Family. Decorations. Gifts. And plenty of food — especially meat.

These themes emerged in our PickFu holiday poll that asked 50 people the question, “What are your holiday traditions?” While a few respondents mentioned their change in holiday plans in light of the pandemic, most focused on how they celebrate in “normal” times.

Read on for some of their responses and add your own below. Happy holidays from all of us at PickFu!

All the meat

We generally gather as a family around this time and eat a meal consisting of sweets and meats. A Christmas tree is put up in early December and we place wrapped gifts under it for a later occasion. — Male, age 25-34

Get together with my son and have a meat feast. Usually a table full of different meats like ham, chicken, beef cooked in various ways. Some different cheeses and drink hot tea and coffee. We never exchange presents, cards or have a tree. Never any decorations other than maybe a few candles. Very small and make no big deal out of it. The dog is there too, he gets a beef bone to keep him occupied. Sometimes we watch a movie after eating. — Male, age 55-64

Christmas Eve with friends and Christmas day with family. Making French Canadian meat pies that my mom used to make every Christmas. — Female, 45-54

Every Christmas Eve my family gets together for fondue. Like melting pot style. Raw meat, raw veggies, etc. and we all cook together in 3 pots of some broth recipe. It’s the only time of the year we do it and it’s always Xmas Eve. Been doing it my entire life and I’m 37. — Male, age 35-44

Nonstop fun

Holiday traditions include going home to be with family (mom, dad, and sister). We always have a few fun activities leading up to Christmas Day including ice skating, going out to eat and get drinks, and attend an NBA game. On Christmas Eve, we go to mass and go over to my aunt’s house for a larger family party. We exchange gifts. Christmas morning we wake up and open presents from “Santa.” We typically have surf and turf for dinner. — Female, 25-34

My kids and wife are Jewish so we do that. We then have Christmas. Their birthdays are both in December and early January so we do that as well. It is nonstop gifts from Dec. 1 until Jan. 3. — Male, age 35-44

We normally visit my in-laws to celebrate on Christmas Eve afternoon, then drive home to spend the night at home where we put out presents for my kids after they go to bed. Then we spend Christmas Day either celebrating at home or at my mom’s across town, where we cook a Christmas meal for our lunch after unwrapping gifts with our kids. This year we’re staying home and dropping off groceries for my mom to keep more socially distanced and try to avoid spreading COVID-19. — Female, age 45-54

Prost!

In non-COVID times, I always visit my friends in Germany between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We visit the Christmas markets and drink gluhwein. On the Saturday evening of my visit, we have a big dinner at one of the local restaurants with friends from all over Europe. The following morning, we sleep in, then get together for a farewell brunch. — Male, age 55-64

We are doing boot night, which is a German-style holiday. We do Christmas gifts and decorate a tree. We put up the lights and drink eggnog. So we do enjoy the holidays and keeping up some of the traditions we all find endearing. — Male, age 35-44

Latkes and lights

My family all gets together for Hanukkah. We light the candles together, sing holiday songs in Hebrew, and enjoy latkes, which are potato pancakes. Jelly doughnuts and exchanging presents are two more of our traditions. — Female, age 18-24

For Hanukkah, I get together with my family. We light the menorah, eat potato latkes, exchange gifts, and spin a dreidel. It’s a lovely time and one my entire family enjoys. — Male, age 25-34

Santa patrol

Usually we gather as a family for dinner and play board games with everyone there. On Christmas Eve we make cookies and leave out carrots for the reindeer and we watch a Christmas movie while following the Santa tracker. — Female, age 18-24

Every Christmas we decorate both inside and outside of our home. We bake Christmas cookies and leave cookies and carrots out for Santa and the reindeer. We try to visit as many outdoor light displays as possible! — Female, age 25-34