Shrimp and Kenon

Santa Claus was pretty much ruined for me by the time I was 5. My friend Jenny told me that there was no Santa and I ran home crying to my Mom praying that she was lying. However, Christmas was not ruined. My parents always kept the spirit alive and with 3 younger siblings leaving cookies and wish lists out for Santa, how could someone not enjoy Christmas?

Until I was twelve, we always spent Christmas at my Grandmother's. But then we had to move to Connecticut and most of the time, it was just us kids with my parents. We all liked being together on Christmas and created many of our own traditions in Connecticut.

Once we were all grown up, we realized that Mom was always in the kitchen preparing a beautiful dinner and we wanted to spend more time with her instead. She finally agreed to cook lasagna, which she would prep the night before and throw in the oven on Christmas Day. We now have garlic bread, salad and lasagna for Christmas dinner. Before this, she would cook a dinner that you would think was impossible to cook in a day. Ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli, rolls, salad, fruit salad, desserts (there was always a choice of what you could have for dessert).

The ridiculous part of all of this is that my mother began feeding us from the time we woke up on Christmas. Mom and Dad would have their coffee and then we would dig through our stockings to find breakfast- always Hershey's Kisses and an amazing amount of Christmas colored, peanut M&Ms. This was a delicious breakfast.

Immediately following opening the vast amount of gifts left by Santa under the tree, we would retire to the kitchen area where my Mom began laying out appetizers. You would think that there were guests coming for dinner, but no, it was just us. She would always have a veggie platter which consisted of your usual carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with delicious Marie's Bleu Cheese dressing. Then the cheese and crackers. She loves Monterey Jack cheese and that was always included next to the cheddar. Perhaps a red wine cheese ball too.

One year, for the appetizers, my Mom picked up a small, frozen shrimp cocktail ring that you find at the grocery, often overstocked for the holidays. I don't know if she knew if we would like it or not, but she was looking forward to it herself. She did not forget to thaw it out overnight in the fridge. She set the shrimp cocktail on the kitchen table, grabbed a shrimp and gobbled it up. I remember my brother, Kenon, who was probably 8 at the time, sitting at the table with a look of amazement. I tried a shrimp, I liked it a lot and then had another piece of cheese. My Mom walked away to get a drink, turned back and the shrimp was gone- all of their tails lying on the empty plastic ring. My brother had eaten all of the shrimp!

The following holiday, my Mom purchased two small, frozen shrimp cocktail rings. My Mom and I had a couple of shrimp before she put the first ring on the table. Sure enough, the first ring was demolished. Second ring- gone. From then on, my Mom seems to buy the extra-large frozen shrimp cocktail rings- and we all seem to know that there isn't a chance in hell that you will get more than one shrimp.

For a skinny, little fellow, my brother sure can handle a few pounds of shrimp.