Growing up, Christmas Eve was a gathering at my maternal grandparents home, with as many family members as could get together. No formal meal, but tons of foods... shrimp, crab claws, quiche, summer sausage, cheeses, deviled eggs, homemade cookies, a ham, just set out for people to eat as they wanted. Gifts were given, then pies and cakes. Very good memories. I'm the oldest surviving male from those gatherings, one aunt still kicking. I learned to make cocktail sauce at these gatherings. Now that I think about it, a lot of my early cooking lessons were at this event.
Thanks Mike. It was a rough couple of days at work, but you managed to put a smile on my face. One year, I got Kiss Double Platinum as a gift from the cool aunt. Convinced my grandfather to play it for me that evening. First song was Beth. Don't remember what followed it, but it didn't get played for more than 30 seconds before he shut it down. Next year, he gave me my first album of big band music, sings he loved from WWII. Good stuff. Great man. I still need to get a 1911 in tribute to him...