rthstewart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart) wrote2011-11-25 06:57 pm
rthstewart) wrote2011-11-25 06:57 pm
Entry tags:
Holiday food traditions
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,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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, asharmony_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!
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!
no subject
Anyway, my family celebrated Thanksgiving every year with my grandparents when my grandfather was still alive. Having come to the States at a young age (I suspect he was in his late teens or early twenties), he was totally Americanized by the time my immediate family emigrated here back in 1980. So on our table, there was the turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce straight from the can, sweet potatoes and stuffing. But he didn't forget his roots though; there would always be a dish of sweet and sour pork as well. My mother, in an effort to add more vegetables to the table, would always bring a dish of Chinese greens (mustard, bok choy, etc... it would depend on what was available and fresh). I'm trying to remember about dessert, which I believe was apple pie and ice cream.
For the last Thanksgiving dinner we had with my grandfather, I think we (my sister, mother and I) ended up doing the cooking. He was still in very poor health (after surgery for colon cancer) by then and barely ate, but it was still a tradition of sorts. Since we were doing the cooking, I think we ended up using my cousin's recipe for the turkey (involved basting the bird in a sauce made from ketchup and Worcestershire sauce) and upgraded the cranberry sauce from plain old jellied to at least something resembling real cranberries.
We continued the cooking for a year or two after that, with my grandmother and my uncle's family coming over, but then we (my sister mainly) pretty much stopped. I miss having turkey and gravy and stuffing...
As for Christmas, Grandpa also baked a ham! Nothing too fancy but that much he did. (We also had a Christmas tree and when we were younger, my grandparents got us gifts and sometimes my relatives in Hong Kong sent over presents as well.) Chinese people don't really have traditions as Christmas isn't really a Chinese holiday (Lunar New Year is the big one) but I do find that we normally go out and have dim sum -- Chinatown is the one place you will definitely find open on Christmas Day. Personally, I enjoy the traditions of opening presents on Christmas Day as well as having a great meal. These days, I celebrate it in my own way -- I've got mince pies, tins of Christmas tea, and try to get my hand on some Buche de Noel and/or gingerbread men. And I put on the choral services from the Choir of King's College.
no subject
Also, I have some lovely ginger recipes if you want to bake yourself!! Buche, however, is quite the project.