Holidays have become my culinary crutch

I use to find this time of year especially challenging for cooking:  Highlighting the fresh goodness of the last of the harvest is long under frost and snow; The novelty of cold weather comfort food (soups, roasts, heavy on the everything dishes) is getting a little old and my waistline a little bulgy; Trying to keep a balanced diet through all the holiday parties and changing of routine.  My creative juices just seem to hibernate.

SO, the Holidays have become my crutch.  Take the week between December 6th and the 13th.  There are at least 3 holidays in that time period:  St. Nicholas Day - Dec 6th, Hannukkah starting the 11th & St. Lucia day on the 13th.   While St. Nicholas Day really focuses on the candy and switches gig, if one digs deeper, you discover that St. Nicholas himself originates from Turkey - from that one can either decide to do something with turkey for dinner, or a Turkish dish.  Truth be told, St. Nick's Day reminds me of being a kid in Germany (when & where I first discovered this holiday) so, I tend to lean toward a German dish.

Hannukkah - Ahh, the Festival of Light.  This is a wonderfully historical holiday  we all ought to all celebrate light as the days are the shortest of the year. Latkes, sufganiyah (yummy doughnuts) anything in oil is fair game on this day and 7 more.  This won't necessarily help the waist line, but it not only provides a plethora of food ideas for an entire week, but games & history- stories to boot!

One of my family's favorite holidays from our Swedish roots is St. Lucia Day.  Another celebration involving light in this time of darkness.  This is great fun for the kiddos.  If you have girls they can be St. Lucia (although technically it's suppose to be the youngest girl) and boys can be star boy.  They serve everyone Saffron Buns for breakfast (at least that's what my family has always done) and get to either wear a crown of candles on their head, or hold one.  I don't usually stop with the buns for breakfast, rather include Swedish cooking all day.  (St. Lucia Day recipes)

And those three holidays are all in just one week alone!  Not only do they provide cooking ideas, but art and history for the kids and have covered some pretty good geography as well.  As the rest of the month unfolds, I'll be looking forward to my own little personal Pillsbury Dough boy help in the kitchen by referring to the calendar.  Check it out: we have the Winter Solstice  (maybe not very particular help in the culinary arts, but definitely in the history and geography), Christmas, Kwanzaa, & New Years Eve! 

Sara Rolfs who has just discovered that I missed National Chocolate covered everything day, Cotton Candy day, but hasn't missed National Oatmeal Muffin day....phew!

P.S. I also enjoy seeing the interconnectedness of holidays this time of year.  Often religion comes down to a world view......formed and molded by where, to whom & at what time we have lived.  While there are some vast differences, looking at the above list & seeing the different religions and cultures who have a significant celebration this time of year......are we really all that different?  Celebrating light in a time of darkness ( at least at our latitude).  Don't you think we are all just doing our best to find our own piece of peace?  Let's celebrate EVERYTHING rather than not letting anyone celebration anything.

Comments

[MyFamilyCompass.com]

I Love this article! I really think it is wonderful to learn about other traditions in the world. If you pair that with food dishes, I am definitely in! Thanks Sara! - Becky

[Katie]

Never ceases to amaze me how food brings everyone closer, even with such diverse cultures. I love the links to the different recipes. This weekend will hold some surprises for my family as I attempt to bring the whole world into my kitchen:)

[Rebecca Hargrove]

I agree that food makes a great tool for teaching kids (and adults) about other things--history, culture, geography, math, folk stories, what-have-you. And, if you get them while they're young, kids will grow up learning to taste new foods and be excited about the "bigger story" of the food. It's great!