Listen. Food is probably my favorite thing about living on Earth. My first request when I get to heaven is to be able to eat guacamole and lattes every single day without the health repercussions. So, it only makes sense to focus on this incredibly important and downright delicious part of the holiday season:
FOOD.
Perhaps you have this incredibly delicious family recipe for gingerbread cookies, or maybe your mom makes the absolute best honeyed ham for Christmas every year. I suppose there could be something you’re forced to eat that you hate, like fruitcake or figgy pudding, but I have a hard time believing there are ANY terrible food options available during the holidays (yes, that is a dare for you to write me back and prove me wrong).
And here, of course, are a few examples of my own:
Example #1:
One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the food we have with my immediate family on the day we celebrate Christmas. Every year we’ve done something different, since the day or even time of day has often changed and resulted in a need for varying meal plans.
And of course, since food is such an important part of my family’s lifestyle (we like to use food as an opportunity for community and service, which I think is grand), we tend to give this Christmas feast a variety of purposes, depending on the year.
For example, one year we decided to experiment with our meal and try to make appetizers from scratch as a family. We fried wontons, baked mozzarella sticks, crafted twice baked potatoes, and (though not from scratch) included the always trusty barbecue wings to the platter.
Let me tell you. It was AMAZING.
And that was just the one year–another year we tried fondue for Christmas, and that too was a fantastic idea. We pulled out all the stops; there was a cheese pot for breads and crackers and pretzels, a pot for cooking chicken and steak and beef, and of course, a dessert chocolate pot for marshmallows and strawberries and pineapples.
In case you were wondering–yes, it was just as good, or likely better, than it sounds.
But perhaps my all-time favorite Christmas meal was just last year, when we decided to have Christmas in the morning. Given that my sister and brother-in-law and I are older and at the age where we sleep through Christmas morning and only wake up for Christmas afternoon, my mother was left to take on the burden of making breakfast for us. Even though we offered our assistance and told her to wake us up so we could help, that incredibly kind, compassionate, and servant-hearted woman got up while the house was still asleep and made breakfast by herself, only waking us when it was time to eat.
And yes, that feast was most definitely worth waking up for.
Besides the steaming cups of coffee placed at every seat, a giant skillet with hash browns, spinach, bell peppers, and fried eggs somehow perfectly cooked on the top was the centerpiece for the table. Aside from that amazing dish, my mother made blueberry monkey bread, which essentially is baked biscuit halves that have been tossed in cinnamon and sugar and in this case, blueberries, and then topped with candied pecans and drizzled icing.
Yeah. Tell me about it.
You cannot beat a breakfast like that.
Thanks, mom.
Example #2:
A poem about holiday food.
‘Twas the holiday season
And all through the house
Scents of Christmasy snacking
Dispelled any doubt
The aroma of popcorn
And an evergreen tree
Mingled with gingerbread cookies
And filled us with glee
A honeyed ham baked
While potatoes were boiled
And greens tossed in the air
As our relatives toiled
At last the table was laden
With pans, pots, dishes more
And we thanked and thanked those
Who made our stomachs soar
But the feast didn’t end there
With ham or salad or rolls
For after dishes were stacked
The sweets came for our souls
Peanut butter buckeyes,
and gingerbread men
White snowball cookies,
and candied pecans.
While chocolate melted on tongues
And candy canes appeared too,
All I could think was how glad
I was for family and food.
the Story Café 