This is a tale about why we need beautiful charcuterie trays, but also definitely about healthy boundaries, a miserable holiday, and how I needed to reclaim this holiday in the interest of my sanity and happiness!
Flashback to Christmas 2021, when my entire family had Covid. We were trapped in a house with a fridge full of food to prepare for our holiday meal. Rather than listening to my body to not cook at all, I decided to prepare our entire meal on Christmas Day and box it up for our family. The gesture sounded lovely, but truly, I was miserable. Our house was a mess, my child was excitedly playing with all his toys, my husband was down for the count, and I was roasting a 14 pound tenderloin and not enjoying myself at all. I vowed to change my approach to Christmas Day next year and all subsequent years.
After chatting about alternate holiday plans, I’ve settled on charcuterie for this year’s celebration! One doesn’t always think about a charcuterie board for Christmas, yes? But hear me out! You can represent all the food groups while feeling fancy! You can try a bunch of different flavors and foods! You can have fun arranging the yummy things on the trays-maybe the whole family can get involved! And cleanup is probably the easiest thing. Add in some shrimp, some cocktails, some warm beverages, and cookies, and done! A beautiful holiday celebration, without the headache of cooking on Christmas Day. I’m convinced this is the way forward!
What are you doing differently this holiday season? How will your traditions change? Or will you start new ones? I want to hear all about it.
In the meantime, be sure to grab your Stria Trays for your next holiday gathering!