Column from December 31, 2009

Ringing in the New Year

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions. There’s too much of a chance for failure.

It is believed the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since. The early Christians believed the first day of the new year should be spent on reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself.

I often set goals … things I want to reach on a personal level. They can be anything from certain books I want to read to a craft project I want to finish to writing objectives I plan to accomplish.

Those goals sound to me like they fit in with the beliefs of the early Christians.

There is quite a story behind how the world came to celebrate the new year on Jan. 1. In fact, it’s a relatively new phenomenon.

The earliest recording of a new year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia around 2000 B.C. and was celebrated in mid-March, the time of the vernal equinox. Other dates were used by various ancient cultures. For example, the Egyptians, Phoenicians and Persians began their new year with the fall equinox and the Greeks celebrated on the winter solstice.

The month of January didn’t even exist until 700 B.C. That’s when the new year was moved from March to January. But this new date was not always strictly or widely observed.

In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar introduced a new solar-based calendar, which was a new lunar system that became wildly inaccurate over the years. That calendar decreed that the new year would start Jan. 1 and that date became the consistently observed New Year’s Day.

However, the celebrations were considered pagan and unchristian-like, so in 567, the Council of Tours abolished Jan. 1 as the beginning of the year.

It was restored in 1582 with the reformation of the Gregorian calendar, which is the one we use today.

As the famous New Year ball drops in Times Square, New York City, tonight, will you be watching the TV and thinking about what you’d like to do this coming year?

The tradition of dropping the ball began in 1907. The original ball was made of iron and wood.

This year’s ball is a 12-foot geodesic sphere, double the size of previous balls, and weighs 11,875 pounds. Covered in 2,668 Waterford crystals and powered by 32, 256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS, the new ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million colors and billions of patterns, producing a kaleidoscope of effect atop One Times Square.

In the south, cornbread is a traditional food on the New Year’s table because it is considered lucky. The color represents gold and the sweetness is said to being good luck in the coming year.

I’m not superstitious, but anything that might help with achieving any goals I set sounds good to me.

Cornbread

1-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1-3/4 cups buttermilk

1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cornbread cooks best in a cast iron pan. If you decide to try using that method, place a 10-inch cast iron pan in the oven to preheat.

The other option is to use a 9-by-9 baking dish. Lightly grease the dish, but don’t preheat it.

Mix together cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt.

Melt the butter and let it cool. Mix together the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Place the pan back into the oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Turn the cornbread out onto a rack to cool.

Column from December 24, 2009

Strudel is one of the traditional desserts

found on Hungarian tables during the Christmas season.

Boldog Karácsonyt

Growing up, my family always had a traditional American Christmas. However, that also included some wonderful pastries baked by my grandmother, who emigrated from Hungary.

The traditions from that country are quite unique.

Nativity plays are very much an important part of the Hungarian Christmas tradition. Performed by groups of children or adults, these plays are often combined with puppets and are accompanied by songs and musical instruments. Dancing is also often part of the plays.

Santa Claus or Winter Grandfather (St. Nicholas) arrives Dec. 6. Children clean and put their shoes outside next to the door or window before they go to sleep.

The next day, they find candies and small toys in red bags stuffed in their shoes.

Early in the evening of Dec. 24, the children go to visit a friend or relative or they go to the movies. While they’re gone, little Jesus brings the tree and the presents to their house. It is customary to hang edible items on the tree, like golden-wrapped assorted chocolates and meringues beside the glass balls, candles (real or electric) and sparklers.

A festive dinner is usually cooked, which typically includes fresh fish with rice or potatoes and homemade pastries for dessert.

After dinner, the tree is seen by the children for the first time. Christmas songs are sung and gifts under the tree are shared.

The next day, the children get to enjoy the edible parts of the tree and more festive food is served.

Many of the folk traditions have begun to disappear, but they are still common in some of the remote areas. In the old villages, the kitchen table is covered and decorated for holidays and the food served has special meanings. For example, “apple” means beauty and love.

I can understand that when I think back to my grandmother’s wonderful apple strudel. I often got to help her create this exquisite pastry. She would roll the dough out and then pull it from underneath until it was so thin you could see through it.

My grandmother has been gone for many years now, but she did pass on some of her recipes, including her strudel recipe. She also gave me a much easier recipe for apple strudel than the one she regularly used and that’s the one I’m sharing with you this week.

Easy strudel

2 cups sifted flour

1/2 pound butter

3 beaten egg yolks

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/4 cup water

3 apples

Sugar and cinnamon

Cut butter into flour; add eggs, vinegar and water; mix. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Divide into three parts. Roll as for pie crust (about 15 inches). Cover with one peeled, sliced apple for each strudel. Sprinkle with sugar (about 3 tablespoons per strudel) and cinnamon. Roll up. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Column from December 17, 2009

Poinsettia trees are often seen growing in Mexico.

Feliz Navidad

One of the most beautiful sights we see at Christmas is the poinsettia, which came to us as a Mexican holiday tradition.

The poinsettia is native to Mexico and is believed to have been first used in connection with Christmas in the 17^th century when Mexican Franciscans included the flowers in their Christmas celebration.

The legend surrounding this lovely flower is of a little boy named Pablo who was walking to church in his village to visit the Nativity scene. He realized he had nothing to offer the Christ child, so he stopped to pick some green branches along the roadside. He gathered them up and laid them by the manger. To everyone’s surprise, a brilliant red star-shaped flower appeared on each branch.

It is also said Montezuma, the last of the Aztec kings, would have poinsettias brought into what now is Mexico City by caravans because poinsettias could not be grown in the high altitude.

Poinsettias are one of the flowers often found at the elaborately decorated market stalls, or puestos, which are set up several weeks before Christmas in the plazas of every town and city in Mexico. Some people travel for days to get to these markets. The vendors offer crafts, foods and a variety of flowers.

The main Christmas celebration in Mexico is called las posadas, which refers to processions re-enacting Joseph and Mary’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. The processions begin nine days before Christmas. Friends and family members form two groups – pilgrims and innkeepers. The pilgrims travel from house to house asking for shelter and are refused until they reach the house where an altar and Nativity scene have been set up.

A traditional prayer is spoken and a party begins. Food and drink are served and children take turns trying to break open the piñata.

Foods always seen at these parties include tamales, buñuelos (sweet fritters), churros and chocolate caliente (hot chocolate).

Churros

1 cup water

2-1/2 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup flour

2 quarts oil for frying

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 2-1/2 tablespoons sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.

2. Heat oil for frying in deep fryer or deep skillet to 375 degrees. Using a pastry bag, pipe strips of dough into hot oil. Fry until golden; drain on paper towels.

3. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Roll drained churros in mixture.

Column from December 10, 2009

This is a typical Christmas tree in Ghana.

It doesn’t look much

different than those we have here in Othello …

other than the palm tree

outside the window!

Geseënde Kersfees

This week, we are going to look at Christmas in Ghana because that’s where Othello's sister city Wulensi is.

December is the start of the cocoa harvest in Ghana. That country is the world’s second largest cocoa producer.

Can you imagine the holidays without chocolate? Kind of scary!

People in Ghana celebrate Christmas from the Dec. 20 to the first week in January with lots of different activities. Many travel to visit relatives and friends in other parts of the country.

Over 66 languages are spoken in Ghana and all these groups have their own traditions and customs. Sounds kind of like the U.S.

Christmas Eve is the time when the celebrations really start with church services that have drumming and dancing. Children often put on a nativity play or other drama. Then, choirs come out to sing and people dance in front of the priests. Songs are sung in the languages the people understand best.

Sometimes, these services and dancing go on all night.

Other people celebrate with fireworks and parties.

On Christmas day, churches are very full. People dress in their colorful traditional clothes and after the service, they quickly go back to their houses to start giving and receiving gifts.

As in most Christian cultures, celebrating Christmas dinner with friends and family tops the list. Families enjoy braais (barbecues) or traditional dinners with paper hats, mince pies, turkey and plum pudding.

In Ghana, Christmas dinner isn’t complete without fufu and okra soup. This is an easy recipe for this dish, followed by a more traditional one for the okra soup.

Fufu

2-1/2 cups biscuit mix

2-1/2 cups instant potato flakes

1. Bring 1-1/3 cups water to a rapid boil in a large, heavy pot. Combine and two ingredients and add to the water.

2. Stir constantly for 10 to 15 minutes, a process that needs two people for the best results – one to hold the pot while the other stirs vigorously with a strong implement, such as a thick wooden spoon. The mixture will become very thick and difficult to stir, but unless you are both vigilant and energetic, you’ll get a lumpy mess.

3. When the fufu is ready (or you’ve stirred to the limits of your endurance), dump about a cup of the mixture into a wet bowl and shake until it forms itself into a smooth ball. Serve on a large platter alongside the soup.

Okra soup

2 pounds beef and mutton

2 quarts water

2 tablespoons salt

3 large ripe tomatoes

2 dozen okras, finely cut up

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cabbage, cut up

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon thyme

2 tablespoons flour

1 stalk celery, cut up

1. Boil meats and cabbage until tender.

2. Heat cooking oil in frying pan. Add flour and allow to brown. Add okras, onion, celery and tomatoes. Continue to cook for about five minutes on low heat. Pour the mixture onto the boiled meats.

3. Add thyme, salt and pepper and boil for an additional 15 minutes.

4. Corn, carrots, potatoes or other vegetables may be added, but they must boil in the soup until done.