Changeable Feast

I feel that I should have a Christmas meal custom. Not because the day bears any special religious, family or brotherhood of man obligations. I have this nagging feeling that since I am generally game for a good meal, especially one that can be enjoyed with loved ones - Christmas seems like a good enough excuse to take a day to cook and celebrate. This year my shaky Christmas food tradition – and by tradition, I think about having red meat and Yorkshire Pudding on Christmas Day more than I have actually ever done it. This year, my imaginary custom is being displaced by working Christmas Day and limiting my celebratory foods to latkes on Friday and egg rolls on Sunday.

Maybe I'm being to limited and literal anyway, unlike Thanksgiving, Christmas foods are used to celebrate/signify more than one meal. December is packed full of catered office parties, cookies, sweets, Egg Nog, Wassails, a nice Christmas Eve dinner, and as a child we always had bacon for Christmas brunch – we were more a cereal and milk household than egg/bacon/juice. Lost in the bustle of over the top foods of December, is the custom of eating and giving exotic fruits (pineapples, pomegranate or or citrus; tangerines in particular are popular this time of year). Other seasonal food customs may include Epiphany/King Cake and then there a whole different kind of indulgence on New Year's Eve.

I look more like this each passing year

Christmas foods are more likely to reflect regional and cultural differences than Thanksgiving's heavily prescribed meal. Southern foods might include BBQ or chili, Midwesterners often serve crown roast as a replacement for the Dickensian Fowl. Chinese Food and an afternoon matinee might replace the tree and presents for non-Christians, especially those who haven't declared war on Christmas, instead want to enjoy a low key day the has no religious significance for them.

Enjoy your holiday no matter how you eat and or celebrate. I'll have one more post this year. 2011 has been a busy year; easily my most blogged year, just not here. I am writing more and what I think is better. Because of the work I have done here and the loyal following, I am able to share my ideas with a wider audience. Just want to say thank you to those of you who have helped, encouraged and maybe even enjoyed my work here.