Merry Go Round

By Ali Rouse Royster, 3rd Generation

There are many things that I love, but up at the top of the list are three things: my big, crazy family; Christmas season; and a party. Put all of those together, and I couldn’t be merrier! That kind of celebration was long part of our family tradition, but after my grandparents passed and my cousins and I all started having babies, the big family Christmas Eve gathering naturally fell to the wayside. Last year, I was able to talk “the adults” (my parents and aunts and uncles) into getting the gang back together. I even trotted out old family Christmas photos in an effort to induce nostalgia. And because this was mostly my doing, I tried to help with the party planning as much as possible. I reached out to my favorite caterer — those fine folks at Rouses Markets — and we came up with a variety of “festive finger foods” — rather than a sit-down dinner — since our whole family loves to chitchat and mingle.

I was really proud of my little menu, which consisted of some classics like charcuterie and finger sandwiches, but also some fun, new and different items. But after I was asked by not one, not two, but five of my family members if we were having egg rolls…well…I added them to the menu, thus saving the Rouse family tradition of having egg rolls at all family events ( I give in! I’ll never leave them off again!). We had a wonderful time together again in 2022, and we’re keeping it going in 2023; I’ve already talked my aunt into hosting this year, but she doesn’t need my help with the menu! There’s no way she would forget the egg rolls!