"That's what Christmas (food) means to me"

CANDLES BURNING LOW, LOTS OF MISTLETOE.

One thing about me, I LOVE holiday/seasonal foods! Whether they’re special occasion dishes are up to you as an individual, but there’s something ethereal about eating specific dishes on specific days. It’s ritual! It’s tradition! It’s DELICIOUS!

Here is a list of foods that can be eaten all year round, but taste extra special in the month of December.

Also, I intentionally left out Lebanese food, I’ll write about that closer to Christmas Day.

Cranberry Lime Sparkling Water

• This one is a tad specific but very festive. This is also just my favorite sparkling water (I’m looking at you, Polar). Anytime I stop at Buc-ee’s, I’ll get that, and a bag of their dark chocolate-covered raisins. Wonderful, amazing, best combo for me personally…I’m side-tracking.

Chocolate covered pretzels

• People who don’t like sweet and salty aren’t my kind of people. When I was a kid, my sister and I would help my Dad make gifts for his coworkers around the holidays. Typically, it’d be chocolate-covered pretzel rods with a homemade ornament; it was the 2000s at its finest. We’d go ham on sprinkles, pecans, and fancy chocolate drizzles. My favorites were the half pieces we’d make that were too ugly to give away, those were the BEST.

Meatballs.

• No, not spaghetti and meatball meatballs. Think semi-fancy appetizer meatballs. Like a meatball, you’d see being served at a cocktail party. I’ve never been invited to a bougie cocktail party where you’d find a festive meatball, but a girl can dream, right? Anywho, these remind me of Siti—who went through a mini meatball craze around the holidays. They were a beef-pork mix with cheese and seasonings, I really couldn’t give you details but they were tasty! She’d make them only on Christmas Eve as a mini appetizer before the meal. They never fully fit in with the rest of the menu, but we ate (and loved) them, regardless.

Hot Chocolate

• I shouldn’t have to explain this one. But the different kinds of hot chocolate that pop into your mind are what I think about the most. You have your “I’m in the second grade on the last day of school before break in my pajamas about to watch the polar express” hot chocolate. Your first Starbucks hot chocolate (this truly was a game changer, it was so rich and came with whipped cream?!). The hot chocolate you buy at a sports game simply to keep your hands warm—tasted like sweet muddy water but at least you could feel your fingers again. Trying your first crockpot hot chocolate at a party? A Keurig hot chocolate with the anticipation of watching it process in the machine and the disappointment of the taste. And the fun part is, none of these are truly bad because they’re all surrounded by fairly good memories (for the most part).

• I remember around this time last year, I was having car troubles and one night I had to leave my car overnight at my friend’s apartment complex. My friend David got up super early the next morning to help fix what was wrong (shoutout to David who’s a whiz at cars). Whilst figuring out everything, my friend who lived at the complex came downstairs with mugs of hot chocolate for breakfast. Despite not figuring out what was wrong, we were so content sitting on the curb, drinking hot chocolate at 8:30 am on a chilly morning. This little memory feels unrelated to what I’m writing about, but little things like that really stick to your brain.

Tamales

• Growing up in the pit of Tex-Mex, tamales are a big part of the holidays. Again, another food you can eat year-round, but it doesn’t feel right unless it’s winter. I don’t believe in a favorite, if it’s wrapped in a corn husk, I’m going to eat it.

Crackle Cookies

• If you don’t know what a crackle cookie is, you’re missing out. Also known as “Crinkle Cookies” or “Crinkles”, they showcase a fudgy, rich dough, encased in powdered sugar. From my shallow research, its origins aren’t clear, but they’re widely enjoyed in the Philippines, and were first mentioned in one of Betty Crocker’s earlier cookbooks thanks to Helen Fredall of St. Paul, Minnesota. Anywho! While my family makes these around Christmastime (one of my duties this season), these also remind me of summertime. Whenever one of my older cousins came into town, my Siti would specifically make these for him. While I was always excited to see my cousins and visit, I was also, almost equally, excited for these bad boys.

I realized I didn’t have any photos for this week’s writing, so here’s my honorable mention of holiday/all-year-round foods: carrot cake.

this is almost strictly eaten at Easter for me, but this is one of my favorite desserts.

This in-between time during the holiday season is the best time to enjoy little holiday foods…that aren’t holiday foods. It’s their time to shine!

With love,

Cara