Holiday cooking can span the entire year taking in all seasons as holidays fall throughout the year. So holiday cooking is just about one set of ingredients. It is about preparing what is seasonal and available which over time in most places is what has become traditional for that holiday cooking. Holiday cooking is usually festive in that the meals and dishes are created to be something special and lend an air of fun and excitement to the holiday. But holiday cooking isn't just about meals, although feeding hungry guests is usually a priority.

Holiday cooking can be as simple as specially designed and decorated cookies that provide a sweet treat and help decorate a room for a holiday party. Sweets and desserts are always a big part of holiday cooking. Cupcakes and cakes are an opportunity to make something fairly substantial that can be decorated with a specific holiday theme and they can add a lot to a party. Holiday cooking also entails special snacks that families come to think of as traditions. One family I know of always makes clam dip out of cream cheese and minced clams for the christmas holidays. It really has nothing to do with christmas but they have always had it at Christmas time so it has become a family holiday cooking tradition.

Some holiday cooking traditions are cultural in scope and application. Take the American holiday Thanksgiving for instance. American families do not consume much turkey throughout the year, but on thanksgiving day, almost every table in America will be laden with a big golden roasted turkey. All the side dishes can vary, but usually include some type of potato dish, either baked or mashed, sometimes sweet potatoes or yams, usually green beans of some sort and many other vegetables, and cranberry sauce of some sort. but the most important part of this holiday cooking is the turkey and pumpkin pie.

So many holidays are associated in our minds with special holiday cooking. At Easter time, it is lamb and at Christmas, it is ham. Who doesn't remember fondly the days of their youth when the house was full of the great smells of holiday cooking. the holidays are exciting and all the preparation and hustle and bustle in and around the kitchen just adds to it. Holiday cooking is important on a number of levels. It feeds family and guests, it decorates the home for the holiday and it creates traditions that are important in holding together the fabric of both family and society. Holidays are fun and holiday cooking is a very important part of that fun.

Recommended Reading:

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