Could I technically have any of these things at any time of the year?

Yes.

But holiday foods are associated with the holiday, and somehow it just doesn’t seem right to eat candy canes in July. Or, at least it doesn’t seem right to me. So here are my favorite goodies that I only indulge in once a year.

Thumbprint cookies

If you’ve never had these, bake some or find someone that will bake them for you. Soooo good.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Ahhh, mint and chocolate. Never a bad combination.

Russian Tea Cakes

Now some may say that these are not holiday cookies, but in my family they are. And it’s my list, so there.

Fudge

Again, most people I know only do homemade fudge at this time of year. I’ll take mine with walnuts, please.

Gingerbread

I will admit to not actually liking the taste of gingerbread. But I enjoy looking at things made with gingerbread, so on the list it goes.

Candy Canes

Yes, they are totally ubiquitous, but it isn’t Christmas until somebody breaks out the candy canes.

Cut-out and decorated Sugar Cookies

Angels, bells, Santas, stars, all of them taste great and are fun to make with the whole family. Silver pastilles on them scream Christmas to me.

Pizzelle

I am part Italian, so these bring back lots of memories of Christmas at Nonna’s house. Light, not-too-sweet, and tinged with anise, they are a great complement to a heavy Christmas meal. Or, uh, before a meal. Or sometimes during a meal…

Hanukkah Doughnuts

Fried dough, jelly, and powdered sugar? I’m all over that.

Peanut Brittle

Why is this candy associated with Christmas? I don’t know, but it is, and I’ll take some any time somebody offers it.

What about you? What foods do you look forward to?

Yes, it’s time to announce the grand (merely grand? Phwoar, try superfantastic!) prize winner of our hotly-contested Friday Caption Contest from last week. With some truly unusual material to work with (with which to work? Whateva) we got some truly creative responses, and it was an unusually close lightning round of captioneering, but after much heated discussion and at least three bottles of Malbec (we lost count for some reason) we have chosen a winner.

Jordan Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

“The Mile High Club commences phase 1 of animal testing.”

Honourable mention to marvel, for a marvelous 2001 reference. As always, genuine congratulations and imaginary prizes to the winner. Something tells me Jordan wouldn’t care for our usual round of jewelry, scarves, handbags or Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, so we’re branching out a bit with this one, the very snazzy Goorin Brothers Moretti pinstripe fedora. Proper protective headgear is key, whether you’re on a spacewalk or just a stroll downtown.