I absolutely LOVE this time of year. I don't entertain much, save for the occasional birthday party, throughout the year so I eat this time of year up, literally and figuratively. I think I do a good job of balancing out expectations and reality which is key to enjoying the season for what it is intended.

I enjoy the special occasion cooking. There are certain foods I only make/eat this time of year, and that is fun. BUT I'm still finding my footing with it now that I have my own family. As a kid, I celebrated with a very large extended family, but now, at Xmas, it's just me, husband, and little girl. It's still fun! But I used to feel like I had to make all these different sides and cookies and it was all too much. Scaling way, way, WAY back, year by year, is making it more fun.

Then there's my opposite impulse: my family never had a buche du Noel (not our tradition) and I think I'd rather make that one fancy dessert than struggle to make lots of cookies. That's not exactly the path of simplicity... unless it is. I don't know!

I love this time of year, but find it too. Damn. Busy. Free time goes out the window, breaks get filled up with events...it makes me a little cranky, coupled with the dark cold nights so I feel like I can't get anything done.

I wish I enjoyed the holidays more, but it seems like it's just another opportunity for the reciprocity/entertaining issue to rear its ugly head. I have 3 sisters, yet only 2 of us regularly offer to do the hosting duties. It's frustrating, to say the least.

And it's no better in my husband's family. His brother is 'allegedly' hosting Thanksgiving this year, but we've yet to receive an invitation. In the past we've rec'd a call a couple days before the event - which is pretty rude in my book.

And did I mention that my parents are divorced? Almost 20 years, but it's still a source of anxiety and pain - thanks to the fact that they can't act like adults.

I am thankful that Christmas is the one saving grace. We always have Christmas Eve with my in-laws and Christmas day is with my family, at sister's house (the only other one that entertains).

DanielleM, I can totally relate.

I love the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, all of the festivities inbetween. Alot.

I'd love it even more if there wasn't all of this pressure to visit every. single. person. In your family in one 24 hour period. Its insane.

And divoriced/remarried parents don't make it any easier.

Let alone inlaws that don't socalize well with the otherside.

Which makes for 3 thanksgivings, and 3 christmas's and it turns into a big giant headache.

I look forward to the day we have kids. And we can sit back at our house and say, if you want to see us, come over.

Okay, I will step off of my soap box now. :0)

I do enjoy this time of year generally, but with BOTH brothers-in-law unemployed (with kids in college), I can sense already it's going to be a really tough time for my family.

I think it's important that if you are someone who enjoys the season, to enjoy it! Don't be ashamed of loving it. But we all also have to be sensitive to the fact that this is a very difficult time of year for many people -- and for darker reasons than those listed, too.

I generally enjoy this time of year. Even though the in-laws do the feast-hosting on Thanksgiving, I still make my own turkey and my grandmother's stuffing that weekend. Perfect for when the leftovers get left at the in-laws!

I LOVE it! But I do stretch myself too thin. I have so many ideas for dinner parties and just can't do them all.

I have a pretty small nuclear family, which makes it easier. That said we don't have much in common (nutshell:they're married I'm single, they're bible-thumpers I'm atheist) so holidays together can be....trying.

So I don't do it anymore, ha!

I used to feel extremely guilty about it, but then I figured they probably weren't having any fun either!

So we're choosing to enjoy ourselves and our time in our own way during the holidays and spend time together when we WANT to, not just when Hallmark thinks we should. It's so much easier, and we like each other so much more (the plane tickets are a helluva lot cheaper too).

I'm looking forward to entertaining my 'family' of friends for the holidays-despite the odd family dynamic I really do love the Christmas season.

I love the fall in general, pumpkin, this and that, cooler weather. I love pouring over new recipes, menus and what I will make. I really like Thanksgiving, baking and making food gifts for the holidays but I actually am not at all excited about the actual days of Hannukah, Christmas or New Year's. Preparing for a large feast on the day just doesn't have the same meaning for me I guess now that my immediate family is just 3 of us and the rest of the relatives are scattered around, have families of their own or in my so's case, have such a large family that they don't "do" Christmas anymore. I have found that we (you and me) always set our expectations so high that it almost seems like an anti-climax when it actually arrives. I also just don't eat like I used to, most people I know don't. So the thought of pigging out on candy, cookies, decadent meals is just not what I am into I guess. Having said that though, once I let it go and focused on creating really great food gifts to give away, it's been a lot of fun. You can bake on several weekends, freeze some, package and present the weeks of the holidays, smaller gatherings that has been fun. I do however, really look forward to January.

Oh I just love it! It's a perfect excuse to cook for and host people. I just wish I had the space to host my entire family for the holidays :)

I fell really lucky that early on, we moved too far away from our famiies to get back for thanksgiving and christmas. While it meant we had to rely on ourselves, we also didn't have to try to do the "two meals in a day and who are we going to piss off" thing. And we realized that visiting family is much better when all the pressures of the "perfect holiday" are not hanging on your shoulders.

Needless to say, we now spend our holidays in our space doing our thing--and visit family at less loaded times of the year.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the awesome food. We are hosting this year and I can't wait!

We don't do much for the December holidays because we don't really celebrate them, so I do feel relieved that I don't have to decorate my house or host parties. My husband's birthday is in December so we try to do something fun for that each year.

If my in-laws weren't on a no-fat+vegetarian diet, it would be great. Vegetarian, I can do. Just try to cook anything decent without fat, though:(

I love the holidays and all the running around actually helps me keep my depression at bay. This year, though, I feel a little lost and don't quite know what to do; my father's in a nursing home (and probably won't ever be coming home) and my mother's just had heart surgery, and nobody but me really wants to do anything for the holidays.

I'm starting to think about some alternate plans for maybe just my honey and me . . . doing the Turkey Trot maybe, then dinner out? I'll have to think about it some more.

I love the holidays - all of them. Now that I'm married, and live across the country, it's harder though. There are always expensive plane tickets involved, which bums me out. We host Thanksgiving at our place, and then try to squeeze two families and two states into the week of Christmas. Tricky business! Regardless of how it plays out though, I'm always happy to be cooking, eating, and just spending time with family and friends while we all have some time off from work. :)

Love the season, but hate the pressure of 'where will we spend it' and that always involves travel or hosting. I love being abroad which, whilst involving travel, also means fewer presents to buy, no chance of the rush between homes, and no cooking! If Christmas lasted a month and there was no particular 'special day' I would love it.

I long to spend the day at home, doing useful things rather than stuck with other people, unable to do anything productive because 'it's christmas'.

I love this time of year - though it may not be fair for me to say that, because I don't personally host the family meals (not enough space - but I do help cook)! But it's an opportunity to have friends over to share food and to make things I wouldn't bother with for just myself and my fiance. Our group will often have a potluck turkey dinner sometime before Christmas, where whoever's hosting provides the turkey, stuffing, and gravy and everyone else brings sides, desserts, etc.

When I was a child, we had huge fifteen-person extended-family Thanksgivings and Christmases at my aunt Mary's house, which was huge (that's where my family stayed, in fact, because there were enough guest rooms for all of us and me and my brother could get cousin-bonding time in and the house was big enough that we could play and still stay relatviely out of the grownups' hair).

But then about half that extended family moved to the west coast, or grew up and got married, or passed on; and so now, if my brother wants to go to his in-laws for Thanksgiving, the only people turning up are me, my parents, and one other aunt. So when that happens, we usually just say "screw it" and go out to a restaurant the Saturday before. It's also easier for me travelwise (rather than my trying to get from NYC to Cape Cod -- without a car -- they just pick a spot in New Haven, which is "equidistant" from all of us, and we go there).

Honestly, no. I like holiday food and have a faux Thanksgiving to experiment with recipes for my blog but I don't like the "holiday season" much at all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if there was better weather? My lack of interest in most holiday activities + short days + lack of local fresh fruit/veg + cold weather makes this a rough time of year for me.

This year we booked a 2 week cruise leaving right after Thanksgiving. A great way to skip some of the hoopla and yucky weather.

Also, I cook and bake nearly every day and don't restrict certain foods just to the holidays so that isn't a particular draw to this time of year.

KkatMpls... how about if you cook the basics (good stuff) and let them bring a dish or two of their low/no fat stuff?
That way you can have what you want while still fixing their vegitarian and they can have the no fat.

Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday of the year. We love to entertain and it's the only holiday where we get to have both sets of parents (and siblings) over for a delicious meal. I have to say that I don't like Christmas as much, mainly due to the gifts. I'd rather just eat a great meal together then do the whole gift thing. I think this is why we prefer Thanksgiving, there is no pressure, just good food.

I like Thanksgiving because I like to cook. My parents and aunts and uncles all spent half their lives in another country that has no Thanksgiving so I feel it frees me to play around with ideas and switch it up every year. I'm not a slave to tradition. Unfortunately my family is a little disorganized and I don't find out until a few days before where we are having T-day dinner or how many people I might be cooking for. Another problem: I don't know if I'm doing all the cooking. My family also doesn't have as many tools as I'd like so I've resorted to bringing a suitcase full of tools.

Christmas: I hate the pressure to buy gifts for everyone. We are lead to believe that retail equals love. I do however love feeling that the gifts I have bought are perfect for the few people I buy for. As I mentioned earlier, I love to cook, so in the last couple of years I have taken to making breads, cookies, candies, and preserves for my extended family. I start thinking about what to make in June and am more ambitious the further away the Day is. I love the decor. I love that it tends to bring out the best in people. I love the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Hate the music. I hate that Christmas looms it's head before Halloween has passed. All in all, I like the holidays.

This is my favorite time of year. I try to entertain a little during the holidays, but I just love the hustle and bustle of it all, spending time with family, all of the lights and the crush of holiday shopping. Oh, and of course all of the great tasting food.

Love everything having to do with food.

Hate everything having to do with shopping.

Oh--and I have mixed feelings about shopping for food.