Our Christmas day brunch is my absolute favorite memory because all we do – all day – is EAT!  An awesome spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, lovely cheeses, clementines, brioche, croissants, pancakes and strong coffee.  Then later, we break out the bubbly, Bailey’s and rum and eggnog.  We only start to acknowledge presents at 2 pm or so!  On Christmas day, it’s the food, the music (Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas), the twinkly lights and the people I spend it with that make the memory special.

But regardless of these meals, the majority of them were shared with my family. Living away from my parents in NL and my sister in Manhattan really makes Christmas special because we get to spend time together.  Most of the best times for me are spent in the kitchen with my mother while my sister shirks any kitchen duties in lieu of practicing her viola (convenient timing) and my dad putters around with tools, stoking the woodstove, playing the…wait for it…accordion!  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Even as I write this, I’m filled with anticipation of a nice LONG break, where I get to relieve my stress in the kitchen with those familiar sounds.