Category: Christmas

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. Mostly because I’ll take any excuse at all to bring a tree inside, cover everything in sparkling lights, and make an absolutely enormous meal! It’s the perfect time of the year for breaking out good old fashioned holiday recipes or starting new and innovative traditions of your own.

I tend to spend most of my Christmases in the perpetual pursuit of snow and the perfect cheesecake. It has to be made ahead of time because it rests for 12 hours. This means that there is only one chance to get it right. And the test of success or failure is judged on if it cracks or develops burnt spots. To this day I keep the tradition alive. Christmas Eve for me almost every year consists of toiling over a Cuisinart and crouched in front of the oven late into the night!

The food for Christmas day? That varies widely depending on the year. In my house, full of picky eaters and not necessarily fans of what might be considered typical American faire. We tended to opt for West coast salmon and dungeness crab. One year we even made enchiladas. Starting a large tradition in my adult life of seafood and Latin American fare for the holidays.

Whatever you have in store for Christmas, one thing still remains the same. And that’s the need to eat. So, dust off the old holiday recipes or start some new traditions of your own. Plan ahead to get everything in and out of the oven. And, most importantly, have fun with it!