Mixing the Old and the New

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Every family has its traditions, and it’s always good to keep and pass these on. But, it’s also fun mixing the old and the new traditions. If you find out that no one in the family likes something, just stop doing it. Even if it was tradition, there is no point in continuing. 

There are many traditional foods that you can serve at Christmas, but there are also some foods that you can add to make the celebration newer. Let’s look at some traditional foods and how to incorporate mixing the old with the new.

• Potato Salad – This is a common dish served at Christmas celebrations all over the world. There are many ways to make it. If you’ve always made it one way, why not try a new way. For example, if you make mayonnaise-rich potato salad, you might want to try one that doesn’t have mayonnaise just to shake it up a little.

• Turkey – It might seem odd to you but not everyone eats turkey at Christmas. Many people today are now enjoying plant-based diets so they want something else. Others are just tired of the same old thing each year. Why not have a pizza party, or try some traditional dishes from around the world – like Chiles en Nogada, which is enjoyed during the holidays in Mexico, as your main dish.

• Feast of the Seven Fishes – This is an Italian tradition. You can change the theme of your holiday depending on what you normally do and still be fully traditional, while also trying something new. If you want to try this, here is a great recipe to get you started. 

• Doro Wat on Injera – This is the traditional Ethiopian Christmas dinner. It’s a spicy chicken stew. You could sub turkey for chicken and use this recipe as a way to use leftovers from your traditional turkey dinner, shaking up the old and new in a very tasty and original way.  

• Go German – There are many rich traditions for food in Germany. Instead of your normal turkey, why not roast a duck instead? This can be a good way to shake up your Christmas dinner, keeping it traditional while adding something new: 

Final Thoughts on Mixing the Old and the New

You get the idea regarding food. Look to your heritage. A fun idea is to get everyone to do a DNA test to check your genealogy before the holidays, then ask each person to bring a dish from a country that they discovered was part of their genetic makeup. 

You can set up a Facebook group around Halloween with your entire family to discuss cooking for the holidays, as well as DNA test results if you do that. However you choose to proceed, remember that you don’t have to do it all. You can ask for help, you can skip some things, and you can add new things as you desire.