Ring in the New Year with good luck

People around the world eat special food on New Years. In Spain, Mexico and Cuba they eat twelve grapes, one for each month, at the stroke of midnight. The fruits are a predictor of the year ahead. If the grape is sweet, the month will be good one and if it’s sour, a bad one. Martha Stewart suggests adapting the tradition by threading twelve grapes on a wooden skewer and serving them with champagne. Martha knows best, so I followed her lead as you can see. I used pink grapes as well as green grapes.

I grew up in the south and we always ate black-eyed peas to bring us good luck in the coming year. The peas look like little coins when cooked, so they are thought to symbolize wealth. They also swell when cooked, another sign of prosperity. Our recipe for Southern Black-eyed Pea Caviar includes ham for an extra measure of good luck.

Southern Caviar

Easily doubled or tripled. Very pretty served in silver footed compotes lined with soft lettuce.

1 (15.8 oz) can black-eyed peas, drained & rinsed well

¾ cup cubed ham steak

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Pinch of sugar

Dash of Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce

Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 tablespoons chopped red onion

1 ½ cups chopped tomato

2 tablespoons chopped scallion including some green tops

2 tablespoon chopped seeded fresh jalapeno pepper

2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley

Jalapeno slices and cilantro sprigs for garnish (optional)

Place drained black-eyed peas in a bowl. Saute the ham over medium heat in a non-stick skillet until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Let ham cool for a moment, then add to the peas. Add remaining ingredients and toss gently. Refrigerate for a couple of hours for flavor to develop. Bring to room temperature before serving. Serve with chips for scooping.

This year of blogging has been so much fun and the best part was getting to know each of you. Thank you for your emails, letters, comments and calls. They all bring me so much pleasure that words cannot express. I hope you have a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year and the best life has to offer.

Cheers from My Carolina Kitchen,

Sam & Meakin

Junkanoo Festival - held on Boxing Day in the Bahamas

Junkanoo is a national festival in The Bahamas, held in the early morning hours of Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. During the Junkanoo parade, a procession of dancers in brightly colored costumes “rush” through the streets, singing and making music on goat-skin drums, cowbells, conch shell horns and whistles.

Today is Pink Saturday and I want to thank Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for hosting this fun event. Please be sure to drop by How Sweet the Sound where you’ll find links to other Pink Saturday bloggers.

The revelers, both young and old, spend all year pasting their costumes together, many of which are made out of cardboard covered in colorful crepe paper.

Spectators join in the celebration, singing and dancing to make it a big street party.

The origin of the word Junkanoo is unknown. Some say it comes from the French word “L-inconnu,” meaning the unknown in reference to the masks worn by the parade participants.

Others believe it was named for John Canoe, an African tribal chief who demanded the right to celebrate with his people during the 16^th and 17^th centuries after being brought to the West Indies as slaves.

The slaves were given a special holiday during Christmas when they could leave the plantations to celebrate and be with their families with African dance, music and costumes. After emancipation, they continued the tradition and Junkanoo has evolved from its simple origins to organized parades with intricate costumes and music.

These photos were taken at the Junkanoo festival on Green Turtle Cay in Abaco, in the northern Bahamas.

Our favorite family tradition at Christmas - reading "The First Christmas Stocking" written by my husband’s Grandfather in the early 1900's

Every Christmas Eve we read “The First Christmas Stocking,” written by my husband Meakin’s grandfather. Years ago Meakin’s dad gave us his copy of “The First Christmas Stocking” that was crinkly and aging along with some black & white drawings of the story his father had written and told to him when he was a young boy. Meakin can also remember his Grandfather telling him this very same story.

Photo of Meakin and his Grandfather reading “The First Christmas Stocking”

Here’s an excerpt of what Meakin’s Dad told us about Christmas when he was a boy in 1919 and about the story his father wrote - “The First Christmas Stocking.”

On the day before Christmas of 1919 in Peotone, Illinois, Mother had spent the preceding week baking cakes, pies, and sugar cookies in Santa Claus or Christmas tree shapes and especially “Tea Rings” with their filling of brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and currants. They would be a feature of the holiday breakfast, accompanied by butter and lemon dressed salt mackerel which Dad had soaking in a dishpan of water. The Christmas tree which Dad and I had brought home on my sled leaned, snow dusted, against the side of the house. It would not be brought in until I was in bed and, presumably, fast asleep.

“The “FIRST CHRISTMAS STOCKING” is a Hoffer family heritage. It was written by my Father in the early years of this century when there was no television, few radios and movies were silent and seldom seen. Consequently story telling was an important means of education and of communication, especially between parent and child. This particular story occupied a special place in our Christmas celebration. After dinner on Christmas Eve we walked to the church for the Christmas pageant. When I returned home there was a sudden rush to get undressed, hang my stocking and get to bed. And when up I went, Dad did too, to lie beside me, to “start the night” and tell me the story of a little boy whose pleasure was in giving, not getting, whose concern was for the happiness and pleasure of others and in that found his own happiness. Dad wanted very much to see this story published. He found an old friend to do the drawings that illustrate the story here. But his dream was never realized.

Always up for a challenge, in 1977 I decided to find a book binder to see if they could make copies of the story for a Christmas present from us to all of our family members. When they said yes, I begin to painstakingly re-type the story on an old IBM Selectric typewriter with the rotating ball (there were no personal computers or word processing programs available at the time) and took it, along with the drawings, to a very seedy (read unsafe) part of downtown Houston to the book binders, selected an elegant dark green leather cover with gold lettering for the title, ordered copies, and said, “Call me when it’s finished.”

Meakin’s father was thrilled when he saw the finished book. He wrote in the inscription in 1977:

“Many times in the last twenty years that my Dad has been gone I have wished I could tell him of some of the wonderful things I’ve seen or done or just lived through. This is one of those times. Now, thanks to Meakin and Sam, here it is. If not for all the world to see, at least for me and my children, their wives and husbands, their children and their children’s children.” James J. Hoffer, New York City, 1977.

Here is “The First Christmas Stocking.” By the way, Meakin’s dad just celebrated his 97^th birthday in November. He still lives at home, cooks most of his own meals, reads the New York Times every day and does their crossword puzzles. And on every Christmas Eve he gets out his copy and reads this story.

The First Christmas Stocking

By Doc Hoffer

Away up north a long time ago

There lived a young lad with the Eskimo.

He had a reindeer but he had no sled

So he hitched it to an ice cake instead.

He carved toys of ice and had lots of fun

But they soon melted when exposed to the sun.

One day a ship got fast in the ice

And our little boy thought it would be nice

To take a look at this strange sight;

He wanted to go out that very night.

The men on the ship did not like to stay

So they hitched up their dogs and hastened away.

So Kris Kringle, for that was his name,

Went to look the thing over; you’d do the same.

He found it deserted and much to his joy

There were all kinds of tools that would please any boy.

He found lots of wood and pieces of metal

Lead for his soldiers and an old iron kettle.

He made a sled to hitch his deer to.

He made lots of toys like you’d like to do.

He soon had so many he thought ‘twould be fun

To give each little boy and girl some.

So he hitched up old Prancer and started away

With a pack on his back just ‘fore Christmas Day.

When he got there, there were Indians around

And just a few settlers were then to be found.

The Indians chased him and scared him you see,

He wished he was back home, take it from me.

He urged on the deer and imagine the shock

When it made a quick turn and the sled hit a rock.

He flew right up into the air

And lit on top of a cabin right there.

He crawled down the chimney to get away

From this bunch of savages this Christmas Day.

When he got in the room ‘bout ready to die

He found lots of stocking hung up to dry.

There were small ones and large ones, short ones, too.

Says Santa, “Now here’s what I’ll do.

I’ll fill each sock from top to toe

Then if the Indians are gone, for home I’ll blow.”

So he put in soldiers and swords and guns,

Wooden horses and toys for the little ones.

He peeked out the door and his deer was still there

So he jumped in his sleigh and sailed through the air.

He had such fun he said in his glee

“I’ll be back next year with more presents, you see.”

So he worked the whole year as hard as he could

And comes back each year as Santa Claus should

He’s old and gray, his beard is white

But he comes back each year all right

For all children he brings nice toys

For he still loves good girls and boys.

I apologize for the change in print size and the spacing. For some reason Blogger had a mind of its own today and gave me fits with this post and I've re-done it several times with equally strange results. Do you ever have this problem? It's very frustrating. Oh well or c'est la vie as the French say. 

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noel everyone.

Cheese Logs – an easy appetizer to have on hand for drop-in guests

Have you ever eaten something at an office party that you thought was great, asked for the recipe, then never got around to actually making it? Well, these cheese logs are one of those recipes. Years ago Mr. Collins, a gentleman in our office, brought his wife’s cheese logs to our Christmas party. They were a hit and of course I asked him if Mrs. Collins would share her recipe. She confided hers came from an old Southern Living magazine.

Last year I featured a friend’s cheese ball on my blog that was rich, creamy and delicious. This year I searched for something similar to have on hand during the holidays. On the Food Network the Barefoot Contessa made Cheese Straws with purchased puff pastry. Parmesan and Gruyere cheese that looked tempting, especially considering cheese straws are one of my all time favorites. Giada de Laurentiis, also on the Food Network, whipped up a quick batch of Prosciutto Bread Sticks with Parmesan cheese and wrapped in prosciutto in minutes that also looked good. But what I was really looking for was something I could make in advance, keep in the refrigerator to have on hand for drop-in guests. I always keep a bottle of champagne in the wine refrigerator and some Crème de Cassis in the cabinet so we could quickly fix a French Kir Royale by adding a teaspoon or so of Cassis in a flute and top it with champagne for a festive drink. Add a bowl of grapes and voila, you have a spur-of-the-moment appetizer.

That’s when I remembered Mrs. Collin’s Cheese Logs. I flipped through my files and, after a little searching, found her recipe. It appeared easy, no baking was involved, could be kept in the refrigerator wrapped for up to a week, so I decided to give them a try. Her cheese logs call for chopped pecans, so for fun I mixed the nuts into one of the cheese logs as the original recipe called for and, for a change of pace, I rolled the other log in the nuts to form a crunchy exterior. Mrs. Collins used a yellow cheddar cheese, but I wanted a sharper flavor and chose a New York State sharp white Cheddar. In retrospect, next time I think I’ll use the yellow cheddar called for in the original recipe for appearance sake more than taste. As you can see, these are rather white. I also felt the paprika added an extra bit of taste that was missing from the one I rolled in nuts. Spanish smoked sweet paprika (Pimenton) would also be nice. Here’s Mrs. Collins original recipe.

Mrs. Collin's Cheese Logs

It’s important to grate the cheese by hand. I find that the pre-grated kind doesn’t blend well with the other ingredients.

1 pound medium to sharp cheddar cheese, hand grated, then brought to room temperature

3 – 6 oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature

3 large cloves of garlic, pressed

1 cup chopped pecans

Hungarian paprika

Mix the two cheeses, garlic and pecans either by hand or gently in a food processor. Form into three balls, then roll into logs. Roll the logs in paprika and chill well before serving with crackers of your choice. Makes three logs.

A Bay Leaf Wreath – one of our favorite holiday decorations & perfect for the hard to please person on your list

It's Pink Saturday and Beverly of How Sweet the Sound, our hostess for Pink Saturday, has asked us to post about our favorite holiday decoration and to tell why it is special.

I’m sure you’ve had a hard to please person on your Christmas gift list from time to time. I know I sure have and I well remember the very person who always topped the list – my husband’s father’s late second wife Wanda, which would make her my stepmother-in-law if there is such a word. At the time she and my father-in-law lived in New York City and could buy anything imaginable whenever they pleased. Both were gourmet cooks and most especially Wanda. My husband referred to her as, “the best darn cook in the world that I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a professional.”

The trouble was at that time I didn’t know Wanda well, but I sensed that she could be hard to please. I’d met her once, earlier in the year during the fall, when my husband and I had flown to the city and stayed with them. I was a manger in the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Houston and, as a part of the trip, I had planned to go to the store and work with my buyer while we were there.

Before we left home Wanda called. “Sam, I thought you might want to know that in New York we don’t wear white shoes in the fall.” I was flabbergasted. I hadn’t worn white shoes since I was a small child and colored them pink, much to my mother’s horror. My entire career has been in fashion merchandising. Did she think I was some kind of country kid?

I wanted to reply that I planned on bringing my little Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress to wear with a soft shade of chestnut brown Bruno Magli sling-back pumps that look nice with my Vuitton bag, but I was so taken back by her call that I think I stuttered something like, “Thanks Wanda. I’ll keep that in mind when I pack.”

This is a time in life that thankfully I had been raised with good manners, because if I could have found a tacky pair of white heels, I would taken them to New York City and put them on in her apartment right before I left for Saks and asked, “Wanda, what do you think? Do I look all right?"

So now you know Wanda was hard to please and it’s time to buy a Christmas gift for her and my husband’s Dad. Knowing their love of cooking, I began flipping through the Williams-Sonoma catalog looking for ideas. How about monogram glasses – no, we got them that last year. Here’s a cute wooden acorn twine holder – nope, they gave that to us last year. I turned the page to find the fresh Bay Leaf wreath, shipped directly from the grower in California. We had gotten a bay leaf wreath for ourselves the previous year and were pleased with its elegant look and continued to use the leaves in cooking well into the year. Perfect. A bay leaf wreath it would be.

I worried that the wreath didn’t come gift wrapped, but I placed the order anyway and crossed my fingers she would like it. About two weeks before Christmas the phone rang.

“Sam, this is Wanda. UPS just delivered a bay leaf wreath.” Oh my, she’s going to tell me she doesn’t like it or, worse yet, she has two already and this will make three and they have a tiny apartment….

While I was lost in my thoughts, I heard her say, “I’ve never heard of a bay leaf wreath. It’s absolutely gorgeous; in fact I’ve never seen anything like it before. I adore it and I know Jim will too. Thank you and Meakin so very much. What a nice surprise. How long do the leaves stay fresh?”

“You’re very welcome, Wanda. I’m thrilled that you like it. Yes, we used our leaves until they began to dry up later in the year. If you leave it inside, it will last longer than if you put it outdoors.” Whew. I finally pleased her. I just about broke my arm patting myself on the back that year, but these kinds of things only happen once or twice in a lifetime for me – pleasing the hard to please.

Williams-Sonoma has been shipping bay leaf wreaths to happy people for thirty-five years, so if you’re looking for a lovely gift for someone that is hard to please, or even hard to buy for, I recommend this gorgeous holiday wreath. We hang one in our home each year on our early American chest on frame and I think it’s one of the most beautiful decorations we have. Every time I look at our wreath, I think of Wanda and how thrilled she was that year.

Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see what other bloggers are featuring as their favorite holiday decoration. Happy Pink Saturday everyone and enjoy the holidays.