What Food MAKES It Christmas For You?

[Madam Bijoux]

Egg Nog does it for me. I love it.

 

[artdecogirl]

Spritz are a little butter cookie that you shoot out of a cookie press, the press has all different disks you can put in to make different shapes, I like the plain butter with colored sprinkles, my sister liked the dog disk, we would add coco to the dough and make little chocolate dogs.

 

[HollyS]

Mince pie.

Can't find one anywhere. Mrs. Smith's used to have one. Sara Lee used to have one. Not in my local grocery stores. Not this year.

It must be the Scotch in me. I gotta have my mince pie.

 

[Steel]

Mince pie.

Can't find one anywhere. Mrs. Smith's used to have one. Sara Lee used to have one. Not in my local grocery stores. Not this year.

It must be the Scotch in me. I gotta have my mince pie.

Awh, I would send you one but it would spoil in the mail. Perhaps you could buy mincemeat mix locally or make and bake your own?

 

[MissGotRocks]

Fudge - always and forever. It's the only time of the year I make it but oh how I love it!

 

[Glitz]

I guess I'm pretty simple, but I would have to say Candy Canes!!!

 

[gemgirl]

Roasted chestnuts. Without them, it's not Christmas and they're SO good.

Oh, I almost forgot the chestnuts!

Here's an EASY way to make them if you can't roast them:

Split the bottoms lengthwise(flat end, not the point) open with a paring knife (CAREFUL! they be slippery ) and boil in salty (1 TBSP) water until they split open. All nuts should be covered in water, and it takes about 45 min to 1 hour. You may need to add water, but keep a rolling boil. They should SPLIT open along the seam a bit.

Then you need to peel them open before they fully cool (CAREFUL! They be hot now!) so you can get the inner skins off.

My DH, because he is made of asbestos , does this part.

Delicious and sweet!

GEMGIRL: How do you roast them?

My grandmother roasted them, so that's how I still make them but I'll try boiling them the next time. I'll bet every single one is tender if they're boiled. We just cut a cross on the belly side of the chestnut, and lay them in a roasting pan on their flat side. Put 1/2" water in the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, pierce two tiny vent holes in the foil and bake for 45-60 mins. I check them after that time to make sure they're tender. (poke them with the tip of a steak knife) I'll bet they're pretty hard to peel while still hot!

I must admit, I cheated a couple of weeks ago. I saw cooked, peeled, organic chestnuts at a specialty store and I bought them to try. I haven't tried them yet but I imagined they would taste really good mashed with imported Italian fig spread on almost anything.

I almost forgot another Christmas treasure- Struffoli. I have to order a small pan for the holiday. My husband loves them.

 

[sunseeker101]

Not any food in particular, but the amount. Whales beached on a sea of empty biscuit tins and glasses marred with dry wine dregs = Xmas

Holly, I've used this outfit for British hard-to-find food necessities. Line-up looks good!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

peppermint back

 

[geckodani]

Okay, because of this thread I am now baking gingerbread. With fresh ginger. OMG it smells good in here!!!

 

[JulieN]

For some people in my family, oyster stew. My dad likes to have cookies at Christmas. I failed miserably at making them last year. For me, eggnog with brandy and rum.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Butter tarts.

cheers--Sharon

 

[bebe]

When I was little (oh so long ago) it was a major treat in our home to have the little powdered sugar cookies, kinda
like a sand tart. You can buy them at the grocery store now, mass produced, I think they are called Swedish Christmas
Cookies. I could eat an entire bag !!

Every Christmas Eve, we have tamales. My father in law was returning from WWII, by train from California to Texas, on
Christmas Eve. Many soldiers too were on board, from all over the country. Anyway, when the train reached San Antonio, Texas
it was midnight and the soldiers were hungry. They got off the train and my father in law bought them tamales from a vendor
at the station. Many of the men didn't know what a tamale was, but they loved them ! So the tradition of having tamales Christmas
Eve was born.

 

[Lynnie]

Lox and Bagels.

Funny how a Jewish food somehow became a Christmas tradition for my Catholic family. See, every year, my siblings and I would wake up Christmas morning to see what Santa brought us (Santa never wrapped our presents). We could play with our gifts from Santa while mom went out to get breakfast - the only place open? The Jewish Deli! Then mom would come back, make us our bagels, and we'd open the rest of our gifts.

I can't imagine a Christmas without lox & bagels...

 

[monarch64]

Argh...fruit salad. And I say "argh" because my mother won't turn over her recipe until she dies. But, without her fruit salad there would be no Christmas!!!!

 

[gemgirl]

When I was little (oh so long ago) it was a major treat in our home to have the little powdered sugar cookies, kinda
like a sand tart. You can buy them at the grocery store now, mass produced, I think they are called Swedish Christmas
Cookies. I could eat an entire bag !!

Every Christmas Eve, we have tamales. My father in law was returning from WWII, by train from California to Texas, on
Christmas Eve. Many soldiers too were on board, from all over the country. Anyway, when the train reached San Antonio, Texas
it was midnight and the soldiers were hungry. They got off the train and my father in law bought them tamales from a vendor
at the station. Many of the men didn't know what a tamale was, but they loved them ! So the tradition of having tamales Christmas
Eve was born.

Pfeffernüsse?? Yeah, those ARE Christmas!

 

[pinkstars]

Gingerbread! MMMmmmm
Mac and cheese


Oh man, I feel like there's so much more that I love eating around this time of the year!

 

[atroop711]

For me it's PASTELES . We make this once a year for the Holiday Season. It's not a holiday meal without my Pasteles . We make them once a year because it's a very long process. I made them a week ago and it took 4 of us 7 hrs to complete them.


And let's not forget...COQUITO. I personally don't like it but seems like every other Puerto Rican does (including my dh)

 

[atroop711]

Pasteles. I know most don't know what that is but it is a puerto rican holiday tradition to make. My mom made a bunch and brought it over for thanksgiving. Yum!

I just posted the same thing...I can eat them all year round..too bad it takes so much to make them.

 

[luv2sparkle]

See's candy, and the aforementioned chocolate covered cherries. I used to love making cookies when the kids were little, but
as they got older, I ate them more than they did-so I don't make as much of them as I used to. They definitely say Christmas to me
though.

My mom used to make a Borcsht with cream, polish sausage and horshradish, with torn rye bread in it, topped with browned
butter. Yummmm... a million bazillion calories. She is gone now, and I haven't tried to make it in years. That was Christmas
morning for me.

 

[emilyalyse]

For me, it's gotta' have the peppermint pig.

http://www.saratogasweets.com/peppermint-pig-tale.cfm

That, and those little mini sugar cookies that you pump out in the shape of flowers and christmas trees (I can't remember what they're called for the life of me, but my mom makes them every year, and I devour several dozen of them. ) ETA: SPRITZ! Someone mentioned them!!!

 

[Loves Vintage]

See's candy, and the aforementioned chocolate covered cherries. I used to love making cookies when the kids were little, but
as they got older, I ate them more than they did-so I don't make as much of them as I used to. They definitely say Christmas to me
though.

My mom used to make a Borcsht with cream, polish sausage and horshradish, with torn rye bread in it, topped with browned
butter. Yummmm... a million bazillion calories. She is gone now, and I haven't tried to make it in years. That was Christmas
morning for me.

See's candy - mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, so goooooooood! Also love those spritz cookies and any other cookies I want to whip up like Linzer cookies and snowball cookies!! Yum!

 

[Prana]

Christmas cookies. Namely mexican wedding cookies with chocolate inside, and the PB ones with the hershey kiss on top.

 

[bebe]

When I was little (oh so long ago) it was a major treat in our home to have the little powdered sugar cookies, kinda
like a sand tart. You can buy them at the grocery store now, mass produced, I think they are called Swedish Christmas
Cookies. I could eat an entire bag !!

Every Christmas Eve, we have tamales. My father in law was returning from WWII, by train from California to Texas, on
Christmas Eve. Many soldiers too were on board, from all over the country. Anyway, when the train reached San Antonio, Texas
it was midnight and the soldiers were hungry. They got off the train and my father in law bought them tamales from a vendor
at the station. Many of the men didn't know what a tamale was, but they loved them ! So the tradition of having tamales Christmas
Eve was born.

Pfeffernüsse?? Yeah, those ARE Christmas!

gemgirl, I don't think that is the same cookie - but not sure. Aren't the Pffeffernusse (sp) a European tradition and do they have Anise in them ?

 

[Prana]

When I was little (oh so long ago) it was a major treat in our home to have the little powdered sugar cookies, kinda
like a sand tart. You can buy them at the grocery store now, mass produced, I think they are called Swedish Christmas
Cookies. I could eat an entire bag !!

Every Christmas Eve, we have tamales. My father in law was returning from WWII, by train from California to Texas, on
Christmas Eve. Many soldiers too were on board, from all over the country. Anyway, when the train reached San Antonio, Texas
it was midnight and the soldiers were hungry. They got off the train and my father in law bought them tamales from a vendor
at the station. Many of the men didn't know what a tamale was, but they loved them ! So the tradition of having tamales Christmas
Eve was born.

Pfeffernüsse?? Yeah, those ARE Christmas!

gemgirl, I don't think that is the same cookie - but not sure. Aren't the Pffeffernusse (sp) a European tradition and do they have Anise in them ?

YES!!! These too! Don't some of them have a lemony taste well?

 

[iLander]

i Am LOVIng everyone's responses! I have learned so much!

I've googled all these new foods, and I'm really impressed with the variety and uniqueness.

These all sound really delicious!

 

[tenorgirl33]

Egg Nog does it for me. I love it.

Mmm...Eggnog for me too.

And those chocolate oranges that you hit on the table to make the slices fall apart. They come in a blue box, but I can't remember what brand they are.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Wreath cookies, Toffee Squares...yum!

 

[Skippy123]

Here in New Mexico Christmas to me is

Biscochitos - a butter cookie with anise cinnamon and sugar

Posole - hominy, oregano, and pork w/chile

Tamales - ground corn (masa) and chile pork filling

My family just made homemade tamales so they gave me a few to enjoy

 

[lulu]

Krusciki- Polish angel wings. Not as made in a bakery but per my mom's recipe and very very thin. My brothers and I make them every year in December. I could eat them all in one night.