An East Coast Christmas Tradition

Sooooo….
I really LOVE Christmas…
I love so many things about it,
BUT, most of all…
I love the traditions!
❤
And because I also love a good backstory,
I’m going to tell you a little bit about one of
my favourite traditions.
One that began with my family in New Brunswick,
and one that I hope to continue for many years to come ❤
This is my Dad…

And this is a picture of my Dad taken a ‘few’ years earlier…

When he was young,
he went with his parents to a beautiful
little island off the coast of New Brunswick,
a place called Grand Manan.
A lovely woman named Rose
made a lobster chowder for them…
My Dad says that he was mesmerized
by it, the aroma, the taste,
the rich deep red colour on the top.
And this was the inspiration for the great
Lobster Chowder Tradition
❤
Now, let me tell you…
This story is NOT just about a tasty soup.
This is a story about the whole experience…
My entire childhood,
I remember our family travelling to
buy lobster right from the fishermen on the wharf.
Several years we went to Campobello Island

Campobello Island | Photo by Gordon Green

And other years, we went to Grand Manan Island.

Tim Gillespie, Lobster Fisherman | East Coast Christmas Tradition | Sally-Ann Taylor, Photographer | Gordon Green Lobster Chowder Recipe | Grand Manan Lobster Fishermen

East Coast Christmas Tradition | Sally-Ann Taylor, Photographer | Gordon Green Lobster Chowder Recipe | Grand Manan Lobster Fishermen

East Coast Christmas Tradition | Sally-Ann Taylor, Photographer | Gordon Green Lobster Chowder Recipe | Grand Manan

{ special thanks to Tim Gillespie for letting me use these amazing Grand Manan photos }
❤
Making this chowder was quite the endeavour in those days.
We would come home with 40-50 lbs of live lobsters…
and I remember spending hours in our garage,
with my Dad and a BIG POT to boil the lobsters in…
My brother and I would race “our” lobsters on the garage floor
to see which one would make it across the finish line first.
Then everyone was in the kitchen,
time to shell the lobsters,
and I’m pretty sure that by the time we were finished
there was lobster juice EVERYWHERE…
all up our arms and in our hair,
even on the walls & cupboards… haha.
❤
And here’s another part of the tradition,
every Christmas Eve we would have a HUGE party!
Friends & family would come to visit,
have a bowl of chowder, and lots of other treats…
these are some of my favourite childhood memories
❤
Ok, so you know the “HISTORY”
and we fast forward a ‘few’ years…
No longer living in New Brunswick.
Christmas just isn’t Christmas without that taste
of rich, creamy Lobster Chowder…
And I start making the Lobster Chowder,
using my Dad’s recipe!
❤

Our little guy has quite the imagination… haha. Enjoying the process of shelling the lobster!

These guys are studying the lobsters with a lot of intensity! Those shells are hard to get into!!

Investigating the lobster… curious minds!

She’s not quite as captivated by the lobster as the boys are… haha

aghhhh!!!

Testing to see how sharp those claws really are…

Now that I’ve tempted you with these pictures of delicious lobster…
You should know that we’ve decided to share the recipe with YOU!!
Merry Christmas!
❤
❤
Please feel free to like & SHARE this post,
And I’d love to hear about some of
YOUR Christmas traditions
in the comments section!

December 22, 2017December 24, 2020 by Sally-Ann Taylor Categories: Adventure Photography, Christmas BLOG, Christmas Traditions, DIY tutorial, East Coast Tradition, Lifestyle Photography, Lobster Chowder Recipe, passion project, photography blogTags: BLOG, Campobello Island, Canadian BLOG, Childhood Memories, Christmas, Christmas Tradition, Crowsnest Pass Photographer, DIY, East Coast Tradition, Family Activities, Family Fun, Fishermen, Gordon Green, Grand Manan Island, Inspired, Joy, Lifestyle Photography, Lobster, Lobster Chowder, Passion Portrait, Photographer, Recipe, Sally-Ann Taylor, TUTORIAL 8 Comments