Results: Tastes Of (My, If Not Your,) Christmas 2023

For some of the drinks my older sister was mixing for our extended family Christmas function, she garnished them with a skewer of cranberries. One memory of my mother and grandma grinding those berries for relish is being told that they're too bitter to be eaten without being sweetened. I disabused myself of that notion by chowing down the cranberries from everyone else's beverage garnishes. Then, too, I'm the kind of person who eats the lemon and lime slices in the water I order at restaurants, too. Have you ever eaten raw cranberries?

The rim of the tumbler of the Virgin Mary drink my brother-in-law whipped up for me not long after my arrival for the get-together was lined with some kind of salt-based substance unfamiliar to me, at least within the context of a tomato juice cocktail. When I asked my b-i-l about it, he showed me a shaker of Taijin, the Mexican product that, according to its website is "a unique blend of mild chili peppers, lime and sea salt." My only previous encounter with Taijin was in the context of fruit-and-ice cream Mexican confections, so I didn't make the connection that this was what was rimming my glass. Have you ever had an "Oh, yeah!" moment when you tasted a familiar ingredient in an unfamiliar setting?

Somewhere in the conversation following our meal, discussion of some family members' first jobs arose. It sounded like some real time dot-connecting took place when I heard that my family has a three-generation connection to A & W restaurants; my grandmother, mom, and older sister all worked for the chain's franchise in our town. Though I was well full from the brunch I'd eaten not long before, mention of A & W brought to mind the brand's vanilla-rich root beer (for years, a synonym around my city for the local A & W was "the root beer stand"). Are there certain tastes that come to your mind--preferably pleasantly--whenever your hear of them by dish, ingredients, brand, etc.?

Along with beef and ham, the main dish for our brunch was French toast, but prepared in a way I don't think I've had before this: baked. And with blueberries baked into and around the bread. It was delicious and, I suppose, healthier than the usual fried French toast I've enjoyed. Whether better for your body or not, did you have any familiar foods prepared in ways new to you at any holiday celebrations this season?

If there are any special culinary memories you have from this season's winter holidays or any in the past, how about sharing them below?