Ok here we go! Even if i’m the only one doing this, lol.

It starts on December 1. We decorate our Christmas tree and the house.
On the 24th it’s the best day.In the old days women would spend the day in the kitchen cooking and baking , i really miss that!

Father Christmas is believed to bring presents to children on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day. The presents are left under the Christmas tree or in shoes by the fireplace.

Like in Spain, the traditional Christmas meal in Portugal is eaten during the evening of Christmas Eve and consists of codfish with portuguese cabbage, garlic and lots of olive oil and vinagre and boiled potatoes. This is normally followed by shellfish, wild meats or other expensive foods.

After the meal, people go to church for the ‘Missa do Galo’ or ‘Mass of the Rooster’ service. After the service people return home, and open their presents.

Every house has a rich table set in the living room full with traditional food, cakes, fried cookies, nuts and other goodies! The traditional Christmas cake is ‘Bolo Rei’ (which means ‘King Cake’) and is placed in the center of the table. People drink porto wine, traditional liquors and eat ‘azevias’ and ‘felhozes’ “rabanadas,” (a white bread that has been soaked in eggs and wine and then dipped in sugar. It’s fried until it takes on a candylike crust).
The party lasts until the early hours of the morning

On Christmas Day the living room table remains untouched and people still enjoy their goodies together! Families come together and have Christmas Day lunch together.In Lisbon it’s usually turkey.

At night on Christmas Day, we eat the leftover codfish with potatoes and olive oil all fried together – it’s called meia-desfeida. And that’s good.

In the north of Portugal, instead of codfish they eat octopus, and they have traditional cakes in every different part of Portugal. But in my area we have codfish!

Another traditional sweets are Filhoses, Sonhos (dreams) that consist in different kinds of fried dought, some of them filled with sweet potato or sweet chickpea home made filling, and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

Azevias ( hum this is sooooooooo good)

Bolo Rei(Bolo-Rei , or King Cake, is a Portuguese seasonal specialty. The traditional Christmas bread of the nation, Bolo-Rei is a fruitcake shaped in a ring to symbolize the crowns of the Magi. In the cake there are two surprises: one is a little present like a fake ring, or a little doll, or a medal. The other is not as welcomed. There is a raw broad bean. Whoever finds the charm must buy next year’s Bolo-Rei and share it with all those present when the original charm was discovered. )

Codfish (Even though it is said in Portugal that there are 365 recipes for cod (one for each day of the year), for Christmas Eve the tradition is to serve simple boiled cod. From the northern part of the country to the south, even among non-Catholic families, you will find cod accompanied by potatoes and cabbage and sometimes chickpeas.)

I hope this wasn’t to boring!