I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday, and Santa (Santy) brings you everything you’re hoping for, whether it be physical loot, a positive life-change, or any combination thereof.
I sincerely appreciate the continued support, and am very proud of the community we’ve built here. You guys are great, and I don’t say it often enough. So, I’m saying it now: Thank you!
Toney’s been hard at work on the Christmas Feast since before I was even off the platform this morning, and we have plenty of Yuengling Lager and Maker’s Mark to, you know, enhance the holiday spirit.
Tonight’s main food event will be barbecued beef, which is a yearly tradition at our house. We cook it for hours and hours, then pull it apart with a fork and make sangliches on good rolls. I’m not sure how it started, but Christmas Eve wouldn’t be the same without barbecue sandwiches, and a ridiculous spread of barbecue sandwich accessories.
So, what are your food and drink plans for the holidays? Do you have any family traditions, or anything like that? I used to get excited about the presents under the tree; the ones with my name on them, anyway. But now it’s all about eating and drinking — eating and drinking, and worrying that we didn’t spoil our kids quite enough this Christmas. That’s what the holidays are all about, at this point in my history.
Have a great one, my friends!
I’ll see you soon.
Wait! I almost forgot one of our other Christmas traditions. Every year I like to link to this heartwarming story song by Red Sovine, who was my paternal grandmother’s first cousin. I don’t know what that makes him to me, but give his song a listen, anyway. It’s called “Faith in Santa,” and man, it’s… memorable.
Maybe my husband and I can go visit your 1-inch-square plot of land next year if we follow through on our plan to take our first-ever vacation…in Scotland…visiting distilleries!
We may have accidentally started a new tradition this year when I drunkenly volunteered my husband to bring smoked beef brisket to dinner. It was amaaaaazing and we are still scarfing down leftovers. Getting up in the dark at 5:30 a.m. to shovel our way to the smoker, bitching the whole time, will also be part of the tradition.
…and Ryan’s only 43, so there’s hope for the rest of us yet…jtb
Merry Christmas to most; happy belated Hannukah to some.
No real fambly traditions… we made a quick 24-hour visit to the GF’s mom. Had a truly excellent ham, raised and produced in Williamsport PA. She lives north of there, in (very) rural Tioga County. Per recent tradition, I got drafted into fixing some home network problems while we watched “Christmas Story” and “Christmas Vacation” a few times. Got some good pictures of the horses. Oh, and I did have a bowl of corn – motherfuckers.
@Pagan, funny you should mention Laphroiag – I received a bottle as a gift today, and am just now dipping into it. I’ve been a fan for some decades, since before FoL existed, and am enjoying getting reacquainted. This stuff is truly the ultimate Islay: pure, extreme, hardcore. I’ll be having another in a minute. I need to visit before I die. No, I’ve never met a whisky I didn’t like – what of it?
Hope everyone had a great Christmas. My husband and I spent Christmas eve at home and had lobster tails, porterhouse steak piroghis, and peas for our dinner. For Christmas I made lasagne, roast beef, mashed taters n gravy, corn, rolls, pumpkin roll, cream apple pie, cookies, cake…… it was really nice having the kids drive to our house and my daughter brought Dad so he wouldn’t have to drive in the dark. I enjoy coming here every day, thanks everyone for all the laughs! Of course we all love Jeff, it goes without saying.
Greg: Thank you for being so gracious in accepting my corrections about the Essex a couple days ago. I was a little grouchy about it, but you accepted my comments with real class. You were certainly classier than I was that day, and I appreciate and acknowledge it.
clint: Your comments above are articulate, clear, and right on. If I could write that fluently my posts would be much shorter. You certainly said what was in my heart. Good luck at the top of the world.
Hope everybody had a bang-up Christmas Day. Today (Saturday) is Boxing Day for Pagan and many others, and, without knowing what weight class Pagan fights in, I wish him luck. P, if you need a corner man, just let me know.
jtb
Merry Christmas Surf Reporters!
My family doesn’t have any traditions. We just do the same thing year after year.
OK, that’s not entirely true, this is only my 3rd year in this family so I’m still getting used to it… Lots of food, lots of drink, wide varieties because there were 3 different celebrations. Meat, veg, dessert, drinks, rinse, repeat.
We have a Christmas tradition in our family that consists of whenever the first day after Christmas my wife pisses me off, ALL the decorations, including the tree and outside lights come down immediately. Thats right, they lasted until Saturday morning. Hope everyone had a good one.
On IPOD right now- “Love Will Tear Us Apart”- Joy Division
Our tradition is a lobster meal on Christmas Eve, then Smoking Bishop on Christmas day. It’s like a hot sangria. Scrooge says to Cratchit in the end of A Christmas Carol,
We’ll talk it over a hot bowl of Smoking Bishop”. It was one of Dicken’s favorite drinks.