Christmas Traditions

Santa and other Gift Givers

There are dozens of Gift Giver legends throughout the world that speak to the story of the Christ Child. From Santa Claus here in the United States, to Baboushka in Russia, La Befana in Italy, Papa Noel in Brazil and Peru, Black Peter in Germany and the Netherlands, to Santa Lucia in Sicily and Sweden. Some gift givers are the original three Wise Men; Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar, or the infant Jesus, el Nino Jesus, in Columbia, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Some countries have many gift giver legends that bring the magic of Christmas to children throughout the world, all with the reminder of the Christ Child as the first to receive gifts on Christmas.

Trees, Holly, Ivy, and Berries

Because Christmas comes during the darkest part of the year, traditional use of greenery to bring some of nature inside is an age-old practice.  While many cultures burned a Yule Log, others brought evergreen boughs and branches inside to help ward off the darkness of the winter season. These decorations were combined with the traditions of Christmas and while many stories circulate about their origins, we use the decorations that best reflects our Christmas Traditions.

Christmas Food Traditions

Everyone’s Christmas tradition centers around some type of special food. When I think of Christmas food, a kalaidescope of memories flood over me. One is my mother making sugar cookies in the cutout shapes of Santa, candy canes, and Christmas trees. We had a large Styrofoam cookie jar in the shape of a Santa. How I loved the smell when Mom would take the top off that jar! One year she did something quite different with the recipe (to this day she claims to not know what she did) but the cookies were thick and puffy, almost like little cakes.  I have had a plethora of cookies since that year, but I have never had a cookie near as good as the memory of that cookie.

That’s when I realized that Christmas is made of memories and traditions. There is no single way to celebrate Christmas that will meet everyone’s needs, because our tradition of Christmas is woven into the very essence of who we are as a person and our traditions are as unique as we are.

Louise’s Mincemeat Tarts:

My friend Louise was born and raised on the Isle of Wight, the island just south of England.  Her Christmas food traditions include making mincemeat for mincemeat tarts for Christmas. Mincemeat was a commonly “put-up” item along with tomatoes, relishes, and pickles from the end of summer, and early autumn harvest.  Mincemeat originated in the Middle Ages, when the mixing of sweet and savory flavors was common, using the fruit and spices as a way to help preserve the meat. Today’s mincemeat is typically meatless. While you can still use suet in a mincemeat filling, more and more cooks use either butter or vegetable shortening, shredded or melted just prior to incorporating with the rest of the ingredients. Louise’s mincemeat recipe uses mostly dried fruits and nuts with no suet, and only 4 ounces of butter in the mincemeat mixture. This is a dynamite recipe!

Mincemeat:

¾ cup currants

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup dark raisins

½ cup chopped dried apricots

½ cup candied cherries finely chopped

½ cup mixed citrus peel

¼ cup sliced almonds

1 cup soft light brown sugar

½ cup melted butter

2 tsp. ground cloves

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground ginger

grated zest and juice of 2 oranges

½ cup brandy or rum

½ cup sherry

Place all ingredients into a large bowl and stir until the sugars are completely incorporated. Cover and leave in a cool place for a day. Stir. If the mixture seems dry, add a little more alcohol. Spoon into clean sterilized jars leaving a little space at the top. Seal and label. Store in a cool dry place for up to 2 months.

Tart Recipe:

1 stick butter

3 cups flour

¼ c. confectioner’s sugar

2 egg yolks

beaten egg whites (to glaze the pies)

4 cups prepared mincemeat

Cut the butter into the sifted flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the center and stir in the egg yolks and about 3 – 4 tablespoons ice water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Knead lightly to form a smooth dough and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out 2/3 of the dough and cut out 30 rounds using a 2.5 inch fluted cutter. Line mini tart or muffin tins. Fill with mincemeat. Reroll the pastry and cut out 2.0 inch circles to top the tiny pies, first dampening the edges of the circles. Seal the edges, brush tops with the beaten egg whites, and bake 20 minutes.

Once the pies are made, you can freeze them first and cook from frozen state at 350°F for 20 – 25 minutes, or cook first, freeze, then defrost for 2 – 3 hours at room temperature and reheat in a hot oven for 5 minutes. This is a spectacular idea for making holiday treats ahead of time.

John’s English Toffee:

As a bachelor, my brother, John, didn’t cook a whole lot.  He had a couple of solid “go to” recipes that he perfected, and this English Toffee is one of them.  This was always his contribution to a Christmas gathering.

2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

½ tsp. salt

6 ounce package chocolate chips

2 cups toasted, chopped pecans

Line a 13 x 9 x 2 pan with parchment paper, butter lightly, and spread 1 cup pecans and half the chocolate chips on the bottom. Sprinkle half the salt over the pecans and chocolate. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter and sugar and then cook over medium heat until it reaches the lowest end of the hard crack stage or 300°F on a candy thermometer. Immediately pour over the pecans, chocolate, and salt in the pan. Spread with a silicone spatula. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips over the top, spread quickly, top with remaining pecans and salt.  You can certainly eliminate the salt if you need to, but it makes for a really delicious candy.  Wait until the candy cools completely. Break into pieces and store in an air-tight container.



Mary’s Caramel Corn:



My daughter, Mary, has had a fascination with caramel corn from the time she was very young. Enjoy one of her very favorite recipes that works like a charm every time.



8 quarts popped corn

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup butter

½ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup dark molasses

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups pecans or piñons



Butter a large roasting pan and pour popped corn into it as you pop it and keep it warm in a 250°F oven. Place the nuts in this pan as well so that they warm up before adding the candy coating.



In a 2 quart saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, salt and molasses. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil (5 to 10 minutes). Continue cooking, but do not stir, until mixture reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; immediately stir in baking soda and vanilla. This will make the mixture foam up a bit, but that is to be expected. Pour over warm popcorn and nuts. Stir until all popcorn is coated, but don’t worry about getting everything coated completely at this point.  You will stir 3 more times.

Bake for one hour, stirring well every 15 minutes. When the hour is up, pour onto a granite countertop (if you have one) or cover the countertop with oiled heavy foil or freezer paper.  Break into small pieces as soon as the caramel corn is cool enough to handle.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container. 

We fill holiday cellophane bags with caramel corn and place them in a basket by the front door to give to Christmas guests who stop by our home during the holidays.  We typically make several batches of this wonderful confection during Christmas.

 

Las Posadas and New Mexican Posole:

My contribution to these holiday recipes is a huge pot of New Mexican Posole that became part of our Christmas tradition from the many years we spent in New Mexico with its Christmas Eve luminarias and Las Posadas. Las Posadas are celebrated each evening from December 16 – 24, for nine days, based on the nine months that Mary carried Jesus. Las Posadas (the word is roughly translated to “the inn”) re-enacts Mary and Joseph’s cold and painful journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of shelter. 

This party is traditionally held each night in a neighborhood home where everyone gathers outside the house. Sometimes the children are dressed as shepherds and angels, Mary and Joseph, followed by everyone else carrying lighted candles. At each home they request shelter, and at each home they are denied until the family hosting the party for that evening opens the door to the pilgrims and invites them inside.  The last posada is on December 24, followed by Midnight Mass.

The welcoming glow of luminarias light the pathway to the hosting home, where a Christmas meal is then served, consisting of green chile stew, burritos, tamales, enchiladas, posole and other holiday dishes. This traditional New Mexican posole is made with fresh hominy, powdered red chile, and stewed pork.

48 ounces fresh or frozen hominy

1 pork shoulder roast (5 – 7 pounds)

¾ cup red chile powder (New Mexican is best)

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1-¼ cup vegetable oil (butter will NOT do!)

2 teaspoons Mexican oregano

6 – 8 cloves garlic, crushed

3 Tablespoons salt (add as needed only)

Soak the hominy in cold water overnight, rinse well in the morning and cook over medium heat with enough water to cover for 2 hours.  Watch carefully. As the hominy cooks, it absorbs the water, and you may need to add more water during this process.  Once the hominy is tender, but not too soft, remove from the heat, rinse twice, and hold until it is time to add to the meat mixture.

While the hominy is cooking, cook the pork shoulder by first browning it well, cover with boiling water and simmer for 3 – 4 hours. When the pork is very well done, i.e. falling apart, remove it from the broth to a plate.  Allow to cool just long enough to pull apart either with your fingers or two forks.  Discard all fat.  Place the shredded meat back into the hot broth; add the hominy, garlic, half the salt, and the oregano.

In another skillet, prepare the red chile sauce by heating the oil over medium heat.  As soon as it is hot, add the flour and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk to cook the flour. Add the red chile powder, whisk for about a minute, no more.  Red chile powder burns quickly, so do not cook it in the oil too long.  This will be like a New Mexican roux, and will thicken the posole in the pot.  Add the hot roux mixture to the broth, meat, and hominy, whisking constantly. Add just enough water or canned chicken broth to keep the hominy and meat covered, and cook on a very low simmer for another 1 – 3 hours.  This can also be kept in a warm 165°F oven or in two crockpots if you are out at a Las Posadas, caroling, sledding, skiing, or just out chopping wood to keep the house warm.