Holiday food traditions

[rthstewart]

Americans celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday -- a holiday commemorated by a few people of the home (often but not always women) laboring long into the night before and that day struggling to bring to the table a collection of dishes all made at the last minute supposedly harkening back to the first feast in 1621 between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and the Wampanoag tribe. 

In yesterday's post, and in preparation for writing Chapter 13 of AW, Christmas in 1942, adaese and wellinghall have been providing me with fabulous information (and thanks again!).  I mentioned that the Christmas traditions an American family follows may depend in part on their ethnic background -- I know Italian families who always have fish on Christmas Eve and German families who always eat spaetzle and open presents on Christmas Eve.  Food traditions also vary widely throughout the U.S. by region but I don't know anyone who puts a traditional English pudding on the Christmas table.  min023 wanted to know what food traditions Americans have at their holiday if not pudding.   harmony_lover joined in with an observation about Christmas cookies.

And I thought, well, gosh this sounds like fun.  F-list you all come from all over.  What food traditions do you have at Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holidays like New Year's?

Growing up our family holiday gathering food was very hodgepodge and memorable in its eccentricity.  The sweet potato casserole is the stuff of legend -- canned yams/sweet potatoes, marshmallows, orange, brown sugar, and rum, which my mother ignited 3 successive times in the oven before realizing that one could not substitute an equivalent amount of rum  extract for 50 mL -- 1/4 cup rum. 

There was a holiday buffet of turkey or ham, orange cold molded jell-o salad with whipped cream, fruit, and coconut, mashed potatoes, onions in cream sauce, broccoli, and the Pièce de résistance, enchiladas, which have an interesting history.  That part of the family comes from the American Midwest and any meal was not complete without hot dish -- which I learned of when I moved to the great heartland.  When the family moved to the West Coast where we all lived, they brought hot dish with them which became enchiladas -- a more appropriate "hot dish" for California. 

When I moved to the Midwest I learned that you cannot attend any event in the state of Minnesota at which food is served and not encounter wild rice hot dish and its counterpart green bean casserole with canned cream of mushroom soup and Durkee fried onion ring topping.   "Creama" is serious business in Minnesota -- Campbell's cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, and cream of chicken soup are essential ingredients and on every shopping list.

Desserts are, as harmony_lover indicated, frequently Christmas cookies which are one of the few places where you will see the dried fruit of a pudding.  I've also seen and eaten chocolate cake, cherry pie, Bûche de Noël, English trifle, pannetone, and gingerbread, again reflecting both  American efforts to tie to a cultural background (real or imagined), and what's available at the bakery or Trader Joe's.  Minnesota cookies were "pan of bars" -- that is, cookies baked in a pan and cut.

In truth, I don't make any of this of food, but it is what I grew up with.  Anyone else want to share?  And should you know anything of Christmas in 1942, I'll take that too! 

Comments

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

So, WHAT is a "good cookie?" Can you describe it? With the Hershey Kiss cookies, I make them with peanut butter in a spritz and then pipe in a dollop of chocolate. YUM. And why do you have the canned cranberry sauce? With the lines on the side and it sits on the plate jiggling? is that a favorite of someone, the homemade variety notwithstanding? Since I was cooking for 16 this year, I made cranberry sauce for the first time in a long time. Added too much lemon then had to sweeten it up with more brown sugar. Oops.

Oh, carrot, raisin, salad. I know those!!

The wine tasting sounds like a really nice tradition. We really enjoy having a sparkling pinot noir with the appetizers.

[edenfalling]

Come to think of it, there may be peanut butter involved in my family's version of the Hershey's Kiss cookies too. As for good cookies, they are... hmmm... kind of like a cross between snickerdoodles and sugar cookies, maybe, only better than either. I will write to my mom and ask for the recipe!

Yes, the jiggly cranberry 'sauce' with the lines on the side. We have the canned glop because my mom and Vicky like it. I could not tell you why. *makes face* My dad is a firm believer in a sauce that has actual berries and some tartness to it. I just use a lot of gravy.

The wine tasting started mostly by accident, but we are all quite fond of it now. :-)

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

The cranberry sauce cracks me up. Someone must eat it since it is sold! Thank you so much for sharing your traditions!

[adaese.livejournal.com]

It's not there to be eaten! It's there to add a splash of colour to an otherwise all-brown table!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention that. At our Irish family potluck on Christmas Eve at the local rec center every year (my husband and 80 of his closest first cousins) the table is not brown, but white, except for the carrot sticks and the Christmas cookies. White, tan, and beige food. It's very midwestern. Now, from what Clairel said, cranberry sauce is a relatively recent addition to the English table. They were traditional here in the States on the East Coast because they are grown in New England bogs.

good cookie recipe!

[edenfalling]

Good Cookies, according to my mom's recipe:

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 cup flour
2 scant tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all together in the order listed. Roll dough into balls, dip in sugar, flatten slightly. Bake on cookie sheets (ungreased, I think) at 350º for 10-12 min. or until barely golden.

It's the cream of tartar that makes them. :-) Good cookies are very mild, but somehow without the sickly sweetness that can spoil plain sugar cookies.

Re: good cookie recipe!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

If I recall my baking leavening and chemistry, baking soda plus cream of tartar gives you baking powder -- but both are shelf stable. That's a very low sugar to fat and flour concentration as well! And I bet these get nice and puffy too! I am so doing to do a recipe exchange post.
Thanks so much for sharing!

Re: good cookie recipe!

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

This looks rather snickerdoodle-ish at first glance, what with the cream of tartar and the rolled balls in sugar (minus the cinnamon of snickerdoodles)!