Hello Food readers! I'm Claire, one of the new food columnists to grace this wonderful section. When introducing something new, I have always heard the best place to start is the beginning. Although this is a brand new semester, the end of 2008 is still within reach of our memories. And when it comes to food, don't most people have their best food near the END of the year?
That's definitely the case in my family. As I undoubtedly will mention many times in the future, I love carbohydrates, and my grandma does not shy away from them when preparing her fabulous Christmas meal.
Alongside the ham, we eat pumpkin bread, potatoes, cranberry bread and special rolls from a wonderful restaurant in Cumberland, Wis. It's no wonder carbs are my favorites. These meal memories are my saving grace when I finally have to face an empty kitchen that I have to fill myself, but that's a whole different column.
So, in an effort to introduce myself as a new food columnist, I'm going to start at the end: holiday food!
I think holiday food is awesome. No matter what holiday, I'm sure your meals during this time are filled with laughter, family time, and of course, amazing comfort food.
It goes without saying that Thanksgiving is the king of all holidays when it comes to food. Nothing says I'm glad to be home for four days"" like eating as much turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie as possible, washing it all down with a big glass of milk and slipping into the single greatest food coma of the year.
For Christmas, as I already mentioned, ham is the usual craze, but I have seen families rock out with chicken and even Chinese. But no Christmas meal is complete without dessert, and that means Christmas cookies. My family's tradition is to make these lovely morsels at Thanksgiving, eat some in December, freeze some and enjoy the rest at Christmas. They truly are the icing on the cake.
My Jewish friends get to party for eight nights with not only presents, but fantastic and traditional food. How lucky is that? As far as I know, each night of Hanukkah could be sprinkled with everything from cake to pasta to tacos. Clearly, I have no idea.
Oh, and no holiday list is complete without New Year's. I think food and drink are suitable topics for that night. Not that I have any wild party stories - my friends and I sit on a couch, drink sparking apple cider and watch the ball drop in New York an hour after it happened live.
I'll let you fill in the blanks for yourself with how you prefer to celebrate this wonderful display of sparklers, parties and bubbly.
The holidays and the subsequent weeks of down time may just be the only place where a college student can eat whatever, whenever, all without dropping a dime.
So, as we all come back from this wonderful and free month back to our lonely cupboards and empty bank accounts, I look forward to writing about how wonderful food is, and how we can all still enjoy it, even if we can't afford it.
