Our Favorite Festive Traditions

The older I get, the more I realize that the magic of the holidays lives in the things we do over and over again: the ornaments we unwrap, the stories we read, the recipes we make every year.

Somewhere along the way, those little things become our things, and eventually, the traditions our children will remember. Here are a few of my favorites from our family to yours.

Festive Holiday Traditions | Henry Duvall

Trimming the Tree

We always decorate our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, with a fire going, a cocktail for the grown-ups, favorite appetizers, and the kids in Christmas pajamas. I try to make a real event of it.

My favorite part is unwrapping the ornaments: preschool handprints, kindergarten photo frames, gifts from people I love, and ornaments that have been handed down for years. Each one brings back a memory and the collection grows every year.

I let the children decorate however they want, and then promptly rearrange everything after they go to bed. They never remember where they put them, and then I get the beautiful tree I want, while still making the family memory.

24 Nights of Christmas Stories

When my youngest was little, I bought 24 Christmas storybooks. Every December, I wrap them (if I have the time) and each night the children take turns choosing one to read before bed. If I don't have the time in a given year? I just pile them under the tree and guess what? They still think it's so special.

My favorite thing about it is that it gets everyone excited to snuggle up and read together at night, even my now-11-year-old, and that doesn't happen very often the rest of the year.

Festive Holiday Traditions | Henry Duvall

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is my very favorite day of the year, every year. I think it lies in the anticipation and excitement of the day, it is just so magical.

Ours starts in pajamas making cookies for Santa, followed by one last holiday movie while I get everything ready. Then we dress up for a big fancy lunch, and head to Christmas Eve Mass where my children are angels or sheep or something else adorable (I will be so sad when they outgrow the pageant). After church, we come home, read The Night Before Christmas with extended family and have dinner.

Festive Holiday Traditions | Henry Duvall
Then the littles finally go to sleep and the real fun begins. Christmas as a child is absolutely magical. But Christmas as a parent? Getting to be the one who makes that magic? Oh, it's even better.

From My Mother's Recipe Box

One Christmas, my mom gave my sister and me each a little recipe tin filled with handwritten cards of all our childhood favorites: the family staples we make every holiday, the recipes we remember, and the ones we still text each other for when we can't find them. Now they're the recipes I make for my own family, and I hope one day they'll be the ones my children make for theirs.

Cauliflower Gratinée

My favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

Tap the card to see the directions

Cauliflower Gratinée

Ingredients
  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 oz prosciutto, cut in strips
  • 1 large cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1½ cups heavy cream
  • 1½ cups Gruyère cheese
  • Salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in prosciutto and sauté 2 minutes more.
  4. Add the cauliflower and cook until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
  5. Stir in the flour and then the cream. Blend well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Heat to boiling, then remove from heat.
  7. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Top with cheese and bake until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Crostini with Mushrooms & Blue Cheese

My favorite appetizer, and always a crowd pleaser.

Tap the card to see the directions

Crostini with Mushrooms, Prosciutto & Blue Cheese

Ingredients
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • ½ lb shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps chopped
  • 4 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ cup whipping cream
  • ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
  • ½ cup chopped prosciutto (about 2½ oz)
  • 18 half-inch-thick diagonal bread slices from a baguette
  • Chopped parsley, for garnish
  • Salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Melt butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add all mushrooms and garlic and sauté until the mushrooms are cooked through and brown, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add cream and boil until the liquid is absorbed completely, about 2 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat. Add blue cheese and stir until melted. Mix in prosciutto. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl.
  4. Preheat oven to 375°. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 5 minutes.
  5. Mound 1 Tbsp of topping on each slice. Return to the oven and bake until the topping is heated through, about 6 minutes.
  6. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Traditions rarely start out as traditions. You do something once, then again, and somewhere along the way it simply becomes part of your family's story.

Here's to the little things we do this year becoming the things they remember forever.