Noche buena — Cuban-American Lifestyle & Food Blog — My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog

Happy New Year, everyone!

I know some of you are wondering what happened with the Dark Christmas Tree.

Here's the story:

My son, Adam flew in from the Bay Area at the crack of dawn, landing at around 7:30 AM on Christmas eve. Lucy and Jonathan went to pick him up at the airport while Eric and I finished up the last minute touches around here. Or maybe we just slept in, but that's not important right now. ;-)

And they were all exhausted so they napped for most of the day which was fine by me. We had an amazing NocheBuena celebration at my sister, Alina's house. Everything was so beautiful and festive and everyone was so happy. (We also did a photobooth thing again which I'll share with you later.)

In short, a good time was had by all.

We didn't get home until about 11pm. It was then that we busted out the Créme de Vie and cranked up the Christmas music and decorated our own tree and put out the presents and set the table for breakfast.

Christmas morning felt pretty magical and I think we all felt it. (I made them put the lights on the tree in a swirling light pattern. You can see it if you squint. I kind of loved it. A lot.)

We had an absolute feast on Christmas morning that included quiche, fresh fruit, monkey bread and my best friend, Pam's Pamagranate Jelly.

Seriously, the house went from plain to spectacular fabulous magical (=D) overnight.

And as we leisurely had breakfast and opened gifts... (lots and lots of gifts. Thanks, guys!)

I felt absolutely content. We had a wonderful time together and all 6 of us were in the same area code.

Which is all I really wanted for Christmas anyway.

As you know, we Cubans celebrate Noche Buena on December the 24th.

In my family, December the 25th, or Christmas Day is the day we each celebrate with our individual families.

Usually, my oldest sister, Ofelia will take Luza (my 96 year old mom) with her to enjoy Christmas morning with her grandkids (my mom's great-grands).

Besides the traditional family celebrations, there's also the many and varied Christmas parties to attend.

In spite of all this madness, we also manage to add another small and informal party to our busy schedules. In attendance are just the girls. My sisters and their daughters and me and my daughters spend an evening noshing on cookies and creme de vie. The reason? It's the night we exchange gifts with my mom.

I know you're asking, "But, Marta, isn't your Noche Buena celebration just a week later? And won't you all be there?" The answers are yes and yes.

The reason we started The Luza Gift night is because we (sisters) usually chip in to get my mom some great gifts. And she usually gets a little something for each of us. But when the Noche-Buena-Crazy begins, there's no telling who got or who gave what to whom.

In the past, we've tried. Or I should say, I tried. I would try to make it an orderly "You give your gifts and then you and so on...."

But my family is Cuban. And noisy. An unruly. And impatient. And they tend to be command-resistant, too.

So, the more civilized Luza Gift night was established. My mom can open her gifts from us and enjoy her goodies and thank us properly. And we can do the same.

Her argument for doing the early exchange is that she wants to see our faces and she wants to make sure she knows who gave her the gift and that she can show the proper appreciation.

Secretly, I think she is just like a little kid and can't wait. ;-)