This is my ethnic background.
We have a 'blended' background...First Nations, French Canadian & Croatian.
Meet my family.
My husband, Bruno, our "step" son, Randy Pirie, niece, Tammy, and my brother-in-law, Phil. And, of course, our family pet, Maggie (b0w w0w).... we have since lost our mothers & my sister, who were at the head of our dinner table always...My brother comes to visit from out of town for special occasions, such as Christmas, etc...
And of course, there is me, Arleena, the "head chef" and bottle cleaner...lol.
This currently makes up our family dinner table on special occasions!
What's on the table?
Our Christmas Eve table consists of the first course starting with appies. I make the usual festive dips, starting with a salmon log, which is mashed tin salmon, onion, cream cheese & mayo rolled in chopped fresh parsley. I also make a fresh chicken liver pate laced with French brandy & black peppercorns. Last, but not least, we include a traditional cheese ball made with cold pack Cheddar cheese soaked in red Port wine. These appies are served with a nice array of crackers & thin slices of cocktail rye bread. Then it's on to the main course, of traditional French tourtiere (pork/beef meat pie) served with fresh homemade pierogi with lots of sour cream, sautéed onion & bacon. This meal is topped off with a dessert of "Maple Sugar" Pie (French Canadian.
Lessons Learned
- we do keep up most of our family traditions and have tried to pass them down to the younger generation. However, I believe that the next generation does want to create a lot of their own traditions and try to pass them along to their kids one day.
- The lesson there is to let the kids make their own traditions. I think a little change is as good as a rest!! And right now, I could use a rest! And I do know, I love them more now than ever!!
