Every holiday season, many of us look forward to eating special treats made using long-held and cherished family recipes.  Many families have holiday food traditions they hold dear.  There are those who cannot imagine a holiday without Grandma’s date pinwheel cookies or Great Uncle Peter’s cornbread stuffing.  Year after year, we enjoy these treats and use them as a way to stay connected with our families and personal histories.

More than mere sustenance, the traditional foods we enjoy year after year are a source of family pride and lead to conversations about family members and fond memories of holidays past.  Family food traditions can be one of the most important parts of the holiday season for many people.

There was once, however, a time in each and every family history before those recipes existed.  Grandma had to make those date pinwheel cookies for the first time.  When she did, she may have placed them right next to sugar cookies made with her Grandma’s secret recipe, having no idea they would become such an integral part of the holiday.  Great Uncle Peter’s cornbread stuffing only came about because Great Aunt Beth was sick years ago and he had to come up with some way to stuff a bird himself on Christmas morning.  His reliance on a simple recipe card with a few personal touches started a family tradition, too.  Grandma and Great Uncle Peter didn’t intent to create a longstanding tradition that generation after generation would enjoy.  They simply hoped that they could add a little bit to the holiday meal by doing something different.

The holiday food traditions to which we now look forward were the byproducts of experimentation.  The creators of the original dishes may have never intended to make them again.  They just happened to feel like doing something different or adding something new to the holiday table.

Holiday food traditions are special to many of us, and it is wonderful to experience those comforting recipes each and every holiday.  It’s a great idea, however, to remember how those traditions began.  By realizing the source of those traditions, we can be spurred to create our own.

This holiday season consider doing something new.  Think about adding a different plate to the dinner or treat table.  Make a side dish not generally found on your holiday table or produce a cookie with which you are not familiar.  Try a few new ideas and see what happens.  Some of the new notions may not be universally well received.  Others may be enjoyed, but not to the extent of your family’s holiday classics.  One, however, might receive such rave reviews that you decide to try it again next year.

Over time, that simple decision to experiment may turn into part of your family’s traditional holiday table.  The new cookie recipe you find in a holiday recipe collection this year may eventually become a staple item that your great-grandchildren cannot imagine missing.

Traditions are important and enjoyable.  They form part of the essence of one’s family.  Wouldn’t it be nice to add your generation’s mark to the food traditions you all hold so dear?  Inventing new holiday traditions has no precise formula.  One cannot really intentionally “design” a new holiday food tradition.  They tend to grow over time.  However, new traditions do require a willingness to prepare an inventive new dish.  This holiday season, consider your potential role as a creator of a meaningful holiday tradition and add something new to the holiday feast.

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Barbecued Butterflied Leg Of Lamb With Mint And Pocket Bread

9 Servings

Ingredients:

1    Leg of lamb (5-6 lb)*

3/4 c  Balsamic vinegar

1/3 c  Mint jelly

1/3 c  fresh mint leaves,Minced

Fresh mint sprigs (opt)

Salt

Pepper

Small pocket bread**

* – boned and trimmed of surface fat

** – or regular pocket bread, cut in half crosswise

Instructions:

1. Lay meat boned side up. Slash about halfway through thickest portions, as needed, and pull meat, patting cut edges down, to make the piece relatively even.

2. Place lamb in a 9×13″ pan. In a 1 1/2 quart pan over medium-high heat, stir vinegar with 1/3 cup mint jelly just until boiling. Stir in mint and pour evenly over lamb. Cover and chill 2 hours or up to a day. Turn meat over occasionally.

3. On firegrate in a barbecue, with a lid, ignite 50-60 charcoal briquets. When briquets are dotted with ash, in about 30 minutes, spread them into a single layer; scatter 10-12 more briquets over coals. Set grill 5-6″ above coals. Lift meat onto grill; reserve marinade. Put lid on barbecue and open vents.

4.Turn meat as needed to brown evenly; baste with marinade. Cook until thickest part of meat is done to your liking; for rare (140′ on a thermometer) in center of thickest part, allow about 40 minutes total.

Thinner sections will be well done.

5. Transfer lamb to a platter and let rest 5-10 minutes. Garnish with mint sprigs. Slice meat thin. Season to taste with mint jelly, salt, and pepper. Eat with knife and fork or tuck into pocket bread.

Aunt Sadie’s Brisket Of Beef

** 8 Servings

Ingredients:

3    Large onions-Sliced Paper Thin

8    Whole allspice

Salt and pepper

Garlic powder

Hungarian paprika

5-6 lb brisket; 1st cut

Instructions:

Remove any excess fat from brisket, but leave a little on top. Place one half of the onions on bottom of pan.

Season the onions with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and lots of Hungarian paprika.  Place brisket on top of onions, then other half of onions and allspice on top of the brisket. Cover and roast in a 300 degree F. oven for 3 hours.

Test your brisket and when it is fork tender, take it out. Let it cool and then slice it very thin.  Strain juice and either thicken it with a little cornstarch or serve it au jus. You will have a very dark brown juice.

NOTE: Best when made one day in advance.