Wednesday, 22 December 2010

• Christmas Food Traditions

  As Christmas draws nigh (I just had to use that phrase in the spirit of the season), my mind starts shifting from gift lists to grocery lists as I make mental preparations for the holiday meals, dictated in part, by the nostalgia of family tradition.  I just wanted to walk you through the pages of my mind as I make my list.

  Christmas Eve Dinner (right before the glorious Christmas Eve service that brings it all home):

  Setting: Break out the red placemats, the pewter candlabra, silver beads, tealights and sprinkle the table with silver jingle bells in various sizes.  Table is set with white and silver china placed carefully on the silver chargers.  Napkins are tied with red velvet ribbons knotted at the bottom with a small jingle bell.

  • Lasagne - because my mom always made this on Christmas Eve.  Made with my wicked Italian sausage and mushroom from scratch all day in the crockpot spagehetti sauce and scads of parmesan, ricotta and mozarella cheese.
  • Salad - because it goes with lasagne.  Sometimes a spinach and strawberry one because it looks festive, sprinkled with toasted almond slivers and drizzled with poppyseed and raspberry vinaigrette (also homemade)
  • Dessert - variety of Christmas treats, most likely to include baklava (wonderful recipe courtesy a Greek friend from our days in New Jersey) and spritz cookies, courtesy of the cookie press inherited from my maternal grandmother.  I have wonderful memories of my mom making spritz cookies every Christmas.

  

  Christmas morning brunch:

  • Eggnog - essential.  I absolutely love it in the box or can from the grocery store because that's how I always had it, but last year, living overseas and not being able to get the "real thing", I found a recipe that replicated the flavor and consistency I love in The Joy of Cooking cookbook.  Also, the eggnog must be sipped from the tiny red espresso cups that my mother passed down to me and from which we drank eggnog every year as children.
  • Cheese souffle - often with ham or bacon added, but not necessarily.  This hails from my grade school years, when I lived on the island of Guam with my family and our entire church would get together on Christmas to eat together.  One of the women, Pam Thacker, whose original souffle recipe I now keep in my recipe box, was responsible for feeding around a hundred of us with this delish dish that I can taste in my memory as if it were yesterday.

  Christmas dinner:

  • Spiral Sliced Ham - I have no idea why this is so important, except that I think it reminds me of family gatherings before my grandparents passed away.  My paternal grandfather didn't like turkey, so if we did have turkey, there was always ham on the side, just for him.  When the convenient spiral sliced hams were introduced to the world, I bought into the hype hook, line and sinker and haven't looked back.
  • Cake for Baby Jesus - My mom liked to make German Chocolate layered cake because it had coconut frosting (and because it was my dad's favorite) which resembled hay, so our tiny Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus set could grace the top contextually.  I think there were a couple times we tried angel food cake too and sprinkled the top with grated coconut.

  

  Thanks for walking down memory lane with me.  I hope it inspired some of your own Christmas Food memories!  If so, please share them!

  What foods remind you of Christmas or what do you eat without fail every year?

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