DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   One way to conquer that culinary anxiety that may accompany you during the holiday season, is to think about this time of year as just that---a season!  This is the most productive time of year.  There is always so much to do, and apparently so little time in which to do it.  These are the most favorable conditions for producing great food.  That's for sure!  The day after Halloween signals the start of what promises to be a flavorful culinary journey: which shall last well beyond New Year's Day.  By September, after the heat of summer has gone, we have already begun to prepare for the holiday season.  Sooner or later, something wonderful is bound to happen!    This is the time for cordials; homemade liqueurs.  Perhaps raspberry,cranberry, peach, or pear, maybe even hazelnuts.  Everything is set as early as September, in order to perfectly steep these delightful flavors in a neutral vodka and sometime in rum fo...

   The sound of happiness, sincere appreciation and the presence of family make the Christmas holiday one of the most festive occasions of the year.  Such festivities were also present during medieval times.  The spirit of the holiday was the closeness of family, serfs, lords and their workers and the communal sharing and preparing of the holiday meal.    The celebration of Christmas and the concept of Christ's birthday goes back much farther than the 19th century.  Originally a pagan festival celebrated during the Mid-Winter Solstice, Christmas, was eventually adopted by the Christians, thus being passed on through the generations.  In Medieval times a 12 day festival, held from December 25th to January 6th, opened the New Year with all of the contemporary fixings such as plays, processions, and the spreading of good cheer.  The actual gift giving took place on January 6th with the honoring of St. Nicholas, patron son of saints.  ...

   Cranberry's are actually an evergreen shrub or vine.  The fruit starts out white and turns a deep red as they ripen.  The leading producer of cranberries is Wisconsin where half of the U.S. production of cranberries is harvested.  The second largest U.S. producer is the State of Massachusetts, and they grow 28% of the total domestic production.  The peak growing season for is from October to January, just in time for the holidays.  The Native Americans were the first known people to use cranberries as food and probably taught the early settlers about them.  Those two facts together may be how cranberries are considered traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas food.   The Indians made a dish called pemmican, that is a mixture of cranberries and venison or bear meat, but they also used cranberries for medicine and for dye.  Cranberries are rather tart and not usually eaten raw.  Instead they are used primarily as sauces, juice or s...

      Burning Yule logs is a tradition dating back long before the birth of Jesus.  In pre-Christian times, the Yule log was burned in the home hearth on the winter solstice in honor of the pagan sun god Odin, known also as the Yule Father or Oak King.     The winter solstice, known amongst pagans as Yule or Gwyl Canol Gaeaf, falls on December 21 or 22, whichever is the shortest day and longest night of the current year.  The Yule festival symbolizes a battle between the powers of light (Oak King) and powers of darkness (Holly King).  A Yule log, typically a thick branch taken from a oak tree, would be burned in the hearth beginning on this night as a celebration of the Oak King's triumphant defeat over the Holly King.  Burning the Yule log     The traditional Yule celebration would begin at dawn with the cutting of the oak branch, which was then ceremoniously carried into the house.  Lit by the father or ...

   Plum pudding or Christmas pudding, as it is more popularly known, has its origins in England.  It is often served about Christmas time, or usually around Advent time.  It has been a family tradition in many homes to have a "stir up Sunday", when each child is allowed to stir the pudding and make a wish.    What is Plum Pudding?    It's almost black color comes from the heavy dried fruits that are used to make it.  Traditionally, plum puddings are boiled or steamed using a pudding cloth and would sometimes have charms mixed inside them.  The charms may either be a silver coin, a silver thimble, anchor or ring which all stand for good things in life such as good luck, wealth, a happy marriage and a safe trip.    A plum pudding does not really have plums in it, but it is full of dried fruits and nuts,mixed with beef suet and citrus fruit juices or alcohol such as beer, rum or brandy.  It is often dried out before it ...

   Most of us know that with winter creeping up on us, there are holiday's coming up, too.  here in the United States, that typically means Christmas and New year's Eve.  But what about the rest of the world?  There are many holidays that are observed this time of  year from all over the globe, whether by different religions, cultures or countries. Chanukah (Hanukkah)-    Chanukah or Hanukkah literally means "rededication"; the Jewish "Festival of Lights", celebrating the Jewish victory at the temple and the 8 days the lamp oil lasted when there was only enough for one day during the rededication of the temple.  It begins at sundown on the 25th day of the month, Kislev, on the Jewish calendar (in Nov/Dec).  Some common things seen during this celebration are the menorah, which has nine candles, one lit for each day and one to light with; latkes, or potato pancakes; dreidals, which are spinning tops used for a game of betting; sufgan...

   In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph Mcfee was distraught because so many poor individuals in San Francisco were going hungry.  During the holiday season, he resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner for the destitute and poverty stricken.  He only had one major hurdle to overcome---funding the project.    Where would the money come from, he wondered.  he lay awake nights, worrying and praying about how he could find the funds to fulfill his commitment of feeding 1,000 of the city's poorest individuals on Christmas Day.  As he pondered the issue, his thoughts drifted back to his sailor days in Liverpool, England.  He remembered how at the Stage Landing, where the boats came in, there was a large, iron kettle called "Simpson's Pot" into which passers by tossed a coin or two to help the poor.    The next day Captain McFee placed a similar pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing at the foot of Market Street.  Beside the...