JAY AND ZEE TALK ABOUT THEIR CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS...

Well this is going to be a very short Blog.  I was hoping you were tuning in to my ZMT podcast so you can hear all the different things that Jay and Zee talked about from their past Christmases.  Enjoy our Off the Beaten Path to the North Pole.

Jay had talked about the fun he had getting back at his sister when he was little.  He also talked about later on when he and his wife had made a Christmas traditions of doing the shopping together and then enjoying dinner just the two of them.  But then Jay told me that his Mom made an Oyster Stew for Christmas dinner.  I thought that was very interesting and asked where did that tradition come from and he did not know.   That's Jay...he is just a barrel full of information...

Well I promised Jay that I would look up a recipe for Oyster Stew..so here it is.  It says its easy to do..

 Yield: 4 

 Course Main Course, Soup

Oyster Stew Recipe

 Total Time 35 minutes

 Prep Time 5 minutes

 Cook Time 30 minutes

This Oyster Stew Recipe is full of delicious seafood flavor. Get this family favorite oyster stew recipe you are sure to love.

Ingredients

• 1 pint fresh oysters packed in their juice
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup half-and-half
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Drain juice from oysters into small bowl. Set aside.
2. Add butter to large saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat until melted.
3. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent and tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Add oyster liquor and cook until mostly reduced, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in milk and half-and-half and heat to simmer. Do not allow to boil as it will cause your milk to curdle. 
6. Add oysters and continue on simmer until outer edges of oysters curl, about 8 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly, and add salt and black pepper, to taste.
8. Serve with mini saltines or oyster crackers.

Well Jay...it looks good...maybe you will have to make some.

Now that the Holidays are winding down...and Christmas has come and gone. I too had several traditions that I brought into my adult life.  When my daughter was younger we had lived in Upstate New York and every Christmas we would go out and actually cut down our own tree.  It is a lot of fun and they tree farms supply you with all you need to do the chopping.  They make it fun with fire pits and hot cocoa.  You should try it some time.

We also watched certain Holiday Flicks...My favorite was White Christmas. 


I still watch it to this day and now my daughter actually tunes it in as well.  However when my daughter was little and when I was little we would make my grandmothers butter cookie recipe.  This was my mother's mom.  She was from Germany so we called her Oma.  So here is Oma's Butter Cookies recipe.  Make sure you have a rolling pin and of course those Holiday Christmas Cookie Cutter.

Oma's Butter Cookies...

2 1/2 cups sifted Flour

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 lb butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Directions

Cream butter and add the sugar and egg mixing it thoroughly.  Now add the vanilla.  Then add the flour and salt.  I like to mix the salt when I sift the flour.  You should have a nice ball of dough if you mixed it correctly.  Now you get to roll out the dough onto a flat service with   a little flour sprinkled.  The dough ball is a little sticky. If you like you can put in the fridge for a little while.  Roll with a rolling pin so the dough is about 1/4 inch thick.  Now, once rolled out you can start with your cookie cutters and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly brown.  

Feel free to decorate with color sprinkles.  

Well I sure hope you are tuning into my ZMTpodcast.  You can subscribe to it for free.  You can find it real easy on I-tunes/Stitcher/Buzzsprout.  You can also visit my website at www.zeemichaelsontravel.com and you can let your imagination run wild.  If you want to visit any of these places that we talk about or something you see on my website, give me a call and I will help you Make Your Travel Dreams Come True

HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD...ENGLAND AND FRANCE

HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD
WEEK #5

Well is only a few days away and people are zip around the globe and the United States going home for Christmas or not.  Over the past few weeks we have been talking about the way some of the other countries celebrate the Season.  There wasn't enough time to get all the countries in...so maybe next year we will do some more.  I hope you have been enjoying my podcast ZMT with all the fun traditions.  So I think this week we will talk about two places that you may or may not know how they celebrate the Holiday.

So off we go to Merry Old England.  So England is foggy, wet and cold during the Christmas season.  Families welcome the warmth and cheer of a Yule Log blazing on the hearth...I always burned the Yule log on Television...with season songs playing...no fireplace...oh well..back to England.  Homes are decorated with holly, ivy and other evergreens and hand a mistletoe...which is referred to as the "kissing bough"...if you don't know about this...its very simple...get caught under the mistletoe and you best pucker up....

Carolers sing some of the traditional songs and people give the carolers treats of little pies and dried fruit.  Christmas stories are told to the children and of course the kids write their letters of their Christmas wishes to....Father Christmas...that is their Santa Claus.  However...in England instead of mailing their letters, like the kids do in the United States...they toss their letters into the fire place so their wishes can go up the chimney.  I think that is pretty cool, considering that's where Father Christmas enters from.  Father Christmas arrives as the children sleep on Christmas Eve and fill the children's stockings with candies and small toys.  Now Father Christmas is dressed in a very long red robe.  He carries a sack of toys and arrives on his sleigh pulled by reindeer...hmmm....sounds familiar to me.

Food of course is a top priority  and the feast can include turkey with chestnut stuffing, roast goose with currants or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  Brussels Sprouts will likely be the vegetable on the table.   For dessert....Plum Pudding topped with a sprig of holly...of course it is served by pouring brandy over the top and setting it aflame.  That is the exciting part of the meal.  Some bake in a surprise for Plum pudding, a silver charm.  Who ever finds the silver charm has good luck the following year.   Gee I know we have heard this before.  See a small World...no I am not going to sing.  So you can top this meal off with Wassail.  Wassail is a bowl, brimming with hot spiced wine, or non-alcoholic cider.  It is said that all quarrels stop when people drink wassail.  Maybe we should bottle it and serve it around the World.

Also the Queen herself delivers her message over radio and TV.  By late afternoon it's time for tea and then a decorated Christmas Cake is served.

Well something we don't really do in the United States is celebrate what is called Boxing Day.  This a the day after Christmas.  This day has nothing to do with fighting.  It originated years ago when people filled church alms boxes with donations fro the poor.  Then on December 26 the boxes would be distributed.  Now, however, people often use this day to give small gifts of money to maybe the mail carrier, news vendor and others who have helped them during the year. Even on boxing day families can enjoy stage performances called pantomimes.  This activity originally meant a play without words or actors who mime or entertained without speaking.  Now it is all kind of plays like Peter Pan and Cinderella.  In some towns, masked and costumed performers called mummers present plays or sing carols in the streets... Fun to be had by all.

So with all this Merriment...let's talk food...


PLUM PUDDING:

INGREDIENTS

1.  Fruit Mixture (To be made 4 days ahead)

·         1 pound seedless raisins

·         1 pound sultana raisins

·         1/2 pound currants

·         1 cup thinly sliced citron

·         1 cup chopped candied peel

·         1 teaspoon cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon mace

·         1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

·         1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

·         1/4 teaspoon allspice

·         1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·         1 pound finely chopped suet - powdery fine

·         1 1/4 cups cognac

2.  Pudding

·         1 1/4 pounds (approximately) fresh bread crumbs

·         1 cup scalded milk

·         1 cup sherry or port

·         12 eggs, well beaten

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         Cognac

PREPARATION

1.  Blend the fruits, citron, peel, spices and suet and place in a bowl or jar. Add 1/4 cup cognac, cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, adding 1/4 cup cognac each day.

2.  Soak the bread crumbs in milk and sherry or port. Combine the well-beaten eggs and sugar. Blend with the fruit mixture. Add salt and mix thoroughly. Put the pudding in buttered bowls or tins, filling them about 2/3 full. Cover with foil and tie it firmly. Steam for 6-7 hours. Uncover and place in a 250°F. oven for 30 minutes. Add a dash of cognac to each pudding, cover with foil and keep in a cool place.

3.  To use, steam again for 2-3 hours and unmold. Sprinkle with sugar; add heated cognac. Ignite and bring to the table. Serve with hard sauce or cognac sauce.

ZEE

So now that we have your flaming your Plum pudding…let’s have something to wash it down with…

Wassail

Ingredients
Serves: 32 

·         300g (11 oz) caster sugar

·         8 whole cloves

·         750ml (1 1/4 pints) water

·         3 cinnamon sticks

·         350ml (12 fl oz) orange juice

·         225ml (8 fl oz) lemon juice

·         3L (5 1/8 pints) apple juice

Method
Prep:10min  ›  Cook:20min  ›  Ready in:30min 

1.  In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cloves, water and cinnamon. Bring to the boil, and continue to boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool for 1 hour.

2.  Stir in the orange juice, lemon juice and apple juice. Return to the heat, and boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks before serving.

Remember this is to keep you warm and toasty.


So now I think we will stay over on that side of the World and maybe just sail across the Channel...We are off to France.  

In France a Nativity Crib is often used to help decorate the house.  French Cribs have clay figures in them...gee we heard this before as well from another country.  It really still amazes me how closely our Holiday Traditions really are even though we are thousands of miles apart.  Anyway I digress....The Nativity is very important in France and they keep these scenes around till February 2.  In December some of the towns and cities have fairs that sell Nativity figures.  INcluded in the normal Nativity figures...there are French scenes as well...scenes like the Butcher and the Baker etc.  in French one way of saying Happy/Merry Christmas is said Joyeux Noel.  One of the biggest Christmas markets in Europe is held in Strasbourg, in North Eastern France.  Of course Yule Logs made out of Cherry Wood are oftern burned in French homes and let me tell you when you are burning cherry wood it smells marvelous. The log is carried into the home on Christmas Eve and is sprinkled with red wine to make the log smell even nicer as it is burning.  Tradition is such that the log burn all night and some food and drinks are left out in case Mary and the baby Jesus come past during the night. 

Santa Claus visits in France as well...they call him Pere Noel (Father Christmas).  The main meal is eaten on Christmas eve/early Christmas morning after returning home from midnight church services.  And guess what...Roast Turkey with chestnuts or roast goose, oysters, foie gras, lobster, venison and cheeses.  The dessert is a chocolate sponge cake log that is normally eaten.  

Now in some parts of France they are eating 13 different desserts....that sounds like fun.  These desserts are usually made of different types of Fruit, Nuts, and Pastries....YUUUUUUMMMMMMMYYYYYYY.

Now the Epihany is also celebrated in France and a Flat Almond Cake is eaten.  The cake has a toy crown inside and is decorated on top with a gold paper crown....all these places that put prizes inside their desserts....and mostly mean prosperity and luck for the new year.


So let's go to the kitchen now.

Buche de Noel

Keep in mind…a little oil in this recipe helps keep it pliable even when cool and perfect for rolling the Yule Log shape

INGREDIENTS

·         Nonstick vegetable oil spray

·         ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting

·         Powdered sugar (for dusting)

·         ¼ cup all-purpose flour

·         4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

·         2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·         ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

·         6 large eggs, room temperature, separated

·         ½ tsp kosher salt

·         ⅔ cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

·         2 tablespoons Cognac, dark rum, or brandy

·         Lightly sweetened whipped cream or Chestnut Mousse

·         Chocolate buttercream (optional)

·         Meringue mushrooms (optional)

·          

·          

·          

·          

·         Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper and lightly coat parchment. Place a large kitchen towel (it should be larger than baking sheet) on a flat surface. Whisk equal parts cocoa and powdered sugar in a small bowl and dust towel with cocoa mixture with a fine-mesh sieve.

·         Sift flour and ¼ cup cocoa powder into a small bowl. Heat chocolate, oil, and vanilla in a medium microwave-safe bowl in 15-second intervals, stirring occasionally, until melted. Let cool slightly.

·         Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites and salt in a large bowl until foamy. With motor running, gradually add ⅓ cup granulated sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.

·         Using clean beaters, beat egg yolks and ⅓ cup granulated sugar in another large bowl until pale and thick, about 4 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture until no streaks remain, then use a large spatula to fold in meringue, leaving some streaks. Fold in dry ingredients just to combine—be careful not to overmix.

·         Scrape batter into prepared baking sheet; smooth top (you want to have an even layer). Bake until top of cake is dry and springs back when gently pressed and edges are starting to pull away from sides of baking sheet, 10−12 minutes; let cool slightly.

·         Run a knife along the edge of baking sheet to loosen and invert cake onto prepared towel. Peel away parchment and roll cake into a log inside towel. Transfer, seam side down, to a wire rack and let sit until just barely warm, about 20 minutes.

·         Shake remaining 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp. hot water in a jar until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Stir in Cognac. Unroll cake and brush top with syrup.

For Level 1

·         Spread whipped cream over top of cake, leaving a 1" border. Roll up cake and place, seam side down, on a platter. Chill until cold, at least 30 minutes.

·         Dust with powdered sugar and cut into 1" slices just before serving.

For Level 2

·         Instead of whipped cream, spread Chestnut Mousse over top of cake, leaving a 1" border. Roll up cake and place, seam side down, on a platter. Chill until mousse is set, at least 3 hours.

·         Dust with powdered sugar and cut into 1" slices just before serving.

·         Do ahead: Roll can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

For Level 3

·     Follow instructions for level 2, but do not dust cake with powdered sugar and slice. Instead, using a serrated knife, trim ½" of cake from both ends. Working from one end, gently slice off a 2" piece of cake, cutting at a 45° angle. Cut another 2" piece from same end, this time cutting perpendicular to roll to create a squared off end. Dab 1 Tbsp. buttercream on angled sides of each 2" piece of roll and stick to cake to form branches, positioning 1 on top and 1 on the side. Using and offset spatula or butter knife, spread chocolate buttercream over entire outside of roll, leaving cut ends exposed to reveal spiral). Use spatula to create textured lines in buttercream to look like tree bark.

·         Dust with powdered sugar and decorate with meringue mushrooms just before serving.

·         Do ahead: Buche de Noel (without powdered sugar and mushrooms) can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

I   Well I sure hope you are tuning into my ZMTpodcast.  You can subscribe to it for free.  You can find it real easy on I-tunes/Stitcher/Buzzsprout.  You can also visit my website at www.zeemichaelsontravel.com and you can let your imagination run wild.  If you want to visit any of these places that we talk about or something you see on my website, give me a call and I will help you Make Your Travel Dreams Come True