Dear Suzanne, Would you believe someone replying to your posting after all this time? I couldn't resist writing to tell you that I wasn't sure where we had gotten the tradition of having seafood for Christmas Eve, but since I was a little girl we have done this. Well... now I know. My grandfather was Sicilian!! I live in deep South Texas where tamales are the tradition for Christmas Eve, but our family really enjoys our fish, shrimp and sometimes fried squid. Everyone gets all they can eat!! It's wonderful. We always eat Italian sausage and steamed eggs with biscuits for breakfast Christmas morning... and then an American traditional dinner with turkey and dressing... after all...my husband is Swedish and he grew up eating turkey. Oh well... I like it too. By the way, we make the fig and anise cookies as well as a very hard, homemade candy that is made with honey, dried fruit and nuts and dusted with powdered sugar... Italian, of course!! Karen