Our Brazilian Version of Christmas Dinner

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas dinner was a blast. We usually celebrate it on the 24th during dinner time. Our family decided to do it during lunch so the kids could enjoy it. We had a beautiful Christmas service at church that night and I was sure that the kids would be exhausted by the time we arrived at home. Zeke cooked the dessert (not in the picture) which was Rabanada. It is kind of a Brazilian French toast but we don't eat it with syrup, instead we coat it in sugar and cinnamon. This year we had a host of things to eat: smoked turkey, rice, black beans, farofa (yuca seasoned with onions and bacon), maionese (potato and carrot salad with mayo), a green salad, pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) and coxinha (Brazilian hors d'oeuvres). We would have Panettone but I had been eating one slice a day for two weeks. Yum. 
Each year we prepare our hearts for Christmas way more than we prepare other things. Santa was never a topic of conversation at our house. Our kids are too little and decades from now I want them to remember Jesus above everything else. I remember when it was just my husband and I for Christmas. Our table keeps getting more children as the years go by (and boy, can they eat!). Next year with the help of God we will set another place at the table for the baby I am carrying now. I am in a season of waiting and preparation for this baby. I keep wondering that Mary must have felt the same feelings: the joy of having a child, seeing her table getting filled with children, a family being formed. What an amazing season of reflection - and eating - Christmas is!