So yeah. I’ve been a very bad blogger this week. I apologize. I’ve had a lot going on, and when I sat down to write, I had zero ideas. We haven’t been cooking that much. We’ve been eating out a lot and going to holiday parties so the kitchen has been slightly neglected. But once the holidays pass, don’t worry — the fire will be lit again.

But since we are on the topic of the holidays, I am going to devote this week’s Friday Five to Christmas traditions. I grew up eating specific food around the holidays, and now Eric and I have started some of our own holiday traditions. And yes — they mostly center around food. Would you expect any less?

1) Once Eric and I moved in together, we started the tradition of cracking open the first eggnog of the season on the day we put up the Christmas tree. Eric loves eggnog way more than I do (unless it is part of a latte. Then it is all mine), but having a little bit while we sit and look at our decorated house is something I will always cherish.

2) Peppermint baked goods are ubiquitous this year and with good reason. This year, we started the new tradition of baking something up the day we put up the decorations. I made a chocolate peppermint bundt cake and it was bananas. I’m already dreaming of the peppermint brownies I plan on making next Christmas.

3) Some people have turkey on Christmas as well as Thanksgiving. Not us. We’re Italian — we’d have lasagna. We’d usually have lasagna with ham, or as we got older, prime rib with it as well. Eric and I have spent the past few Christmases with his family (where we do have turkey, and it is delicious), but we now have lasagna on Christmas Eve. My parents are coming over for Christmas Eve dinner this year — my first Christmas in Georgia since college — and I am very much looking forward to it.

4) Growing up, Christmas breakfast always consisted of pizza frite. It’s fried pizza dough that you smush in powdered or granulated sugar. Once Eric and I started celebrating together, I changed it up to French toast. But not just any French toast — panettone French toast. Panettone is a dense egg bread, similar to challah, that is usually speckled with fruit, nuts or chocolate. It makes amazing French toast. We are flying up to DC on Christmas Day this year, but you best believe I’m making panettone French toast before we head to the airport.

5) I’m including New Years in here because it is still part of the holiday season. Last year, I decided that every New Year’s Day I was going to try out something I’ve never made before and that has always kinda freaked me out. Last year I made mussels. You always read horror stories about cooking mussels or clams at home and people getting sick. Well luckily that didn’t happen to us. And they were delicious. I haven’t decided what I am going to make this year, but I will definitely be sharing it here.