My favorite time of year!
I love the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Childhood memories are rich with holiday remembrances--not so much of gifts, presents, or toys. In my old country, the holidays were the two times in the year when imported festive food was bountiful on our family table--apples, grapes, pears, oranges, hot dogs, wafer-thin slices of sweet long cured chinese ham (the ones that hung for months in sack cloths), salami, cheddar and gouda cheese. Then, there are the Christmas Eve meal preparations--creamy potato and chicken salad with mixed fruit, slices of wonderful soft, white bread, cups of hot, steaming chocolate and, the ever present Spanish custard, flan. Long ago, the sight and smells of these foods enveloped me as a child with a sense of content, wonder, and joy. Now far removed in time and space, but ever near to my heart, I re-enact and evoke that familiar sense and feeling with the same ardent holiday fervor when I prepare to cook for the holidays.
Please share some of your holiday cheer here.
My favorite and go-to desserts for the holidays
Flan--this tops my list and goes back to the old country, as far as I can remember. For my impoverished family, FLAN was served on special and most festive of times--I learned how to make flan from my aunts, steamed on the stove, and watched over lovingly so that it cooks to perfection.
