Traditional Food

Posts Tagged ‘Traditions’

If one will conduct a survey asking people on their favorite day of the year, most will probably say, Christmas. And when asked why, some might give you answers like they enjoy getting lots of presents, while others might say they look forward to parties, listening to Christmas carols, fixing wonderful decorations on every home and establishments, or others simply love the holiday.

The wonderful memories that this season invokes become a primary reason for the yearly traditions that are passed on from generation to generation. This case is definitely true for my family. At the first sign of autumn, we started to get excited for the most anticipated holiday of the year. With the coming of this festive season, here are five traditions which you and your family can start to practice.

Watching Christmas Movies

This tradition started way back then on a Thanksgiving Day by watching the 1947 black & white version of the movie entitled Miracle of 34th street. Since then, we were able to get more than 30 movie collections with Christmas themes in DVD’s and videos. And so, it has become a yearly tradition for the whole month of December. We would gather in the living room together, sipping hot cocoa and eating Christmas cookies.

Baking during the Holidays

At home, every family member looks forward to the first week of Christmas vacation. For the first week, all of us would go into baking, spending 3 to 4 days baking our favorite Christmas recipes. Sometimes, we would get together at someone else’s house and every person gets to bake their favorite holiday treats. While baking, we would reminisce good old times and enjoy a hearty laugh. When all is done we split up all the goodies we’ve made and enjoy them or give them as gifts.

Putting up our Christmas tree

This tradition varies from generation to generation. They differ in so many ways, that it would sometimes lead to arguments as there are people have a strong opinion on topic. Many families put up their Christmas tree a week after Thanksgiving is over, some a bit earlier, while others wait until Christmas Eve. Some prefers buying an artificial tree, while others prefer the fragrant, freshly-cut tree. However, the most important part of putting up our Christmas tree is for the whole family to be involved while decorating it. Agreeing on a theme will give everyone a good idea on how to go about the decorations.

Putting up Christmas Stockings

Hanging Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve has been a long tradition practiced by many. These stockings come in many sizes, styles and colors. They range from the most sophisticated store bought ones to the simple homemade handcrafted ones. You may opt to use different designs every year or you may use the same one every year for economical reasons, whatever your choice may be, be sure to fill them up with lots of goodies and wonderful little things.

Writing letters to Santa Claus

Writing letters to Santa Claus is a popular children’s tradition. It lets them tell Santa how good they have been for the year and how deserving they can be for toys as a reward for the all the good deeds they have done. However, you might want to consider a new twist on this old tradition is having Santa write them back and encourage their good deeds.

christmas recipes, Christmas Traditions, family tradition, holiday recipe, holiday traditions, homemade candy Making new Christmas traditions is a valuable way to cope with the first Christmas after the death of a loved one, or yif ou’ve just married into a new family. Creating new family traditions is also a good way to stay healthy at Christmas.

New Christmas Traditions: Christmas Volunteering

Volunteering at Christmas is an excellent new family tradition at Christmas. Investigate the “traditional” Christmas volunteering ideas: food banks, Meals on Wheels, Christmas hampers, etc. Consider making Christmas volunteering a less traditional holiday tradition, such as making simple Christmas stockings with your family and delivering them to street kids or a youth shelter. A new Christmas family tradition could include visiting sick kids in the hospital or donating toys, books or needed items to the Ronald McDonald House or a women’s shelter. Always call first. Christmas volunteering makes you feel good about yourself and your family – even if you’re grieving a death at Christmas.

New Christmas Traditions: Christmas Recipes

Creating Christmas traditions should ways involve food! Spend time with your kids, partner, parents or loved ones in the kitchen, baking Christmas cookies or decorating gingerbread houses. Pick a holiday recipe that you only make at Christmas – perhaps homemade candy canes will be your new holiday tradition – and invite friends and family to help make them.

New Christmas Traditions: Christmas Ornaments

New family traditions include making different Christmas ornaments from scratch every year, such as popsicle stick picture frames or popcorn wreaths. Christmas ornaments can become holiday traditions even if you add a new variation each year. For instance, put new family photos in Christmasy picture frames; every year, line them up on the mantle or bookcase. If you don’t have time to make Christmas ornaments but like this idea of creating new Christmas traditions, consider purchasing instead of making a new ornament every year.

New Christmas Traditions: Christmas Stories

Make your family story a new tradition at Christmas. Keep copies of your annual family Christmas card or letter, and read them out loud each Christmas. Or, read squo;Twas the Night Before Christmas or e Best Christmas Pageant Ever out loud to your kids the night or week before Christmas. Holiday traditions are about you as a unique family, warts and all. Sometimes new Christmas traditions start by accident and continue unattended; other times, you have to deliberately implement your new Christmas traditions. Either way, holiday traditions are a reassuring, fun, and healthy way to celebrate Christmas.

Argentina is South America’s second largest country, snugly situated between the Andes mountain range, the Pacific Ocean, and the South American countries of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile. Being situated in such a manner, Argentina is exposed to many different cultural influences from all directions, including countries all the way across the Pacific. Spain took it upon themselves to permanently settle in the country in the late 1500s, and remained there until Buenos Aires formally emancipated themselves in 1853. One of the most remarkable differences between Argentine Cuisine and exotic cuisines from around the world is the heavy influence that the cuisine of the Italian and Spanish cultures had on it.

Startlingly enough, due to the influence of the Italian culture on the country of Argentina, Italian food staples such as lasagna, pizza, pasta, and ravioli are commonly seen on the Argentine table, at least in the country’s major cities. Unusually enough (when it comes to Italian food), white bread is also common, as are side dishes made of vegetables native to Argentina, such as potatoes, eggplants, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini.

Argentina is also one of the world’s leading producers of milk, wheat, corn, and meat (including, but not limited to beef, goat meat, pork, and lamb) so naturally, these things are very common in the Argentine dish. Argentine dishes are normally very high in protein, so grilled meats are commonly seen on a plate of Argentine food.

Empanadas, pastries stuffed with meat or cheese, are also an Argentine favorite. They are commonly served in Argentine restaurants, and are national favorites. Empanadas are normally eaten baked or fried, and are often served at parties or festivals as appetizers. The dessert version of an empanada usually consists of brown sugar or fruit such as apples or oranges.

In smaller cities, the foreign influences of Spain and Italy are less apparent. Milanese’s, thin slivers of meat dipped in eggs, bread crumbs, and then fried in oil, are common fare in the rural areas of Argentina. Their simplicity makes them great snacks, but they can also be served as part of a meal piping hot served with mashed potatoes, or between two slices of bread as a sandwich.

The master chefs are more apt to return to the more classic, provincial style of preparing and cooking food, which bears more of a resemblance to Mexican cuisine than that of Italy. Bolder, more intense spices are used. Calling forth once more the Spanish influences in Argentina, Argentine cooks are famous for their tortillas; unlike the Mexican version of the tortilla the Argentines use potato dough, in contrast to the traditional Mexican corn or flour tortilla.

Desserts are more popular in these areas, as well. Dulcet de lecher (which roughly translates into “Milk Jam”), a sweet pudding of sugar and milk, is a popular dessert in Argentina. This lightly brown-colored pudding is eaten alone, or stuffed in cakes or pies. Sometimes the treat is also crystallized into a solid wafer-like candy substance.

French cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other native cuisines must live up to. The country of France is home of some of the finest cuisine in the world, and it is created by some of the finest master chefs in the world. The French people take excessive pride in cooking and knowing how to prepare a good meal. Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds to one’s usefulness if they are capable of preparing a good meal.

Each of the four regions of France has a characteristic of its food all its own. French food in general requires the use of lots of different types of sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that originated in the northwestern region of France tend to require the use a lot of apple ingredients, milk and cream, and they tend to be heavily buttered making for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy) meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of German food, heavy in lard and meat products such as pork sausage and sauerkraut.

On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be a lot more widely accepted; this is generally the type of French food that is served in traditional French restaurants. In the southeastern area of France, the cooking is a lot lighter in fat and substance. Cooks from the southeast of France tend to lean more toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other type of oil, and they rely heavily on herbs and tomatoes, as well as tomato-based products, in their culinary creations.

Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of French cuisine that developed in the late 1970s, the offspring of traditional French cuisine. This is the most common type of French food, served in French restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be characterized by shorter cooking times, smaller food portions, and more festive, decorative plate presentations. Many French restaurant cuisines can be classified as Cuisine Nouvelle, but the more traditional French restaurant cuisine would be classified as Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French cooking than Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an attempt to return to the more indigenous forms of French cooking, especially with reference to regional differences between the north and south, or different areas such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Rousillon. These are all areas famous for their specific specialty of French cuisine. As time has progressed, the difference between a white wine from the Loire Valley and a wine from another area has slowly diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to French cooking focuses on establishing special characteristics between regions such as this.

As part of their culture, the French incorporate wine into nearly every meal, whether it is simply as a refreshment or part of the recipe for the meal itself. Even today, it is a part of traditional French culture to have at least one glass of wine on a daily basis.