A Southern Christmas

The American South is known for its' variety of different dishes. This also means Southerners have a large choice of what they eat for Christmas. There are all sorts of meats , sides and of course desserts. The cuisine is a mix of African, Creole, English, Cajun and Spanish cooking. It is full of down home love with local ingredients. All this makes Christmas a special holiday a true feast for the senses.

Most Southerners appreciate a good ham to cook. This tradition has gone back to Colonial times when farms had plenty of pigs and hogs to spare. Fried turkey is another meat that;s on everyone;s dish on Christmas Day. There;s also that odd and bizarre creation of turducken where a chicken is stuffed inside a duck that in turn is stuffed inside a turkey. Of course there are home made biscuits to either dip in gravy or spread with butter. Sides usually consist of yams , okra, collard greens and green beans.

For Christmas parties there's always egg nog and non alcoholic punches.With this come a variety of sweets from pecan pies to snowflake pudding, a vanilla pudding riddled with coconut flakes. There is also the usual fruitcake. soaked in bourbon or whiskey as well as small butter cookies. Thanks to the French traditions. Louisianians have buche de Noel, a traditional holiday cake baked in the shape of the Yule log. There are also pralines for the kids to nibble on as they play with their new toys.

Christmas in the South is a unique experience, full of native foods and centuries old recipes. They make Christmas not only fun but full of tasty treats.

The Democratic Foodie

There's going to be a lot of curiosity about Barack Obama's home town of Chicago. I know from my cousins living there this is a foodie town. It has everything thanks to Germans , Pole and Italians settling thee In the last two centuries.

The Germans took to Chicago back in the 1800's Beer gardens and good German restaurants sprang up all over, offering bratwurst and wiener schnitzel. The Poles came later, bringing with them kielbasa, a spicier version of bratwurst and different pastries. The Italians brought pizza to Chi-town but then reinvented it with the deep dish Chicago style pizza (this is really a version of the famous Italian pizza rustica.


The South Side also has been influenced by the South where down home cooking fond a new arena in this Illinois city. Later on South Americans brought their own flavor to Chicago. Empenadas now can be sold right next to true Bavarian pretzels on many Chicago streets.

Chicago may be Barack's heaven but it's also a foodie's heaven as well.