"Michel Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> (Takuya) wrote in
> om:
> Customarily, among French-Canadians, Christmas was not a time of gift
> giving. That was New Year's.
More so in Québec than for French-Canadians in other parts of Canada, for
obvious reasons.
> The belief was that Christmas was a
> remembrance of the birth of Emmanuel the Christ and should be
> honoured, not polluted with material consideration. One went to
> midnight mass and afterwards one family invited others (usually pre-
> arranged and mostly relatives) to come eat (le réveillon) which
> usually lasted until the wee hours. In Québec, the customary fare
> consisted of tourtière
In New Brunswick our family opened presents after Midnight Mass and then the
relatives & friends all congregated at our house (we were the youngest kids)
for the réveillon, which often lasted until 4 a.m. and involved copious
amount of food and booze.
The menu was 'pté à la viande' which is a variation on the tourtière. The
meat, which could be chicken, beef, pork & often deer & moose, is stewed
with onions & spices and then chopped to put in the pastry. Some families
also include potatoes, but it's not something I like.
Desserts at our house were usually various cookies and squares rather than
pies (for us, due to the Anglo influence, a Christmas pie was a mincemeat
pie).
> Christmas Day was usually spent in rest and short visits to
> neighbours. It was customary to have a 40 oz bottle of gin for the
> festive time and to offer the men a small glass upon arrival.
There was a constant coming and going at our house, and no one who was of
age got away without having some kind of alcoholic beverage. Christmas
dinner was at night and usually involved friends of the family who'd had
their own family dinners at noon. The menu for said dinner varied. Turkey
was the usual fare, but Mom sometimes roasted a goose instead, and a few
times, much to the delight of the friends who already had their turkey
dinners, she made a boiled dinner instead (something that, now that I live
in Newfoundland and Labrador, is considered part of the traditional
Christmas meal)
> Now, Christmas is celebrated à l'anglaise in many French-Canadian
> families simply because it's impossible to avoid. However, as
> irreligious as I am, I still put up a crèche (a manger scene) at
> Christmas.
It's the first Christmas decoration that goes up in our home.
Once I got married, to an Anglo, we combined both our families' celebration.
The children were taken to the early Mass by my parents while hubby and I
gathered with his parents at the home of family friends for eggnog and
socializing.
Then Midnight Mass for both of us and then back home to wake up the kids to
open presents and to attend the réveillon. In the morning the kids were
dressed and we went to "Grammy & Grampy's" house to open more presents and
for Christmas dinner, which featured turkey, plum pudding with hard sauce
and mincemeat tarts. Then back to my folks' place for another turkey
Christmas dinner.
Now that the kids are all grown up (though the 2 boys are always home for
Xmas) & we live nowhere near any relatives, Christmas Eve is spent quietly
watching a Xmas themed movie. Then we attend Midnight Mass as a family.
The drive back home after Midnight Mass involves a spin through the
neighbourhood to see the decorations and then home for hot chocolate &
presents and usually a phone call to the relatives back home who are hosting
the family réveillon, which now features a partridge or rabbit 'bouillon'
and sugar pie. Stockings are hung, so that there is something to open Xmas
morning, and then it's off to bed. Christmas Day is spent quietly; the
dinner menu can feature anything from turkey to curry.
Gabby