Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The Great Food Junkie Wishes One and All a Very Merry Christmas!

Were you starting to think that the Great Food Junkie was going to play the part of Ebenezer Scrooge this year? I know my readers are completely heartbroken that they haven't heard from me since just after Thanksgiving. I promise that I had always intended to write something for Christmas. I even have a few pictures to show you. The Great Food Junkie has been busy cooking this Christmas. Unfortunately, He didn't always remember to take pictures.

Christmas has always been the holiday most associated with traditions. For me, that has held true this Christmas season more than most. This holiday has been about traditions my family has practiced for years, reviving even older traditions, and starting new ones. There were times I thought Topol was going to come around the corner, singing "Traditions!"

Let's start with orange slice cake. Orange slice cake has been one of those traditions that has been in my family for many years. Apparently, the tradition started for us around 1973. It was at that time that my mother was first introduced to this delight. She asked for the recipe, and finally received it in May of that year, as we were preparing to move. Orange slice cake is one of those desserts that can easily be mistaken for a fruit cake. If you are one of those who comes across an orange slice cake, and mistakes it for a fruit cake, you are certainly going to miss a wonderful treat...unless you are love fruit cake...then hopefully, you are delighted to be introduce to a new treat.


Orange slice cake is a wonderful mixture of chopped orange slice gummy candies, dates, coconut, and pecans, covered in a scrumptious orange juice glaze. If the orange slice cake has not been sliced yet, do not fear. It is still easily identifiable...even if still covered. It will be the cake causing the greatest sag in the table. I do like to some times refer to orange slice cake as "How many calories can you pack into one cake" cake. Quite simply, the cake is super rich, super heavy, and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But, it is one of the greatest pleasures you will ever taste.

Do any of you GFJ readers remember spiced gum drops? They were these little brightly colored gummy candies coated in sugar crystals. One of my memories as a kid in the seventies was my mother making gum drop cookies for Christmas. I wanted to make some for Christmas so I called my mother and asked for the recipe. Much to my dismay I was informed that she threw that recipe away because she was tired of hearing my brother and I complain about having to cut gum drops. Apparently, complaining was another holiday tradition my brother and I participated in. Fortunately, there is a thing called the internet. A quick search brought up the recipe at the Taste of Home website. I tried it out, and the results immediately took me back to my childhood. Fortunately, it didn't take me back so far I ended up in a scary pair of plaid bell bottom pants.


Pictured with those cookies is some apple cider. That is one of my new traditions. I've drunk apple cider many times, but have never really made it. I took a gallon of apple cider and poured it into my slowcooker, set on high. Into the cider, I put two cinnamon sticks, ten whole cloves, six allspice berries, one inch of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced, and a thinly sliced orange. I let it steep on high for about two hours, then set the slow cooker to warm. This will definitely become a new Christmas tradition. As the picture shows, it is great chilled as well.

Another new tradition is pimiento cheese wafers. For many years, I have cooked cheese cookies, which are a simple mixture of rice crispies, cheddar cheese, butter, flour, and a touch of cayenne. This year I tried something different. It was my wife's fault. She came home from her office Christmas party talking about these wonderful pimiento cheese cookies her coworker brought. She asked for the recipe. We waited, and waited. Being somewhat impatient, I once again decided to turn to my friend the internet. I found a good looking recipe. Of course, once I had bought all of the ingredients, the coworker emailed her recipe...which was nothing like the one I was using. Oh well. Below are the results.


I followed the recipe, but something tells me they could have baked for at least another five minutes. They just didn't crisp up as much as I liked. However, my son seems to like these even more than the regular cheese cookies. According to him, Rusty and T-Bone are great fans as well. Apparently, I have just created a new Christmas dog treat.

The final tradition is brunch. For about ten years now, our family has enjoyed brunch on Christmas morning. It's not a fancy brunch. Simply a breakfast casserole, and one or two side items. Unfortunately, the casserole this year is one of those things I never got a picture of. It is like the orange slice cake, in that it has very little redeeming value other than absolute great taste. Take twelve slices of bread and cut it into cubes. spread half the cubes in the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking dish. Then sprinkle on a pound of cooked crumbled breakfast sausage. Cube one pound of Velveeta cheese and evenly layer about two thirds over the sausage and bread. Layer the remaining bread, followed by the rest of the cheese. In a bowl beat nine eggs, three cups milk, a teaspoon of mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Poor the egg mixture over the other ingredients in the baking dish. Cover, and allow to chill overnight. When ready, bake uncovered at 350 for one to one and a half hours, until a knife inserted comes out clean. Like I said, it has little redeeming value, but it sure tastes great!

I just have one tradition to go. I have my black eyed peas and ham hock ready for New Years Day. So what traditions do you have for the holidays? Please share.

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