taste of what's to come over the next few days.
Chocolate
I've mentioned my love of chocolate before, but it's impossible to say too much about it. If you're looking for delicious new recipes try I'm Dreaming Of A Chocolate Christmas by Marcel Desaulniers. Christmas seems to be the time of the year to eat chocolate, but then so does Easter and Valentine's Day and pretty much any day of the week that ends in the word day. I associate Christmas with receiving a Terry's Chocolate orange from my Mom. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association offers all sorts of information on chocolate. For example the largest box of chocolates ever made contained 90,090 individual chocolates. It was created by Marshall Field's in Chicago on November 14, 2002. For this and other fun facts on chocolate visit: http://www.chocolateusa.org
Christmas cake
Unlike most people one of my favourite things about Christmas is the fruitcake. One of my fondest memories is the smell of the rum soaked fruit aging in a big pot. As a child I thought everyone had cake like this. I've never found a cake to compare with my Mom's. Over the years the Christmas fruitcake has become the source of many jokes. Johnny Carson once said There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other. If you happen to visit Manitou Springs, Colorado any January you may get to witness their annual Great Fruitcake Toss. There are many events involving throwing, catapults and mechanical devices. They also hold a most beautiful fruitcake competition. For more information visit http://www.manitousprings.org and click on events. In Independence, California this December they held the fourth annual Independence Fruitcake Festival, complete with various contests from the nuttiest fruitcake to the one that travelled the farthest to get there. Their website, which you can visit at http://www.inyocounty.info has a great selection of fruitcake recipes. For more ideas check out The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook. There's a recipe for the backhouse family fruitcake. That sounds a little odd, but the recipe comes from the Backhouse family.
Eggnog
This Christmas staple is best enjoyed in moderation, and maybe cut with skim milk. Did you know that one cup of eggnog contains 343 calories? For a breakfast treat try making eggnog pancakes, they're delicious. To find a recipe, just visit http://allrecipes.com and type eggnog pancakes in the search box. The Cozy Book Of Winter Drinks by Susann Geiskoph-Hadler has a recipe for a Yule Latte, that you make with eggnog. Sounds like a great drink
for the holidays.
Turkey
What would Christmas be without turkey? I love eating turkey, I just don't like touching the cold bumpy skin. So at our house we buy the frozen stuffed turkeys, which are actually surprisingly good. If you've never made a turkey before there are plenty of recipes and advice on the e-how website. You can find it at
http://www.ehow.com/how_2145076_perfect-holiday-turkey-first-attempt.html
The Essential Canadian Christmas Cookbook by Lovoni Walker has a delicious sounding roast turkey recipe. It's called herb butter turkey and features a stuffing complete with apricots and pine nuts. Oh, if you're still looking for fruitcake recipes, there's one in this book that's made using condensed milk. Did you notice how I slipped that in there?
Candy canes
Did you know that candy canes used to be solid white? They didn't have a red stripe or peppermint flavouring until the Twentieth Century. In the 1950s Gregory Keller invented a machine to automate candy cane production. For information on how candy canes are manufactured visit http://www.candyusa.org/Candy/candycanes.asp
If you'd like to try your hand at making homemade candy canes visit http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmasfun/candycane.htm
I wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday season. I hope you enjoy the various foods we associate with Christmas, but remember not to overdue it. Best wishes for 2009.
Karen Craib, Library Technician
No comments:
Post a Comment