Candlelight dinner

The tradition started when my grandmother was in high school. Her dad worked for two companies and one sent their family a Christmas Candle Centerpiece that goes on a dinner table and the other company sent a poinsettia.  These are her words, “My mother decided to light the Christmas Candle Centerpiece on Christmas Eve for our dinner.  We ate in the formal dining room on white china with red cut glass glasses.  My mother was a really good cook and made a lovely meal.” My mother visited my great grandparents house for Candlelight Dinner till kindergarten.

 When she was five, they moved to Illinois while my great grandpa, did his PhD coursework.  Since they were away from home, my great grandma started the tradition of Candlelight Christmas Eve dinner, or Candlelight Dinner for short. Ever since, it has been a great tradition.

Typically, my family will eat, barbecue green beans, fried mushrooms, steak, and potatoes. When my mom was a girl, it was pretty much the same. The only differences are, wild rice instead of potatoes, for a while layered jello salad or pear mint jello salad, but they switched to spinach salad. They’d enjoy have sparkling cider,  wassail, and often Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes or some treat neighbors or students at school gave them. Both my grandparents are retired school teachers. They use their china and  their best silverware.  So the tradition began with my great grandmother, who passed it to my grandmother, and now my family does it. I'll probably pass it on too.