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 Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:28 pm
Welcome!
Please pull up a chair, loosen your belts and get ready to fill your stomach with recipes of your favorite holiday goodies! wink
It's that time of the year again - where family and friends get together to celebrate the holidays. And what better way to do it than with great food? So in this thread please post:
Your favorite holiday food(s)/drink(s)
Your favorite holiday recipe(s)
If you can, pictures of the food you're talking about.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:31 pm
Japanese Feasts
So, since we are a guild about Japan, let's also take a look at how the Japanese celebrate their own form of holiday feasts. 3nodding Here are some holidays when the Japanese hold fabulous food banquets:
January, New Year (Shogatsu):
On New Year's eve, toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles) that symbolize long life are eaten. January 1 is a very auspicious day and traditionally believed to be representative for the whole year that has just commenced. Therefore, the day should be full of joy and free of stress and anger. The house and clothes should be clean and no work should be done.
April, Flower Viewing (Hanami):
Flower Viewing is still popular events today. However it is mostly known as only banquets which people enjoy eating and drinking under the cherry blossoms in the evening. Some young employees have to be keeping places to see cherry blossoms on sheets of plastic from early morning till night for their companies' banquets. And some people have boisterous parties until late at night.
THE GOLDEN WEEK (APRIL/MAY) :
The Golden Week is a collection of several national holidays within seven days. Together with well placed weekends, the Golden Week becomes one of the longest holidays of the year. Many companies give additional days free to make the Golden Week a continuous holiday, while others do not.
Children's Day (Kodomo no hi):
This holiday is also called the boy's festival (Tango no Sekku) and is celebrated on March 5. Families with boys celebrate this day to wish their sons a good future. Carp streamers are hung outside and samurai dolls put inside the house. They symbolize strength, power and success in life. Traditionally, special sweets are eaten : rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and mochi wrapped in oak leaves. The oak and bamboo, again symbolize strength and a successful life.
Other than that, there are few holidays where the Japanese go all out when it comes to food. Here are a few more holidays where the Japanese sort of celebrate with a feast:
Star Gazing Festival (Tanabata)
O-bon Festival
Christmas: It's not a national holiday, but it's gaining popularity in Japan.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:33 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 1:38 pm
Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you all have a wonderful day today! 3nodding heart
All right, so I'll go ahead and kick off this thread. I have so many favorite foods during the holidays, that it's hard to pick a favorite. For Thanksgiving, I definitely love the simplicity of yams with marshmallows.
I'll post the recipe later.
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:23 pm
Oh man...I have SOOOOOOOO many recipes! My family is a large part German so Christmas is when all the German Christmas cookies come out. I'll have to post recipes later. We have pfeffernüsse, springerle, and lebkuchen. For me, Christmas without springerle is hardly Christmas at all!
Oh! And for those of you who are familiar with German, they're pronounced like this:
pfeffernüsse = FEH-fer-NOO-seh (pepper nuts)
springerle = SPRING-er-lee (little knight)
lebkuchen = LEB-koo-ken (loaf cake)
The recipes that we have for these cookies are pretty old. They've been handed down through the generations. My brother and I made my mom translate the springerle recipe a few years back. It used to just be a list of ingredients. No measurements or directions on what to do with them! When we asked how much, she said, "The right amount!" Apparently this is how my great-grandmother cooked!
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Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 12:28 pm
Oh wow Mugoi, that's such a nice family food tradition! *^_^* How cool and lucky you are! I wish my family had handed down recipes like that. Instead, our traditions center around doing things. But those foods you mentioned sound so interesting. I've never heard of those before.
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 6:03 am
My family is very food oriented. If it's Christmas, there must be cookies. If it's Thanksgiving, there must be tons of pie. If someone dies, you make food for their family. If you're celebrating something, there must be food. I grew up in a family where food is love and the best way to show someone you love them is to shower them in tasty food. (which is why my boyfriends put on a few pounds while we're dating!)
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 4:27 pm
Awww~! That's sounds so nice! My family likes food too, but it's not so much of a tradition, nor something associated with events. Rather, it's something we do every day. We cook a lot of stews, and meals that bring our family together for the lunch or dinner time. I think it stems from being Filipino. Most are very family oriented in that sense. I think the times that we go all out are during Christmas, New Years, and Weddings mostly. 3nodding I'll be posting those recipes as the holidays get closer.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:23 pm
mochis heart i love mochis and green tea flavor sponge cakes biggrin
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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:44 am
pfeffernüsse = FEH-fer-NOO-seh (pepper nuts)
1 lb powdered sugar
4 eggs, beaten separately then together at least 10 min
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb flour
1/4 lb citron, chopped fine
rind of one grated lemon
1 cup nuts, chopped fine
Mix all the ingredients and roll out until the dough is about an inch thick. (This part isn't written down so I'm just guessing!)
Cut out small circles (between 1 and 1/2 an inch across. They should be about acorn sized). Place cut side down on a cookie sheet. Leave out over night. Next day, turn upside down and bake at 325 for about 12 minutes.
If you did it right, the cookies should have a little ball that pops out the top making it look like a little head.
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springerle = SPRING-er-lee (little knight)
It appears that my brother took the translation with him. I'm guessing at this. [EDIT] I now have a proper translation as well!
1 lb powdered sugar
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
anise oil (4-5 drops)
Use an electric mixer to whip the eggs until they're foamy but still slightly runny. Add in the sugar and mix. Then add the anise oil. Mix the flour in by hand. Roll dough out about 1/3 of an inch thick. Use springerle rolling pin to print pictures into the cookies. (look at the wiki link above for example of rolling pin) Use a knife to cut the cookies apart. Place picture side up on a baking sheet and dry over night. Once the tops of the cookies are dry and hard to the touch, bake at 300-325 for about 10-12 minutes. The cookies should retain their pictures and should have a little pedestal on the bottom.
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lebkuchen = LEB-koo-ken (loaf cake)
This recipe is cryptic and I'm not even sure how to translate it into normal people cooking. I wish I could!
2 cups karo syrup
3 cups brown sugar
4 egg yolks
2 cups nuts
1/2 lb citron (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
warm karo and add 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
Warm 1 cup of milk.
Mix sugar, 1/2 more milk, egg yolks, and spices. Add nuts and citron. Add karo syrup, warm milk, and enough flour to make the dough stiff.
Roll out, cut with cookie cutters, place on cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
Make icing with egg whites beaten with 1 lb of powdered sugar.
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