Meals

I feel bad.

I keep feeling like we (Shawn and I) do all of my family traditions, but none of his.

My Family Traditions:

• Open presents on Christmas Eve
• Open present from Santa right after midnight mass (or if there is no church going, open it the next morning)
• Stockings Christmas morning
• Nice meal Christmas Eve
• Spend time with extended family Christmas day, or, as Dani and I got older, and our extended family moved away, it became more of a "go be with your boyfriend's family" thing.
  
• Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast on Christmas day

Shawn's Family Traditions:

• Posole and Tamales for Christmas Eve meal
• Church on Christmas Eve
• All presents on Christmas day
• Stockings on Christmas day
• Sausage/egg casserole thingy for breakfast on Christmas day
• Nice meal Christmas day

So, of course we knock off the items that both of our families do (such as Church on Christmas Eve, and Stockings Christmas morning) and so that basically leaves What you eat on Christmas Eve, What you eat for breakfast Christmas day, when you open presents, and what you eat for dinner on Christmas day.

Shawn was the one that said he wanted to open all the presents Christmas Eve. I opt to do cinnamon rolls because they're easy (Pillsbury now makes frozen cinnamon rolls that go straight from the freezer to the oven). We normally make something easy for Christmas Eve dinner, and then go all out for Christmas Day dinner (this year we made Shepherd's Pie--which we thought the sauce part needed to be more robust than what it was, but you can't fault a recipe when it only cooks in half an hour and the previous version of shepherd's pie you had probably simmered all day long).

But I still feel bad. So this year I was going to make Posole and Tamales for Boxing day. Mostly because Shawn wasn't going to be home (he still has to work) and so it would be a surprise when he came home. Ultimately I opted not to (even though I do have the tamales). You see, I'm not that mean. Shawn claims that he hates Posole and Tamales with a fiery passion usually reserved for the 7th ring of hell.

Yeah, I don't know either.

But I must admit that it's much, much, MUCH easier to get good Mexican food down here than it is in Colorado. The trick is that you have to know a good Mexican cook, or eat at the restaurants that the Mexicans go to.