Favorite Foods Of Christmas

Favorite Foods of Christmas

Favorite foods enjoyed by Americans for any given holiday, season or special occasion will likely include some ethnic

dish, given the many ethnic groups that reside in the country. Despite this variety of melting pot cuisine, there are some similarities in

dishes that will be a part of most meals during celebrations such as Christmas.

Christmas in the United States comes almost one month after another big holiday, Thanksgiving, in which the traditional

meal must consist of a turkey as the main dish. This dish also carries over into Christmas as roast turkey is one of the main dishes that

may be served for Christmas dinner. But unlike Thanksgiving, which is solely devoted to turkey meat, Christmas dinners may also

include other birds or poultry. These include roast goose or duck. Roasted ham may also be served. Cranberry sauce, vegetables,

pumpkin pie and a plum pudding or fruity Christmas pudding for dessert tops off traditional Christmas dinners. Mince pies and pastry

that is filled with a mixture of chopped, dried fruit may also be added to the menu.

For drinks at Christmas dinner, a bottle of champagne is very popular, as well as wines. But the everyday beverage of beer

is a must for many people to make a meal truly enjoyable.

Before Christmas Day and the big dinner arrives, there's also another type of food that Americans enjoy in large quantities

during the Christmas season. The consumption and sales of candies, gingerbread and other cookies and holiday treats increases rapidly

during the holidays. Similar to how department stores seek to attract shoppers to buy items for Christmas gifts, candy manufacturers

also put out special boxes and types of candies for Christmas and the holiday season.

A survey done in 2004 by the National Confectioners Association found that many adults derived much pleasure at

Christmas from giving and receiving candies and other treats. In their responses the survey participants said that giving decadent

boxes of chocolate to friends and family, placing candy canes on the Christmas tree and hiding candy treats in Christmas stockings

were favorite ways to give and receive candies, cookies and treats during the holidays.

Sweet treats remain popular at Christmas despite a constant message about dieting that is present in everyday life in the

media, in billboards and from some food manufacturers. At Christmas time, people feel free to enjoy the festive season without

constraints. But they also know that they can enjoy candies and cookies that are health conscious by eating ones that are targeted to the

low-carb dieter by having ingredients that are sugar-free and fat-free or both.

Cookies that are enjoyed at Christmas are often home-baked ones and usually include gingerbread items. The tradition of

gingerbread cookies at Christmas is also believed to have originated in Germany and brought to America by German immigrants.

German bakeries began baking very fancy gingerbread houses with icing as edible snow and other decorations after the Grimm

Brothers published their children's story, Hansel and Gretel. That story had a description of a house that was made of bread, a roof of

cake and windows of barley. The popularity of the creations by German bakeries gave rise to cookie cutters that were made in a

variety of shapes, enabling small gingerbread cookies of various shapes to be baked at home. Some of these cookies that had the

shapes of little people and animals were used to decorate Christmas trees.

More than one hundred years ago from today, German homes in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania would have cookies

that were up to one foot high in the front of windows of their houses as decorative items during winter. The cookies were often giant

gingerbread men and women that had colorful rows of buttons and big smiles. Passersby were often cheered and intrigued by the sight

and brought the idea to their homes on a smaller scale.

Being able to enjoy special dishes, candies, cookies and other goodies during Christmas and the holidays adds a sweet

flavor to the season and also helps to create warm and cherished memories.