Petersen 1

Amaya Petersen

Mrs. Szetela

English 1010

24 September 2017

The Breakfast of the Year

Ever since I could remember, Christmas has been my favorite time of the year.

As a little girl, I remember being more excited to eat a lot of food rather than open up

presents. You see, my family, is constantly spending time with one another. However,

we take the holidays to give us an excuse to see each other even more. Things are just

a little more special when we are all together pigging out on Christmas morning.

You can imagine my surprise when I found out that people did not celebrate like I

did. It was an even bigger surprise to me when I found out that not everyone celebrates

Christmas but that is a story for another time. Whenever I am struggling, I like to think

about my previous Christmas’s to remind myself that there will be a time in my life again

where I feel true bliss.

The food over the years have changed, but the tradition never has. TIme after

time, everyone surries into the kitchen and begins to feel like a child again. My family is

all I have ever had to count on in my life, so everyone morning memory counts. My

family has never really been good on keeping a steady tradition, so I cherish the fact we

still do this one thing. Sure, we add/drop people sometimes but the ones that truly

matter always stay. That is really all I could ever ask for.
 Petersen 2

Here comes the star of the show, the breakfast. Just imagine this, eggs frying in

oil and popping every now and then. Potatoes as far as the eye can see. Fried, mashed

(the only thing that is upon my request), and Hashed. Waffles drenched in

mouth-watering syrup and strawberries. French toast sprinkled in powdered sugar.

Every juice you could ever think of ready to grace your taste buds, as well as a hot pot

of coffee brewing in the corner. Most importantly, a family eagerly waiting to dive in.

In my family, everyone brings their own dish. Therefore there is a plethora of food

always ready to devour. The event of the year is always held at my house and there is

never enough seats for everyone. We all end up piling into the living room and bundle

up in our blankets with our mountainous plates. Everyone is in their pajamas, the fire is

on and warming the room, and memories of past years are being shared.

It is now when we finally get to eat and my oh my is it heavenly. The one thing

that I look forward to every single year has finally happened. Even right now, I can’t help

but fantasize about the morning and joy has flushed all over me. Whenever somebody

tells me that they hate Christmas, I can’t help but feel hurt. How could somebody

possibly hate Christmas when there is breakfast to eat? Not everybody celebrates like I

do, and I still have a hard time grasping that.

You see, I was in the sixth grade when my eating disorder started. The only time

of year when I wasn’t struggling was in fact Christmas. It has been the only time that I

mentally allow myself to feed my body properly. It is the one time of year when my
 Petersen 3

depression goes down. Overall, it is a time of year where I simply am not struggling.

That is why I cherish our breakfast so much, it’s my one constant.

However, this year things were a little different. For my last Christmas before

adulthood, my family threw me a curveball and decided that we were going to make a

Christmas dinner instead. I was completely devastated, the meal I had been looking

forward to for a year was not going to happen.

It broke my heart and I did not know what to do. I did not want to make a big deal

about it to my family because I did not want to be the one that made everyone alter their

plans for the day, but it is my day too. For the first time in my life, I woke up on

Christmas morning and did not eat breakfast. It was wrong and there was nothing that I

could do about it. All of my life, all that I knew was this meal on Christmas morning.

Now, I had to come to terms with the fact that it was over.

It took a little bit of time, but I realized that I had to get over myself. It is not the

meal itself that is so meaningful to me, instead it is who I am spending it with. Even

though I preferred our breakfast, we would still be together for this dinner. That really is

all that matters. The food has changed, but the tradition will never stop.

Even though Christmas is considered a religious holiday, I wanted to find out

when the disconnect happened and the masses started celebrating it. The history of

Christmas is based off of the day Jesus was born. Christians celebrate this day by

placing Christmas trees in the home, giving out gifts, and teaching the children about
 Petersen 4

Santa Claus. There is no specific food that is apart of the holiday, which makes it

personal for every family.

Even though that sounds very similar to how we celebrate today, when did it

become so mainstream? (Kelemen, Lawrence The History of Christmas) I am not even

Christian and I celebrate the holiday heavily. Many who celebrate do not even know the

real significance, even I don’t. However, that is no reason not to celebrate. I respect all

that follow the church and find religious value on December 25th, but it is also a day

now where everyone gets together to give gifts and see one another. Plus, it is a reason

to eat a lot of food.

Now that I know more about the history, I am most interested in knowing what

others are eating on Christmas morning. The popular dishes I found were pancakes,

eggs of all types, hash browns, french toast, crepes, and cinnamon rolls. Pretty basic

breakfast foods, but so many people are putting their own twists and turns on classic

meals. Adding chocolate here and there, all sorts of vegetables, and spicing them into

new creations. If it was any other day, breakfast is not my favorite meal. People are out

here creating dishes that are all their own. I want to go on in history as someone who

made a delicious Christmas breakfast dish for people to share with their families.

Looking at all these new recipes I can not wait to add a little something new to my own

Christmas morning breakfast. (Desmond, Tara “Christmas Morning Breakfasts”)

This got me really thinking, how are other people celebrating Christmas

compared to me? All over the world, people are celebrating in such diverse ways that I
 Petersen 5

didn't even know was their social norm. Take Japan as an example, in their culture, it is

normal to order a KFC dinner for Christmas. People even order two months in advance

to make sure they get their Chicken dinner. In Venezuela, the whole family gets their

hands dirty in order to make hallacas (similar to tamales) for the whole family to share.

Or in France, they go straight to the oysters. 70% of the entire country's consumption is

eaten during the last few weeks of December. (Revolinski, Kevin “10 Holiday Food

Traditions from Around the World” para. 1, 3, 6)

This really surprised me. I just assumed that everyone just ate breakfast with

their families and talked about everyone’s humiliating memories. I can’t imagine

planning two months in advance in order to get some Kentucky Fried Chicken for

dinner. That really made me think about how different everyone is from each other.

Sure, we are all connected by eating some type of meal, but we are all eating different

things. I do not think that really matters, it is not what you are eating, but who you are

eating it with.

I found Venezuela’s the most interesting, because it focused on working together

with family. I could relate the most because you have to depend on your loved ones in

order to execute the day perfectly. We can’t just deal with the weight ourselves, we

need to work together. I thought that was truly beautiful.

It never even occurred to me to look at the diversity of my family until examining

these pieces of work. In my family, my aunt is British. She added a new tradition to our
 Petersen 6

family meal and I didn’t even realize it came from her home. That is, we now pop

“crackers” and giggle at the terrible jokes that are always provided for us.

I was wondering how different is the United States from the United Kingdom.

That is when I got to researching, what are the real differences? It is not only food, but

the very manner in which we celebrate. There are a lot of decorations flooding the

streets and inside of homes. Our desserts aren't nearly as cool, snowballs are

commonly eaten as a Christmas treat and they don't get nearly enough recognition. As

well as mince pies and puddings, which you do not usually find in the states. (Brown,

Laurence “Christmas Traditions: Britain vs. America”)

After researching others traditions on Christmas, I can not wait to add something

new to my family’s. I have spent my entire life believing that everyone just ate a

standard breakfast and hung out with their loved one’s, man I was so wrong. It is not

what you are eating though, all that matter is who you are eating it with. We all might be

celebrating in different ways, but we still are all bonding through food.
 Petersen 7

WORKS CITED

KELEMEN, L.
Origin of Christmas | The history of Christmas and how it began
In-text: (Kelemen, 2017)
Kelemen, L. (2017). ​Origin of Christmas | The history of Christmas and how it began​. [online]
Simpletoremember.com. Available at:
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm

REVOLINSKI, K.
10 Holiday Food Traditions from Around the World
In-text: (Revolinski, 2017)
Revolinski, K. (2017). ​10 Holiday Food Traditions from Around the World​. [online] Reader's Digest.
Available at:
http://www.readersdigest.ca/food/cooking-tips/10-holiday-food-traditions-around-world/view-all/

BROWN, L.
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS: BRITAIN VS. AMERICA | BBC AMERICA
In-text: (Brown, 2017)
Brown, L. (2017). ​Christmas Traditions: Britain vs. America | BBC America​. [online] Available at:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/12/christmas-traditions-britain-vs-america

DESMOND, T.
Christmas Morning Breakfasts
In-text: (Desmond, 2017)
Desmond, T. (2017). ​Christmas Morning Breakfasts​. [online] Parents. Available at:
http://www.parents.com/recipes/holidays/christmas/christmas-morning-breakfasts/
Petersen 8