Tradition

Let’s face it.  A tradition is just a habit that happened to hire a better publicist.  I cemented this observation a few days ago at the local Starbucks.  I came upon a small point of sale display with a sign that said “Let’s give new meaning to favorite traditions”.  On display were a nice pair of brand new coffee mugs each holding a red foil bag of coffee wrapped in a festive green ribbon.  So I’m taking the message here as do my best to find a way to incorporate Starbucks into my holiday.

I hold traditions to a higher threshold.  I truly believe that traditions happen organically.  All of the traditions that have meant something to me began for no reason at all.  It really is a habit, albeit one that may occur annually, and typically has a fuzzy beginning.  And I don’t hold anything against Starbucks.  I could totally see a tradition of having a cup of coffee at Starbucks every year before embarking on a Black Friday shopping spree.  I can dig it.  I love history; I love nostalgia; I love tradition.  Hell, I’ve made my own personal tradition around holiday movies.  I watch the Ice Storm every Thanksgiving and I watch the Ice Harvest every Christmas.  Each of them is set around the designated holiday and it’s just a habit I grew into.  It’s comforting in a way, even though each film is a bit bleak.

I’ve grown into a couple of Christmas habits that I now seem to hold pretty strong.  One is putting out a Christmas motif plate that was my mom’s.  As a kid I can remember my mom putting it out and having no idea what it was.  It is the size of a dessert plate. It has a holy leaf design.  It was one of a kind in my family and did nothing than sit on a table.  When my mom died my dad went through the exercise of getting rid of things.  He offered those items to me first, and one of them was this plate.  I took it, but I’d say the reason was more that I couldn’t stand it going off to goodwill than I had an attachment to it.  But as I go through successive Christmases, I put the plate out on my table, for no other reason than it reminds me that my mom is still with me.  It’s one of my Christmas habits.

The other habit I started is switching over to red cocktail glasses for Christmas.  I pulled them out today for my pre-dinner martini.  I have actually posted a picture of them before.  I don’t remember when I bought them.  I know they are from Crate and Barrel, but the rest of the story is fuzzy.  All I know is that every December I pull them out, I celebrate the holidays with them, and then back they go to be forgotten for another year.  A comfortable habit that I will now say is a cocktail journey tradition.  I appreciate your letting me share it with you.

Christmas Martini 2011

 

• 4 oz. Tanqueray Gin

• 0.5 oz Vya Dry Vermouth

• 2 dashes Berg & Hauck’s Lemon Bitters

• stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

• garnish with three olives

I’ve now settled on a standard 8:1 martini and I’ve started to add a few drops of lemon bitters.  I find them a bit less intrusive than orange bitters but I notice their presence as well.  I suggest you try it.

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~ by Tom on November 27, 2011.