Tis the Season of Eating... #Monday Listicles

And so the countdown begins. The house is decorated, the tree is up and Riley is waiting ever-so-patiently for Christmas. Baahaaahaaa…yea right. As the old Meatloaf song goes Two out of three ain’t bad right?

Bridget came up with this week’s Monday Listicles topic:  “10 Things Food” since "it’s the season of eating right?"  Why yes…yes it is. Where do I begin. 

I love all things Christmas! I remember the magic of Santa growing up, playing Blackjack after Christmas dinner with the adults when we were kids and best of all being able to eat whatever we wanted and not having to worry about those ummm 5 or so…wait…who am I kidding here…10+ extra pounds. *sigh*

So in the spirit of Christmas I am going to take a walk down memory lane with some of my favourite memories of Christmas foods when I was growing up and how things have evolved over the years

1.      Pop and Bits & Bites:  A treat on weekends when we were growing up was “a” as in one pop. However at Christmas…the pop flowed freely along with the very seasonal Bits & Bites. Pretzels were the first to go leaving a bowl of undesirable Shreddies. Who even likes Shreddies... well besides G’s brother?!?   

2.      Wine and Cheese:  Now that I am all grown up…wine flows freely and I have discovered fancy-schmancy taste treats like brie and my new found favourite “Applewood Smoked Cheddar”.

3.      Icy Cups:  Who remembers these foil wrappers?  We used to save them, pound them flat and make crafts with them. Stores like Michaels did not exist and if you needed popsicle sticks for that log cabin…get licking!

4.      Toffifay:  “Toffifay is too good for kids!”  Advertising in the 70’s…it’s no wonder I stockpile these as an adult.

5.      Mixed Nuts:  You knew Christmas was close when the bowl of mixed nuts and crackers appeared. All natural and childproof. 

6.      Pistachios:  The senior-friendly nut. With an increase in age comes a decrease in fine motor skills so back to the basics of using your bare hands to crack these suckers. Salt being an added bonus.

7.      Cabbage Rolls:  My mom used to make cabbage rolls only at Christmas. I guess because she was the only one who ate them. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was not just a Christmas food.

8.      Sweet Potato Pie:  Listed as one of the 10 everyday super foods, sweet potatoes have now become one of our turkey side dishes although I am pretty sure it was meant sans the melted butter and brown sugar topping.

9.      Japanese Oranges:  If you were really, REALLY lucky you might find an orange or two in the bottom of your stocking on Christmas morning. Back when I was growing up mandarin oranges came from Japan, were individually wrapped in green tissue, were packed in a wooden box and only available at Christmas time (or that’s how I remember it).

10.  Santa Strawberries:  Something new for 2012! Saw these on Pinterest or FB and had to give them a whirl. So cute and pretty darn tasty too! Yes I made these ones.

What do you like to indulge in over the holiday season?  Don't forget to head over to our hostess extraordinaire Stasha's place to see what everybody else came up with.