Holiday Food

I like food.  I love finding something new and wonderful and sharing it with other people.  I really love all the wonderful food we have that is associated with particular holidays.  When I think of Easter, I think of ham, asparagus and potato salad.  Independence Day is cookout food; burgers, ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans, deviled eggs and, again, potato salad.  Valentine's Day is chocolate and Halloween is more chocolate!  Then we have Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Feasts.  Food so rich you only have it once a year.  Last year I learned to brine a turkey from the class at Williams Sonoma.  It was the best turkey I have ever made.  I always make sweet potato casserole from a recipe that Peggy gave me many years ago.  I found a cranberry conserve recipe in the Victoria Magazine over 20 years ago and it is now a standard that we have to have every year.  I make Gina's chess pie every year too.  Aunt Nyta used to make jam cake at Christmas every year.  I haven't tried that, but I don't need to because Peggy does it!  Geni makes the coconut cake now.  A few years ago, when we found out about Ethan's allergies, I figured out how to make an "Ethan Friendly" pumpkin pie.  When we were kids, Mother made these great Christmas breakfasts.  We always had country ham and biscuits.  Christmas is the only time I eat country ham these days, but it is absolutely necessary on Christmas morning. 
Sharing great food with family and friends, now that's a tradition I'll never change.