Of all the holidays I love best, my favourite would have to be Christmas. Why? Well, the answer is obvious: it means I get to enjoy two weeks home from work with my family and friends. I also look forward to decorating the Christmas tree with the kids and setting up the train underneath. Another reason is all the food we are lucky enough to savour. The best part is that I usually don't have to cook! You see, ever since I moved out to Toronto, it has become a tradition for my family and I to spend Christmas Eve at my in-laws' where my mother-in-law has prepared several different dishes, some of them being succulent seafood. All I can say is my mother-in-law is a rock star in the kitchen. Later on in the evening, it has been known to happen that Santa Claus (a.k.a. my husband) arrives with a sack full of presents. This year, Mrs. Claus forgot to wrap my son's Lego train set because she didn't know where it was. So when Santa noticed it wasn't in the sack, he stopped dead in his tracks. Let's just say it made for a humorous home video.

On Christmas day, the tradition has been that we head down to my hometown of Hamilton for a turkey lunch with my parents and siblings. The kids love it because they get to spend time with my nephew. This year was extra special because they also got to play with my one-year-old niece. Last Christmas, she was merely days old! After a super tasty meal consisting of turkey, homemade spicy sausage, lasagne, oven-roasted potatoes, rice, and salad, my mother always has a delicious spread of fresh fruit and her famous whipped cream vanilla pudding layer cake. Later on, she pulls out a large dish full of shrimp and another one loaded with crab, all seasoned with traditional Portuguese flavours.

Even though we have pretty much the same thing every Christmas, it is always so delicious and satisfying. My mother has been buying frozen Butterball turkeys ever since I can remember and she always does a great job roasting it. To this day, I have never roasted a turkey but there is some relief in knowing that Butterball Canada opens up their Turkey Talk Line for a few weeks in October, November and December should I ever feel compelled to begin a new tradition and invite family and friends over to our place for a turkey dinner. I would need all the help I could get. Maybe then I would have the courage to attempt this Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing recipe. In the meantime, I'm quite content with our current holiday traditions and wouldn't want to change a thing. If you know what I mean...

What has been you favourite holiday tradition this year?