Holiday Eats.

This time of year brings much excitement in the kitchen.  The aromas, sounds, tastes...ooh so much to enjoy.  Much of this excitement is sparked by ideas.  For me,ideas start with the arrival of a few of my favorite magazines.   Their glossy pages just overflowing with delectable delights!  See...I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

 

I can sit for hours, if allowed to, and read page after page of these magazines.  Like reading a novel, cookbooks and magazines are just as entertaining.  Really, food tells a great story.  The beginning (planning), the journey (cooking), the ending (eating).  Truly a best seller!

The holiday I host is Christmas Eve. A small gathering of family.  appetizers, drinks, main dishes, deserts...the works.  I usually start the planning now.  Gathering ideas of exactly what I'd like to make 'this year'.  Many times, I find I cook up an Italian meal.  Maybe because of my heritage, I love to keep tradition alive.  My grandmother always had a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner.  With Bacala salad (salted cod and vinegar peppers), the traditional fish dishes (I remember wanting to burn my clothes when coming home the smell seeps into everything!),  spaghetti aioli.  Such special times for me and my family.

But I will continue to read through all these delicious magazines and cookbooks and get my creative juices boiling.  To pick the perfect meal to make this holiday.

What do you cook for the holiday?  What are your fondest holiday food memories?