Kathi DePolis - Christmas Memories

Is there a more beautiful memory than one of a child remembering Christmas?  I think not.

From the time I was a small child, every year my sister and I would receive a Christmas ornament for St. Nicholas day which is celebrated on December 6^th.  (read about St Nicholas around the world).  Since my father’s ancestors came from Bohemia, we celebrated it as  Svatý Mikuláš

The ornaments were usually a small character.   The purpose of these ornaments was so that when we moved out on our own and had our own family, we would have enough ornaments to dress the tree.  Yet it was such a waste to keep these ornaments for years and never enjoy them.  Little ones do not understand the concept of keeping a treasure for the future; they wish to enjoy their treasure now.  Therefore, once we had collected quite a few characters, my mother, being the very creative person that she was and continues to be, would create a Christmas scene as part of our holiday decorations.  This scene became a fantasy land for a small child.

Because my sister and I loved this so much, even once we were too old to celebrate St. Nicholas day, the ornament collecting continued to grow and so did the expansion of our little fantasy village.  My mother would embellish with bottle brush trees filled with glitter and tiny ornaments, faux snow, little animals, angel hair, colorful lights and more glitter.

Every year we looked forward to being able to set up this village which extended along the ledge in our basement/family room from one end of the room to the other.   While dad would bring boxes and boxes of Christmas décor down from the attic, mom would be busy making peppermint punch for us to enjoy as we set up all of our exquisite Christmas decorations.

Now you may be curious as to what peppermint punch is.  My mother would warm milk in a saucepan, crush candy canes and melt them into the milk, add a bit of vanilla and serve in a cup with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream with some more crushed candy canes sprinkled on top.  This was the only time of year mom would ever make this tasty treat. What a delicious memory it is and one that I have continued with my children throughout the years.

As we sipped on our punch, we adorned the house with beautiful décor to make Santa and visitors proud.  Our little village came to life as we went along.  Once complete, I would sit for hours in the dark with just the lights of the village and imagine that I was exploring this little wintery town.

I hope you have such fond memories of a tradition within your family.  Perhaps you will enjoy incorporating the peppermint punch recipe into your family tradition.

These are my children from a few years back, Stephen, Adria and Olya.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from my house to yours.