Well for Christmas we will normally put up our little tree on the first of December every year, each year we go out and buy our very own little decoration to go on it, haha our poor little tree sags with the weight of them all!!!
I every year (well for the last 3 years) I make a gingerbread house from scratch (as it has to be gluten free in my house) And it is soooo fun!! one of my favorite parts of Xmas
Our grandparents always come around and sometimes my aunts and uncles but they all live in England or Nelson
On Christmas eve we leave out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer, and we turn the lights on our tree on and leave them on all night to guide santas sleigh (well I think my parents turn them off when they go to bed) as they tell us Santa will turn off the lights when he comes that way he doesn't miss out any house :) and we normally watch the Christmas movie which is on :)
The next morning R and I are always the first one s up and we always rush out to see if Santa came and ate the milk and cookies we left by the door and to see if the reindeer have eaten the carrot!! Haha even though we do now know that it is our parents eating them it is still fun and we don't have to stop as B is just starting!! Yay!! But we have done it ever since I can remember
We then sit and give and open our presents as a family.
Next we prepare the Christmas lunch which consists of a giant ham which my Dad does the most delicious honey glaze on, a chicken, new potatoes, carrots and peas and beans etc. most from my grans garden, and just heaps of food!! The adults usually have some champagne but R and I have some sparkling grape juice :) which tastes so much better than alcohol :)
For desert we will have Christmas fruit cake, pavlova, fruit salad, berries ( which last year I accidentally put corn flour instead of icing sugar on, haha I just scraped it off and put lots of real icing sugar on and no one ever knew the difference ;) and they never have to know!! our little secret :)) , Christmas pudding, trifle and probably something else I just cant remember :)
And this is Christmas pudding I probably don't need to explain what it is but for those who don't know it is like fruit cake but boiled and served with custard sauce!! yum!!
So yep that is New Zealand Christmas traditions :)
Sorry it took so long to get up ;)
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| like this one ^^ haha no it isnt quite that bad yet ;) |
Our grandparents always come around and sometimes my aunts and uncles but they all live in England or Nelson
On Christmas eve we leave out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer, and we turn the lights on our tree on and leave them on all night to guide santas sleigh (well I think my parents turn them off when they go to bed) as they tell us Santa will turn off the lights when he comes that way he doesn't miss out any house :) and we normally watch the Christmas movie which is on :)
The next morning R and I are always the first one s up and we always rush out to see if Santa came and ate the milk and cookies we left by the door and to see if the reindeer have eaten the carrot!! Haha even though we do now know that it is our parents eating them it is still fun and we don't have to stop as B is just starting!! Yay!! But we have done it ever since I can remember
Next we prepare the Christmas lunch which consists of a giant ham which my Dad does the most delicious honey glaze on, a chicken, new potatoes, carrots and peas and beans etc. most from my grans garden, and just heaps of food!! The adults usually have some champagne but R and I have some sparkling grape juice :) which tastes so much better than alcohol :)
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| The yummy honey glazed ham :) |
And this is Christmas cake^^ it is just like a fruit cake i guess with almond and royal icing
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| And this is Pavlova!! It is amazing!!!! like a meringue but 100000 times better!!! Topped with cream and of course kiwi and strawberries!! If you are going to try it, it has to be homemade the ones from the shop dont taste nearly as good!! |
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And this is Christmas pudding I probably don't need to explain what it is but for those who don't know it is like fruit cake but boiled and served with custard sauce!! yum!!
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| And lastly trifle!! It is layers of sponge with raspberry jam with custard topped with cream!! And sometimes brandy is added to the sponge to add flavor and stop it drying out |
Then the grandparents will arrive and we will share gifts with them
We then have lunch
then go for a walk around the park we live next to
Then dinner which is left overs for lunch :)
Then we listen to the Queens speech on TV and then coffees and bed :) !!!!
And they are my families NZ Christmas traditions!!
Some other common ones in NZ would be going and spending the day on the beach with a BBQ for lunch
For children, a Christmas stocking is an early-morning treat it is filled with small presents from Santa. The stocking is usually hung at the end of the child’s bed or from the mantelpiece above the fireplace. (Ours go up above the fire place but normally don't get filled and are just for decoration)
If friends and family live far away Kiwis will send Christmas cards, showing typical Christmas scenes like snow, even though we don't get snow down here as it is summer or Kiwi Christmas pictures like pohutukawa trees in flower. And we will normally just give them to friends as well even though that live so close with candy canes as it is just a nice thing to do :)
Boxing Day is also part of Christmas celebration In New Zealand, Christmas Eve sometimes involves a midnight church mass or a round of Christmas carols, while Boxing Day is traditionally a family day and a continuation of the relaxation and family festivities of Christmas Day.
This one I don't do or think it is that common, it might be for religious families but I don't know as well I am not religious.
This one I don't do or think it is that common, it might be for religious families but I don't know as well I am not religious.
So yep that is New Zealand Christmas traditions :)
Sorry it took so long to get up ;)
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