How to spend a terrific Christmas? a Hispanic Christmas!

In a multicultural household like mine, we often try to please all our family members, this year We are spending Christmas over my husband’s family. So before leaving We celebrated Christmas with part of my family.

We Hispanics or Latinos celebrate Noche Buena (Christmas’s eve) or the night before Christmas day, it’s part of our Spanish heritage mostly, we get together, share a lot of food and drinks. At midnight, some families go the mass (La misa del Gallo) in celebration of Jesus birth. In a Latin household, there are classic fixes that cannot be left out of the dinner menu. Here is a classic menu:

Puerco o lechon asado (Roasted pork) from Andria Tejeda From Scratch Latin Kitchen

I think each family have their own unique recipe for roasted pork. In my family, my grandmother, used to raise the pork herself, and kill it a few days before Christmas, she used all the parts, made blood sausage (morcilla with the blood and intestines, fried the ears, stew the liver, stuffed the pork with Moro de habichuelas negras (Black beans and rice) and then roasted it over a low fire, for hours and hours!

Arroz navideño (Fantasy rice) Again each family does this recipe different.

Jamon Glaseado (Glazed ham) from Nerise Delicioso y Ligero

Moro de Guandules (Pigeon beans and rice)  from Jacqueline Henríquez. It takes years for a whole family to tweak their recipes, but once it’s done it will be pass on for generations.

Pollo Asado (Roasted chicken)  from Sagrario Matos

Ensalada Rusa (Russian potato salad) By Simple by Clara (Dominican Cooking)

Moro de habichuelas negras (Moros y Cristianos) translates to “Moors and Christians,” the black beans are Moors, the white rice are Christians. Black beans and rice are a traditional Cuban dish. But cook trough out the Caribbean islands.

Pasteles en hoja (Plantain and Beef Pockets)  By Simple by Clara (Dominican Cooking)

(Pasteles en Hoja are a tamal-like food, popular in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. This Caribbean tradition is very similar to tamales, except the dough is made from plantains instead of corn and wrapped in parchment or plantain leaves instead of cornhusks. But like tamales, making them is a holiday event, where the family takes over the kitchen.

Juicy garlic herbs roasted turkey

Pastelitos (Chicken, beef or cheese pasties)

The thing is, cooking is part of the celebration, this is why I love cooking so much, for me cooking is a celebration each time, for the love you feel for the one’s you are cooking for, and it should never be rushed or undervalued; the time we spend cooking and sharing a meal, is always quality time and it should be cherish and enjoyed.

Besides all the beautiful food, what counts the most is to be together, to share the moment, to leave your cell phone off for the evening! remember when you didn’t have one; and all there was to do was enjoy the moment and talk to each other!

I do hope that you get to spend this Christmas with your loved ones!! Happy holidays!!