Dave, your family's traditional meal sounds great. I'd need an extra stomach to pack it all away. Needn't wait for the New Year.

I can cook it any day of the week. You can too. Salt, pepper, sage and pork, add veggies.

My purpose in saying this is that "family tradition" is getting the family together. The meal is not important. the gathering is...

Stuffing yourself and yakking away at meaningless topics and gossip with family is fun.

Even sitting around two pizza boxes and opening a bottle of soft drink or a can of beer would do as a tradition if it got people together.

You're right. But sometimes getting food is much easier than getting family. Most of the family I loved when young are dead, many of my generation are dispersed or alienated, and I'm an irrelevant dinosaur to the young. How I wish I could have a family meal of the sort you describe.

For the last 6 years, we have gathered at my sisters house, drank a bit much played wii rock band then sat in the hot tub. This year I got a few nasty bite marks from my sister. Not hoping to make that a traditiom though even though it was all in good fun.