Pickles wrapped in Bacon

Being married is fun. One of the best parts of being newly married around the holidays is that I get to experience the 20 plus years of traditions that are backing Jacqui's experience of Christmas.

When Jacqui was a kid growing up in frigid interior B.C. Christmas Eve would finally arrive and her family would get bundled up and head out into freezing night. Jacqui is one of five Dutch kids so after I'm sure a lot of shuffling and fighting over seat belts they finally all wedged into the family car and drove to the Christmas Eve service at her church. After church they would pile into the car again, snug and warm and drive around to all the local "hot spots" for viewing Christmas lights. They'd ooh and ahh at all the shining snowmen and blinking lights and then they'd turn around and head home. Jacqui's mom is an accomplished baker (a skill I'm lucky she's passed on to Jacqui) and days before she would have finished all the piles of Christmas baking. There'd be a plethora of Dutch goodies waiting: mountains of speculaas, a Dutch spice cake, piles of jan hagel, almond cookies, and mounds of Nanaimo bars, a west coast delicacy named after a Vancouver Island town.

This was just the baking.

There were party mints, the ketchup chips flowed like wine, and most importantly the crowned jewel of what eventually became known as "The Spread": PICKLES WRAPPED IN BACON!!!! I had never heard of this delightful combination before but in the Deboer household a Christmas Eve without Pickles wrapped in bacon would be like a Birthday Party without the cake--it's integral. Seriously. The love for this sacred hors doeuvres has reached the point that there's even a ceremonial dance and song created by the Deboers that accompanies the eating of the first bite of the season. It is a thing to behold.

After everyone piled a plate full of goodies they'd retire to open their gifts. Now, in the world there's a pretty big debate among families when it comes to gift opening: Christmas Eve vs. Christmas Morning. My family was always of the Christmas Morning Persuasion. Jacqui's was always a Christmas Eve Clan. You can't even imagine the issues we're working through these days...We're seeking some professional outside help to reconcile our difference. In her defense it's hard to fight Dutch cultural conditioning which seems to prefer the Christmas Eve opening time slot. It's a force to be reckoned with. In any case, their bellies full of goodies they'd retire and watch the wrapping paper fly.

When I, a Christmas Morning boy at heart, asked her family what they did on Christmas Day they looked at me incredulously and said "Play with all our new toys! What else?!"

So this year being out West smack dab in the middle of DeboerLand I got to experience a Dutch family Christmas in full force. The Pickles Wrapped in Bacon were devoured (seriously I watched an entire platter disappear in a matter of seconds) and as the newest family member, Ryan, Ryan himself, fried the smoked bacon.

Over 2 pounds of it. Good Times

Pickles + Bacon = Christmas Fun!

We love and miss you back home so much! Merry Christmas!