Holiday Goodies

January is the traditional month for new diets. I get kind of amused reading this week's Time magazine which chose 3 of the new diet books to review. The first one disallows wine, salt, sugar and artificial sweetener. The second forbids carbonated drinks, coffee, gassy foods including cabbage. The third forbids dairy, white rice, and processed foods. And the last one forbids volume. Eat anything you want but just choose small portions.

Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Why does every new diet start off by telling you what you cannot eat?

People have had problems with excess weight ever since mankind began to grow food. The hunters and gatherers weren't fat. They spent a lot of time just searching for food and were grateful for what they could find. And the game and berries they found also spent time searching for nourishment and water and didn't store fat either.

But that was then. This is now. We are besotted with food, drink, choices, and chance. What on earth can we do?

Have you seen the Reddi-Wip commercial that’s been running on television? They’ve timed it to run this time of year when pumpkin pie is being jotted down on the planned menu for many Thanksgiving Day cooks. Every slice of creamy pumpkin pie needs a dollop of topping, right?

In the commercial, a woman is seated at the counter at a diner. When she orders pie, the waitress holds up a can of Reddi-Wip in one hand and a plastic tub of topping in another. “Oil or cream?” she asks.

The viewer knows very well the plastic tub represents the light-as-cotton candy whipped topping that can be found in the freezer case at all supermarkets. And, no matter what brand it is, the frozen topping is usually referred to as Cool Whip.

When Cool Whip was introduced to the public in 1967, my mom went nuts over the whipped cream look-alike. My mother, who grew up eating real food on a farm in Indiana, snubbed the thick liquid cream as she marched right past the cartons of thick white liquid on the shelf in the dairy case and headed straight to the freezer, tossing a couple of plastic tubs of frozen whipped topping into her grocery cart.

"The holiday season would be unthinkable - and a bit unbearable - without plenty of goodies, both sweet and intoxicating. Hear are some of our favorite recipes, some classic, some simple, all sure to put you in the Christmas spirit."

Cashew Linzer Cookie Wreaths
Chocolate Souffle Cookies
Italian Pizzelle Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Mocha Kissy Cookies
Mocha Mint Biscotti
Valerie's Neapolitan Cookies
Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti
Rice Krispie Coconut Snowballs
Sugarplums

Buche de Noel with Chestnut Filling

Best Red Velvet Cupcakes
Double-Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Candy Cane Martini | Champagne Punch | Cranberry-Spiced Martini |
Eskimo Kiss | Happy Elf
Haute Holiday | Holiday Pomtini | Hot Buttered Rum | Matt's Winter Cocktail | Mulled Wine
The Silver Bell | Spiced Mulled Cider | White Christmas Cocktail

This new year I'm going along with my resolution to get good luck, which involves eating a number of different good luck foods. Lentils, beans, greens and round cakes are all on the menu. Ring cakes are a classic dessert for celebrating the new year, especially in Europe. The ring shape is believe to bring luck, wealth, and prosperity. There are many cakes that fit that mold, like Bundts and Kugelhopfs.

Kugelhopf is a cake made famous in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. The cake is most often made with a yeast dough that's rolled up with a filling of cinnamon and raisins. But the cake can also be made with baking powder or soda, which turns out a cake much like any standard quick bread or American-style Bundt cake. But this cake recipe is special because it's made entirely without leavening.