Really, we just eat.

Homemade caramel corn is definitely a most-loved Christmas tradition!

America! I mean, Christmas. Christmas in America! A holiday for which some celebrate the birth of Christ, open presents, decorate the house, gather with family and friends, or an assortment of these activities and more.

Each family has different traditions. Here are some things that mean Christmas to me:

We definitely could not have Christmas without our gargantuan stockings. In fact, emptying my stocking is almost equal to opening my presents. Where else do you find mini Vaseline tubs or soft new knee socks or all flavors of Bubblicious gum?

Every year, my mom picks out themed ornaments for each family member. This year we all received characters from the Lion King, which tied in with a present from “Santa” – tickets to see the Broadway show when it comes to Nashville next year!

“Drink me! er…ho ho ho!”

Egg nog. Coffee. Hot mulled cider. Boiled custard lattes. Peppermint tea. All reasons to get out the much loved Christmas mugs! Everything tastes better when you’re drinking from Santa’s head.

A staple of Christmas is, of course, the Christmas cookie. This is the dessert that requires the most work – making, cooling, cutting shapes into and baking the dough, then icing and decorating each individual cookie! All while licking your fingers and eating the broken cookies and getting such a bad sugar rush that you can’t blink and go running around the house in search of raw broccoli.

We don’t discriminate against store-bought candy, though. Trader Joe’s, especially, make fantastic holiday treats!

In addition to the above food, we also had:

[Homemade] fudge, peanut butter balls, peanut clusters, cookie dough pops, caramel corn and [store bought] peppermint Joe Joe’s, candy canes and Mexican cookies.

Seriously, no one has ever come to our house around Christmas time and said, “Oh, I have way more candy at my house!”

So, really, we just eat. Joy to the world, everyone, and have a holiday Krackle! Christ is born and yea, the chocolate is nigh. Even when the lethargy and sugar lows have hit, I’m thankful for our holiday traditions…and that we haven’t run out of Starbucks’ Christmas blend yet, either!