CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR'S CULINARY TRADITIONS

 

When my dad was a boy; on Sunday morning his father would buy a large pecan ring. This treat was their entire Sunday breakfast. Later on it became our tradition for breakfast every Christmas morning. My dad always complained that the bakeries were getting stingier with pecans every year. Now as a senior citizen I agree! The price of everything has gone up while the quality has gone down.

After my father passed I wanted to start new holiday traditions that were mine alone. On Christmas mornings I made eggnog pancakes dusted with cinnamon & powdered sugar. And on New Year's morning it was ginger ale pancakes dusted with red sprinkles & powdered sugar. Both were so delicious alone no butter or syrup were needed!

But after a decade or so, I wanted a change. Now for both holiday mornings I enjoy hot hors d'oeuvres with fresh fruit.

Fruitcake is another holiday tradition served throughout the season and I love it! YES, I'm the one! But as Dad would say, "There's fruitcake and then there's FRUITCAKE!" The dry pre-packaged kind on the drugstore and supermarket shelves is the one giving it the bad rep. --But even that can be rendered delicious! First, slice a piece and place it in a shallow bowl, add nuts/dried fruit and drizzle with honey, nuke it for 30 seconds. If that's not good enough add whipped topping or ice cream! I guarantee no dessert lover will turn up their nose at this!

For dinner on Christmas Eve, it's often an individual mushroom & chive quiche topped with a slice of Havarti or Asiago cheese along with my fresh fruit salad sprinkled with walnuts & drizzled with raspberry dressing also deviled eggs, and ending the meal with chocolate truffles.

My Christmas Dinner is truly a celebration! My favorite is a baked Barber Chicken Breast stuffed with creme brie & apple, (I always add more brie!) garlic mashed potatoes, a colorful salad, plus petite fours for dessert.

For New Year's Eve it's a small ring of cocktail shrimp, deviled eggs, Brie & crackers, plus chocolate truffles & petit fours.

On New Year's Day it's always been crab cakes with lemon butter, jasmine rice, black-eyed peas, & a colorful salad. And for dessert I enjoy a tangerine cakelette topped lightly with sugar free orange marmalade & orange sprinkles just enough to make it sparkle under my chandelier lights. And if the bakery is offering all of these this year, I'll do a repeat!

BEWARE THE ICE

 

My family moved down from Michigan when I was a year old. Tired of the snow and ice they came for the warmth.

A snow fall in Florida is rare as a blue moon and far briefer. The one time in memory it occurred I slept thru it. And when I awoke there was no trace whatsoever!

Our state has no ice except for the occasional hail and what's inside the freezer. Excuse me my age is showing when I say that growing up our fridge was always referred to as the icebox.

The refrigerators of my childhood all had ice crystals hanging from the top of the freezer. I used to take a glass and scoop it off. Then I'd pour fruit juice over the top and have tasty snow cone to enjoy.

However getting cubed ice wasn't easy. Back then, they came in trays with a handle that took near Herculean strength to pull. Thankfully refrigerators these days have easy access not only to cubes but crushed ice.

However ice has taken on an insidious and even sinister role in my life.

This began in the 1980's. All of a sudden my mother began chowing down on it and declaring how much she enjoyed it. Mom had two pie plates that she alternately kept in the freezer. As soon as ice sheets formed she would remove and consume. I always thought this strange plus it occurred so suddenly out of the blue.

Not long after she was diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread into the liver. She was given six months to live; however she managed to live an entire year on chemotherapy.

Nearly twenty years later I was on the phone with my aunt Kiki. She happened to mention how delicious she had discovered ice to be and couldn't get enough of it. Immediately a chill ran thru me!

The next time we spoke she informed me of her cancer diagnosis. This was cancer of the esophagus. Soon after, she died.

In recent years dentists have warned me never to chew on ice due to all my expensive dental work. Well I'm not seven years old anymore and I lack the desire. 

But If I ever do start craving ice you'd better believe I will panic! And I'm going to start collecting all my important papers and update my will. Pronto!