Christmas Eve might just be my favorite day of the year. I love the anticipation, the peaceful feeling that surrounds the day. Christmas Eve is so special to me because it was a time where my family was able to gather, and there was no stress, no rush- we were simply there to enjoy time together. And of course, this is all tied together through food.

For such a special occasion, you want to find a show-stopper of a meal, or at least something that everyone likes! One year when I was still pretty young, my mom made an eggplant parmesan for our Christmas Eve feast. Despite her efforts- we all hated it! To this day, I am not a fan of eggplant. My mom realized that not only had she given her kids a dinner that they thoroughly did NOT enjoy on Christmas Eve, but she had slaved away in the kitchen just to get whined at- which is not exactly the ideal Christmas Eve for any mother. This is when she decided to stick with something that she knew we all liked, and that would be simple to make: homemade pizza!

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My mom has used different pizza dough recipes through the years, but this is one of her favorites that isn’t too complicated:

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This has pretty much been our tradition as long as I can remember. I can barely remember the eggplant incident, and all my other memories include my mother’s delicious homemade pizza. She doesn’t just stick with your basic pepperoni- on Christmas Eve there is always a whole smorgasbord of pizzas- pesto, alfredo, BBQ, buffalo chicken, breakfast, you name it. As the years have gone by, she no longer has to bear the burden of pizza-making alone; as the kids have gotten older, it’s also a chance for us all to bond in the kitchen as we make the pizzas together.

Now my family is still quite young, but we will be spending our first Christmas Eve together without traveling to someone else’s home- it will just be us. My husband and I love the pizza, but in an effort to tie together our different traditions and create our own, my husband and I decided we are going to make German pancakes and a potato, egg, and cheese skillet for dinner- because our whole family loves it, and I usually only make it for special occasions. I’m excited at the prospect of creating my own traditions with my little family, and hearing about the things they remember from their growing up years. And who knows- we may end up going back to pizza, or we may end up making something completely different- but either way, our family will be spending time together, and that’s what I’m most excited about!

Here is our family’s recipe for german pancakes- if you haven’t tried these, you definitely need to!

While the food is certainly fun to think about, ultimately it is certainly not the most important aspect of Christmas Eve. Whatever your family is eating for dinner that night, I hope you and your family are able to enjoy your time together as we reflect on the birth of our Savior and the gift that He truly is. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!