Well, I survived
Thanksgiving with
just minor leg
cramps from my exile
to the little table
and have slowly
started to emerge
from my tryptophan
induced coma (helped
along by several
bottles of very good
wine and one too
many helpings of
pumpkin and pecan
pies).
It is the day after
Thanksgiving and I
have decided to pull
myself off the couch
and write my
Christmas column
while the rest of
the world is out
shopping in a media
induced frenzy,
spending money they
don’t have, on
things they don’t
need. But I digress.
That rant
will have to wait
for the Persnickety
Socialist column.
Let me get back
to
writing about food
we don’t need to eat
but will anyway
because it tastes
good. Besides,
during cold winter
days, food puts us
in our comfort zone
and helps keep me
gainfully employed.
Christmas
dinner and Christmas
parties:
Authors note: Yes, I
insist on using the
word Christmas. I
cannot bring myself
to use some plain
politically correct
phrase or christmas/x-mas/hannukah/kwaanza
no offense to
anyone’s beliefs.
For this author,
Christmas will
remain Christmas.
Wow! Two rants in
two paragraphs. Time
to put away the
espresso machine.
Christmas
dinner itself varies
from home to home
based on family
traditions, ethnic
backgrounds and what
various family
members’ friends and
relatives will or
won’t eat. Some
people have their
big feast on
Christmas Eve the
Italian
tradition of seven
fishes is a wondrous
feast celebrating
food family and
religion. I always
enjoy the fresh
homemade Tamales
from my Mexican
co-workers. Then,
there are traditions
I don’t understand
such as the
omnipresent
Christmas Fruitcake,
and no I don’t mean
the annoying family
member who you only
see once or twice a
year (in my family
it is usually me) I
am talking about
that dense heavy
bread that is passed
around and re-gifted
year after year with
its variety of
fruits in colors
that cannot be found
in nature unless you
live next to a
nuclear power plant.
Why it exists I am
not sure but for
some people it is
not Christmas
without one.
Before we get to
Christmas Eve or
Christmas we have to
run the gauntlet of
Christmas parties.
Hosting a party can
put people into a
terrorized state so
bad you would think
they have announced
another Cher
farewell tour. So,
for those people,
the place to start
the planning is with
libations and lots
of them mainly warm
seasonal drinks with
lots of booze in
them.
Besides t
he
brandy soaked
Eggnog, try Hot
Apple Cider Splash
in a little tuaca
and putting together
that 3000 piece
train set for the
young ones becomes
much easier. Hot
chocolate - the
creamy beverage of
cold winter days of
your childhood – can
be spiked with
kahlua, peppermint
schnapps, grand
marnier, chambord,
banana liqueur,
crème de menthe or
any other liquor you
so desire. Remember
what many women have
told me: chocolate
makes anything
better.
Persnickety Tip #1:
Melt real chocolate
and add it to warm
milk. In my years
scouring the
countryside I have
never run across a
powdered chocolate
cow.
One
of my favorite
frosty weather
beverages is Hot
Buttered Rum and my
version will
definitely have
sugarplums dancing
in your head.
Hot
Butttered Rum
Pastas
or Roasts with fresh
rolls. These are mostly
for standup affairs so
make the food simple to
eat. Platters of Shrimp
or Warm Crab and Spinach
Dip work well as does
Baked Brie in puff
pastry. Most of these
things can be bought in
your grocery stores. Use
the stores to your
advantage. Most of them
have wonderful
selections of sliced
cheeses and cured meats.
If you don’t want to
make everything from
scratch, you can find
good products in the
stores or hire a caterer
or rent a chef who is
probably sitting around
writing a food column.
(Shameless plug)
Goose
this time of year even
though my family does
not. A Standing Rib
Roast (prime rib in
restaurant vernacular)
is really simple to
prepare and makes a nice
central dish as does a
Crown Roast of Pork with
its center piled high
with chestnut stuffing.
With your Roast Beef,
try making Yorkshire
pudding (popover recipes
work well combining
flour with pan grease
may best be left to the
English) cheddar and
horseradish mash
potatoes work well with
both dishes. For dessert
Plum Pudding is fun to
serve especially if you
serve it with a
traditional hard sauce.
