Favorite Holiday/Festival food

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We’ve got 8 days of summer CD left to go, and I think this will be a fun one that may carry through and maybe pick up on the other side so I’ll post as it’s on my mind.

What’s your favorite Holiday/Festival food? Something you can only get, or only do get, or at least get as good, one or only a few days a year? It doesn’t have to be related to a holiday this time of year; it might be an annual July barbecue! I might be when your favorite locally produced food reaches the perfect ripeness, and your town has a fruit/berry/honey/vegetable/grain/gourd/seafood/poultry/meat/sausage/soup/whatever festival. Or maybe it’s just something you always get on your birthday; anything goes as far as the why and when.

As is traditional, I’ll start with my very favorite, which is the evening meal 26 December (the day after Western Christmas), and also the day after US Thanksgiving, but they’re the same meal. For both Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mom and I and the kids meet at her house, and eat the same [very good] things, Way more cookie choices for Christmas than Thanksgiving, though, because mom makes a bunch of different cookies for Christmas to give/mail as gifts, and we get to share the plenty that’s left! But that’s not my favorite, just the setup.

Anyway, my favorite meal of the year (even including what I ask mom to make for my birthday dinner, but that doesn’t happen unless I ask) is today, and the day after Thanksgiving. I leave all of the other leftovers like salmon, pork, potatoes & gravy, spinach Hebert (a casserole featuring spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, bread crumbs, and love), homemade cranberry sauce, smoked apples, pumpkin pie and other sweets in the fridge or cabinet. I fill a plate up with equal portions of my smoked turkey and my mom’s cornbread dressing which contains cornbread and drop biscuits (each awesome alone), all kinds of seasoning, turkey stock, and two different brands of shrimp boil. I take the refrigerator chill off them but don’t get them hot, grab a fork, and that’s dinner. Mom’s dressing is great on the day hot, but it’s even better the next day near room temperature; I suspect next day is more important because it’s a flavors blending/marrying thing. . My smoked turkey doesn’t grow much over time, but it fits better with the next-day dressing near room temperature. Every forkful has a bit of each. I would overeat if I didn’t savor each bite so much. I finished a plateful as I started this e-mail about three hours ago, and I wish I had room for more.

So, what’s your favorite “food you only get once or twice a year”?

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I’m gonna share two, one I eat and one the wife makes that most other people love.

Her mother makes something called ‘Cheese Pie’ which is very much like a cheesecake flavor, a hint of lemon, but overall softer than cheesecake, more like a pie filling. Served chilled on a graham cracker pie crust. She likes to make that for Thanksgiving and Christmas parties.

My wife makes Pineapple Fluff (and I don’t like pineapple), but everyone else who likes pineapple loves it. Cool whip, cream cheese, pineapple chunks, pineapple juice and vanilla pudding mix all mixed together and chilled overnight. I’m sure there are various versions online for this to change out the pineapple for something else. But it’s a pretty easy dish to make and share at a party.

They made both for her families Christmas party as well, and I picked the cheese pie obviously.

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My fiancés family does the same thing with canned cranberry but they use jello mix instead of pudding.

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Can’t recall if I’ve shared this one with the crowd … but my favorite not-entirely-traditional recipe :

  • 3/4 red apple, seeded, skin on, cut into cubes.
  • 3/4 naval orange, skin on (yes), cut into cubes
  • 1 lbs raw cranberries, washed and get rid of the bad ones
  • Sugar, measured with your heart

Run the first three through a meat grinder or food processor to get a nice rough grind. A little chunky is good, it shouldn’t be a smoothie. Mix in the sugar by hand until it tastes as sweet as you like.

That’s it! No cooking and cooling. Just grind and mix and serve!

The orange rind in particular lends a really unique slightly-bitter note to offset all the sweet and sour.

As a side note, we’ve started a New Years tradition of emulating a night at House of Prime Rib. Turns out the family likes prime rib, creamed spinach, potatoes, salad, and horseradish sauce

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