RIGHT Cassandra and her sister Cecilia honor their mother, Barbara, by gathering on Christmas Eve year after year. // Photos by Elizabeth Gelineau
Christmas Eve is peak holiday hustle — people scrambling to buy last-minute gifts, soldiering through one final shift at work or packing up to hit the road. But all that seasonal stress melts away like snowflakes at the home of Cassandra Lipscomb-McCants and Gerard McCants. Each year, they spend the day before Christmas hosting family and friends for a brunch party that embodies the pure joy of the season.
Guests mingle over mimosas and savor classics like shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles and omelets made to order. A pianist leads carolers in the living room, while on the patio, a band keeps the energy lively. When the weather is fine, partygoers spill out onto the back lawn.
The home, located on Lipscomb Landing just steps away from Dog River, sits on property that has been in the family for at least 127 years. Family history radiates from every direction.
Cassandra’s grandfather, Fred Douglas Lipscomb, once farmed this land. He raised cattle and chickens and grew a bounty of produce: corn, collards, tomatoes, squash. The neighborhood’s name, Lloyd Station, is a nod to the “flag stop” train depot where Fred and his fellow farmers used to bring their harvests.
In the front yard, a centuries-old live oak tree that Cassandra’s father, John Paul Lipscomb, climbed and played under as a boy still rustles in the breeze. The cottage where he was born stands next door. Out front, a little blue house on the water, affectionately known as The River Shack, holds memories as the family vacation home, where Cassandra and her siblings would go for the Fourth of July and boat outings.
Christmas Eve brunch is rooted in more recent history. It’s an homage to Cassandra’s late mother, Barbara Lipscomb, who began this tradition almost 20 years ago. Christmas, her daughters say, was her favorite holiday, and she always decorated her home to the nines. She would set up Christmas trees all around the house, including a special white tree adorned with white and rose gold ornaments. She curated collections of Santa Clauses and nutcrackers. On Christmas Day, she would serve dinner on her special holiday china.
But her daughters also remember the other side of the coin: The older Barbara grew, the quieter Christmas Eve became. With no children left in the house, she had an abundance of holiday cheer and nowhere to channel it. So, one year, she decided to liven things up by inviting all of her friends over.
The brunch started out simply enough. Barbara made pecan fudge and a few easy bites like spinach roll-ups and pigs in a blanket, listening to Christmas music while she cooked. Cassandra brought grits, and her sister, Dr. Cecelia Lipscomb-Hammond, contributed a sausage casserole.
While Barbara set the stage with beautiful food and decor, her husband John took up the mantle as the life of the party. “He was the one that kept everybody laughing,” said Cassandra.
The family knew the party was an official hit the year that “brunch” didn’t end until 10 p.m. Guests trickled in and out all day, and Barbara and John found themselves welcoming new partygoers long after the sun had set. “It was so funny, because they were dead tired,” said Cassandra. “But people just kept coming.”
Over the years, the party grew fancier, but at heart it remained a close-knit gathering. After John died in 2015, Barbara carried on resolutely, though the mood was a little somber that year.
Barbara hosted her last Christmas Eve brunch in 2017. Just a couple months later, on Valentine’s Day 2018, the family found out she had pancreatic cancer.
By the end of March, she was gone.
The speed of her passing left the family reeling. When Christmas came around that year, no one felt like hosting the annual party. “She passed away so fast, we were just really kind of grasping the fact that she was gone,” said Cassandra.
No one felt inspired to host it the next year, either — or the following year, amid the pandemic. But by 2021, Cassandra and Gerard had decided to give it a whirl. They’d moved into Barbara and John’s home and made it their own, so the setting was already in place. And maybe, thought Cassandra, looking back, something about being locked up during COVID made them want to throw a big party. But mostly, they felt like Barbara would have wanted them to do it. They’d watched her execute beautiful parties for years, and they wanted to carry the torch onward.
While the McCants’ brunch pays tribute to Barbara, it’s become several orders of magnitude grander than it was in the beginning. Chef Tamara Knowles of Blu Tablez caters the event, pairing warm Southern favorites with generous charcuterie. “I like to do a lot on the charcuterie, just because it takes a minute to do omelets to order, and some people don’t want to wait or stand in line,” said Cassandra.
The mimosas flow freely, and other specialty drinks round out the menu. Last year, they hired a bartender to craft old-fashioneds. Cassandra also concocts a specialty punch, just to add a little extra kick to the party. It’s a potent offering that can make it hard to remember how to wrap presents later. “I can’t tell you how many times I get calls where people say, ‘What was in that red drink?’” she said.
The answer is a bit of a mystery, even to her. She makes it by feel, not from a recipe. “I pour it until the ancestors tell me to stop,” she said.
The couple’s glittering Christmas decorations are complemented by poinsettias and fresh florals from Rose Bud Flowers, and gregarious guest Eric Finley plays the part of Santa Claus. “He basically antagonizes everybody,” said Cassandra with a laugh.
Each year, they offer something different for entertainment. This year, they plan to showcase the family’s up-and-coming generation: Cecelia’s 14-year-old daughter Erin has been practicing holiday classics on her tenor saxophone in preparation for a solo. She comes by her musical talent honestly; her dad, Erick Hammond Sr., is a member of Jukebox Brass Band and has performed alongside his own father at the brunch in the past.
Although the party has evolved, it remains a way for the family to honor and reconnect with Barbara. A white Christmas tree decorated with her ornaments graces the foyer, and pieces from her Santa Claus collection nestle among the holiday baubles.
“You cannot have it and not think of her and feel the presence here,” said Gerard. “It’s funny because, you know, it started so basic and fun. And it has evolved into this glamorous party with this glamorous daughter of hers.”
Cassandra knows her mom would approve of the new spin on her Christmas Eve brunch. “I would always say, she would have on ‘After 5’ before noon. She was very well put together… and very well known for being such a classy lady…What the party has become, I know she would absolutely love.”
The McCants’ Christmas Eve Brunch Recipes
Barbara Lipscomb’s Christmas Fudge
MAKES ABOUT 20 PIECES
Ingredients
3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick margarine
Roasted pecans, to taste
Directions
1. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa and evaporated milk. Microwave for 60 – 90 seconds, then stir. Repeat two or three times, until the sugar mixture comes to soft-ball stage, measuring 235 – 245 degrees with a candy thermometer. (If you don’t have a candy thermometer, drop a spoonful of the hot mixture into a bowl of very cold water. If the mixture easily forms a ball in the water but flattens once removed, it’s done.)
3. Add vanilla, margarine and pecans to the mixture. Stir gently until ingredients are incorporated and the fudge has thickened. (Don’t stir too much, or the fudge will come out grainy.)
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and allow it to cool completely, 30 – 40 minutes, before cutting into bite-size pieces.
Chef Tamara Knowles’s Shrimp and Grits
SERVES 4 – 6
Grits
3 1/2 cups water, plus more as desired
2 tablespoons chicken base
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup grits (not instant grits)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Shrimp Sauce:
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter or bacon drippings
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 tablespoon Creole Cajun seasoning
1 1/4 cups chicken broth or stock
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 pint heavy whipping cream
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Fresh chopped green onions and parsley, to garnish
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add water, chicken base, half-and-half, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. For thinner grits, add a splash or two more water. Once boiling, slowly pour in the grits while stirring with a wooden spoon to avoid lumps.
2. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and cook the grits for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. In a small mixing bowl, toss the shrimp with Creole Cajun seasoning and set aside.
4. In a 10-inch cast-iron or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and butter and melt. Add the bell pepper, onion and celery. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add the garlic and cook for one additional minute, until fragrant.
5. Season the veggies with 1 tablespoon Creole Cajun seasoning. Add the chicken stock and cornstarch, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, until slightly thickened.
6. Add the shrimp. Cook until shrimp are opaque and the sauce has reduced a bit, about 5 – 7 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and cracked pepper to taste, and remove the pan from the heat.
7. Once the grits are thick and creamy, remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese and butter. Season the grits with more salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
8. Ladle grits into a bowl and spoon the shrimp with sauce over the top. Garnish with fresh chopped green onions and parsley. Serve immediately.
