Favorite Party Food

 This is the season for all types of parties from Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa. Then there is the big blow out of New Year'seve. What's your favorite party food and why?Is it pigs in a blanket? Mini quiches?Bruschetta  topped with tangy tomatoes? or is it on the sweet side?A small plate of Christmas cookies? Bourbon balls for a dessert afterwards?

Let us know.I'm partial to bruschetta myself simply because I love the crunch of well toasted Italian or French bread .Te tomatoes mixed with olive oil and herbs is also a big plus.

African Foods For Kwanzaa

 All holidays have traditional foods. Kwanzaa is not different.The foods represented go back t o Africa and their rich food hisotry. Much was brought over here where everyone can enjoy the variety of fruits and vegetables.

Most Kwanzaa foods have symbolism. Ears of corm represent children still at home.The harvest is also represented in the form of yams, okra, squash , sweet potatoes and bananas. Te biggest meal  called Karamu.is eaten on the sixth dayit can be just African foods from Senegal or Nigeria to name a few countries  or soul food , taken from the American South.Karamus features a one pot soup ro soup , for communal dining. You could easily make a jambalaya, always a welcome treat.This is full of chicken, shrimp and mussels. Add okra if you want to thicken it but it also calls for the "holy trinity' of celery ,peppers and onions. Another hot and comforting dish is Philadelphia  pepperpot stew which comes from early Afro-Carib influence on the city.The original was made with cassareep syrup a sweet and sour flavor from the cassava root or callaloo, a medley of West African greens. Pepperpot also has  tripe or cow;s stomach slow cooked with  green peppers, leeks and carrots. Bacon can be added for more flavor.

There are also side dishes. Many make the Nigerian jollof rice which is rice  cooked wit tomatoes, onions and peppers.It's spiced with thyme and garlic along with the fiery Scotch bonnet pepper. Carrots and green beans can also be added to alleviate the heat.A side of fufu, the West African mash can also be added to the menu. This is mashed or pulverized cassava which is then transfered to a pot where it's stirred.Once cooked and cooled it;s rolled into balls to ber served alognside stews or soup.It acts as a kind fo spoon and bread Take off a piece , mold  into a bowls and ten dip into the stew.What about desserts? Try mbatata or sweet potato cookies.They are from Mali and oftne made in heart shapes to symbolize Mali being the heart of Africa.Cinnamon and raisins are also added for extra flavor as is coconut. A chocolate scratch cake  symbolizing the country's cocoa trade also can be made. Layer it with such fresh fruits as apricots, strawberries. kiwis and sweet cherries. Try to use fresh fruit to symbolize the harvest.

Kwanzaa is a time fo celebration , both of value and harvests. Celebrate wit a communal stew and fruit centered dessert. Enjoy the bounty with friends and family.

The Kwanzaa Feast

 Kwanzaa is a relatively new holiday yet it's packed with centuries of tradition. It centers around seven principles  such as faith and  purpose that should be practiced year round. with this holiday comes the rich tradition of food. Families are celebrating and cooking at home. Their tables will be filled with good food and good deeds.

Nicole Taylor , chef and author of The Up South Cookbook interviewed five families around the country for today's New York Times Food section. The holiday starts Saturday , December 26th with families eating and free thinking. The holiday itself began in Los Angeles in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, an African American professor who taught African-American studies. Dishes are plentiful and some include slow cooked meatless collard greens Trinidadian grilled fish and bread puddings. The special meal, karamu is held on the day ,kuumba dedicated to creativity. For the Orr-Frasier family of Portland ,Oregon, the meal will be a nod to parents, Rashad and Keita  North Carolingian roots. There will be jelly cakes along with pineapple upside down and red velvet ones. His recipe for coffee rubbed branzino is also featured, highlighted with a rub of medium ground coffee,onion and garlic powders and cumin. There's also brown sugar to even out the spiciness and then it's grilled for five to six minutes on each side.

Folami Prescott-Adams, of Atlanta Georgia gave her BBQ tofu recipe which are slabs of tofu slathered in a mix of melted butter, tamari and barbecue sauces. They're broiled for a couple of minutes in the broiler for a crisp on the outside , tender on the inside main course. Ms. Prescott-Adams cooks ten(!) pounds of it along with nut based meatballs and a vegan Southern stringbean recipe. For Maati Keprimeni Angaza  it will be vegan foods in her Brooklyn apartment. The young dancer will have curry potatoes and black eyed peas along with her step-mother's bread pudding rife with sweet potatoes and raisins. In Richmond Virginia, Janice Bell will have her grandparents recipes of sweet potatoes and corn pudding. she is a pescatarian so there will be fish on her table. Sisters Kerry Coddett and Krystal Stark Kwanzza will be vegan pancakes, shrimp and a mushroom lasagna(made with homemade vegan ricotta) shared with their younger brother. They'll also take out from Sugarcane with such dishes as callaloo, roti and plantain. They will also drink champagne too.

Kwanzaa is a time of thought and creativity. It's also a time of food. The holiday will be different this year but the food will be homemade .

Celebrate The Foods of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa starts today and runs for seven days. Here adults and children learn all about the principles of the holiday and about the Mazao, or the fall harvest , usually in October. Like the many African countries Kwanzza is rich in vegetable diversity.

How to celebrate the holiday. Start with joliff rice which is regular white rice cooked in chicken broth and seasoned with tomatoes and peppers. There are also yams and black eyed peas or hoppin' john. The first t is eaten plain and the second usually cooked with spiced meat Peanuts are also big in the Kwanzaa celebration and are usually served up in a spicy stew. Dessert is usually benne wafers, butter cookies made with sesame seeds. Sesame is a big crop along the western African coast.

Kwanzaa is a celebration of the seven principles that drive life. One is the celebration of the harvest and in turn of the good food that the lands brings to us.

December 24th A Foodie's Christmas Eve

While I’m celebrating my German heritage and putting up the tree I’m wishing all my reader s out there a healthy and happy holiday Enjoy your Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa. Celebrate your heritage and your blessings with favorite foods and traditional dishes.


Liz

Holiday Comfort Food

Our holidays, whether they be Christmas Kwanzaa or Hannukah are food based. We crave the comforting smells of roast turkey or ham, collards or brisket to get us through these hectic days and frigid nights. The remind us of our pasts and where our families came from. They, more than any present, have given us good memories.

Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners are redolent with robust dishes full of seafood, ham or turkey. Southern Italians have good memories of their Christmas Eves. this is when thirteen different kinds of fish are cooked to represent Jesus and His Apostles. Since it's a holy day , no meats are allowed, hence the plethora of seafood. Usually cod and lobster are the prevailing fish but there's also shrimp, eel and tuna as well. German love Christmas Day when there is a fresh ham to be sliced and served with potato salad. The English love their roast goose and turkey along with their chestnut stuffings and plum pudding.

Kwanzaa and Hannukah also have great dishes. Since Kwanzaa is the celebration of the harvest most dishes have fresh vegetables in them (not an easy feat in some areas of America). There is jollof rice, a dish made with rice tomatoes and peppers along with a turkey gumbo. Spicy peanut soup is made to ward off the chill and sooth the soul. There are also okra and greens. Holiday baking includes benne cookies made with sesame seeds that give the eater good luck.

Hanukkah is a special holiday , filled not only with latkes but also with brisket. This cut of meat from a cow;s lower chest is usually served with onions or a sweeter version is made with plums . It;s the perfect meal on a cold winter;s night. Israelis finish off a good Hanukkah meal with sufganiyot, or fried jelly doughnuts. This, too, celebrates the oil's lasting eight days in the temple. They're made with a yeast dough and a raspberry jam filling. (although you can substitute any kind of flavor in them).

The holidays , no matter which one, always give us comfort food. These are what are favorite holiday remembrances are made from. It's what ties us to our ancestors and their traditions.