for several days, decorated the table in our family tartan, and of course, we have Irish Christmas Crackers! Honestly, I might be more excited than the kids!

A family celebration like this takes days to plan and requires a great deal of organization; at least for me, it does! Maybe this checklist will help you. Here is how it comes together for us:

The first week of December: 

1. Mail Christmas cards. Yes, it is more traditional ~ but, just think about how nice it makes your friends and family feel when they open an old-fashioned, handwritten note inside of a lovely card wishing them a beautiful holiday season!
2. Order specialty items. If you are preparing a more traditional meal, this is the time to order special items such as your Christmas goose and ham, and the goose fat for the roasted potatoes! Irish Christmas cakes are made in September, so ordering now is a must if you didn't make yours several weeks ago! We order ours because not all items can be found in local grocery stores. By the time you find all of the ingredients online, it really is more economic to just order the cake. Walkers makes a very nice cake (be sure to order the Brandy Butter) and mince pies. Here is a link: https://www.walkersshortbread.com/product/luxury-mince-pies/  And, don't forget the Jameson for the Irish coffee!
3. Seats and Vaccines. It's time to count tables and chairs to make sure everyone is comfy. You may want to express your COVID precautions so everyone can celebrate ongoing good health. If you have guests staying in your home, it's time to count the tables and chairs to ensure everyone is comfy. You might also want to prepare special toiletries for that extra special touch.

 
The second week of December:

1. Decorate your house on the 8th of December, on the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Widespread Irish suspicion says it's bad luck to decorate before the 8th, but I am always too anxious to wait... We begin decorating the day after Thanksgiving. There are Christmas decorations in every room and on everything standing!
2. Plan your menu. This step takes the longest for me because I love to read about the traditions behind every dish. I make a detailed menu to celebrate for days during the Christmas season.
3. Make your grocery list. Depending on where you live, you might have to visit a few stores or order online to find some of the traditional Irish ingredients, such as goose fat for roasted potatoes. 

The third week of December:

1. Another grocery store run. Double-check your grocery list, purchase any forgotten items and a few extra items you have added since your last menu revision. Remember the beverages!
2. Paper or China. Dishes don't need to match, and napkins don't need to be made of the finest linens. It's the time and the memories you share with loved ones that matter. And of course, great food and spirits!
3. Christmas music. Pandora has a fantastic (and free) "Chill Holiday Radio" that streams with only a few commercials. Because who doesn't love Dean Martin's, "Baby, it's cold outside!"

Christmas week:

1. Cooking. Now is the time to plan your cooking days. Make as many dishes in advance as possible and schedule what goes into the oven, when, and for how long. Remember, you want to serve the main dish as it comes out of the oven! And, you want to make the trifle within 6 hours of serving it. *Guests in-town can bring their sides and desserts. Just because you are hosting doesn't mean you should work so much that you are too tired to enjoy the day.
2. Cleaning. Of course, the house looks excellent, so a little spot dusting and vacuuming is something for the kids to take care of; or even the guests. We're family, right! 
3. Don't forget the ice!

Christmas Eve:

• We have a long-standing Christmas Eve tradition: a great dinner, chocolates, new PJs, personalized Christmas ornaments with their names engraved and the year, and the star of the show, an excellent new book! I have been doing this with my kids since they were born. I wash the pj's in advance so they can wear them right away. Along with their pj's, gift boxes contain their new ornament, chocolates, and new book. We enjoy a wonderful meal and read our books to each other. This year's chocolates are, of course, Cadbury Roses.

Christmas Day:

• Ultimately, the Irish celebrate Christmas much like everyone else ~ spending time with loved ones, gift-giving, and enjoying great food. Here are more Irish Christmas traditions and their histories: Irish Christmas Traditions

The holiday season on our ranch is always our family's favorite time of the year, and Thanksgiving is always an excellent beginning! We look back at our year together and reflect upon accomplishments and lessons; we also look forward together.

Rose's favorite thing to do is cook for large groups and complain about it the entire time. This year is no different. While yelling at the TV (she loves to criticize commercials), an unfiltered Pall Mall cigarette burning in an ashtray, and another hanging from her lip, Rose prepares everything from scratch and memory. Every year, we want to be in the kitchen cooking with her... it never fails to frustrate her. We are exiled to appetizers and drinks, and here in Texas ~ that means deviled eggs, Jim Beam, and Southern Comfort!

We also get to wash the dishes.

Happiest of Thanksgivings!

Monday Meatloaf is a family tradition. As you can see, I "mess with" my gramma's recipe's, which upsets her to no end. Other than yelling at the TV, yelling at me is something she enjoys quite a bit.

Some of the additions we have made to this recipe is to double it, add Worcestershire sauce to the beef, and ~ beef or pork or a combination of both ~ we add green chile.  We alternate between Ritz crackers and saltines, both renditions taste great. Also, we only use Heinz ketchup. After trying a few different brands, Heinz is the only brand we have found that stands up to the heat.

Try it and share your photos and thoughts with us. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

UPDATE: We have added Vintage Meatloaf, 31 Jan 2022. This one has jumped to the top of the Faiy Favorite list!