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.