These are a few of my Christmas Cravings...

[divineorder]

Egg nog, tangerines, strawberry hard candy, walnuts. All of the stuff when I was a kid. Can't eat as much now for various reasons.

What about you? What foods do you crave this time of year?

[Raffi Ella]

1. My Moms 'million dollar fudge'.

She only makes it for Christmas. Best fudge I have EVER tasted. And cheesecake- I only eat it during the Holidays.

[rurallib]

2. Citrus - decent oranges, grapefruit and tangelos

often when fruit gets to the white north it tastes like cardboard.
I got some Texas grapefruit the other day that were magnifique!

[azmouse]

6. I have 11 citrus trees in my backyard.

There is absolutely nothing better than a fresh-picked citrus fruit.

[GoCubsGo]

9. The best grapefruit I ever had...

...came from my great uncle's yard in Mesa. After he died, my aunt sold the place, and the new owner cut down it and the juice orange tree. The thought of them cutting that tree down still brings tears to my eyes, just as much as seeing all the citrus rotting on the sidewalks, and in yards throughout the Valley. My dad sends me some of the tangerines that fall into his yard from the tree next door. They're better than candy!

[azmouse]

10. I didn't like grapefruit before I grew them myself.

Now I can't get enough of them. We have a ruby red grapefruit tree along with 3 different orange trees, lemon trees(pink and regular)and lime trees.

It's a bit of work taking care of all of them but well worth it this time of year!

I thought it was cute last year seeing a little boy sitting with his mom next to the road selling bags of lemons and oranges. I'll bet she got talked into it by her son but he'll never forget the experience. I didn't need the fruit but I was really tempted to stop and buy a bag just for the enjoyment of the little boy.

[rurallib]

31. I am drooling

The best oranges I ever had came from a tree in Florida the one time we visited.
I have apple trees. Those apples are just unbelievably good fresh picked.

[BanzaiBonnie]

3. My mom's mincemeat

At Christmas, she would make a plain sugar cookie dough, cut it in a circles, put a bit of mincemeat in the middle of each, fold in half and then bake. Ohhh, talk about visions of sugar plums. And they were always the first cookies that disappeared, even before the chocolate pinwheels.

[LoveMyCali]

21. My family makes a filled cookie

that sounds a lot like that only it's in a pie pastry kind of shaped like ravioli and then deep fried and after it cools you boil it in honey. I can't even imagine how many calories are in each one but it's worth it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. Spanish Turrón

I assure you, this is the best candy ever invented in the history of ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turr%C3%B3n#Spanish_turr.C3.B3n

[tigereye]

22. ooh, that looks good!

:hi:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. Find a store that sells imported high-fallutin' food and BUY IT!

You won't regret it, I promise.

[tigereye]

25. how are ya?

I'm sure there's somewhere around here where i could get it. I love nuts, but the doc said to cut down on the fatty stuff...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

27. Nut fats aren't like pork fats. They're good for you.

:hi:

[tigereye]

28. true, but sometimes too much "good" fat isn't good either!

:rofl:

[azmouse]

5. Date and nut cookies, Cognac, Scotch, bourbon...

:9

[GoCubsGo]

7. Fruit cake

Not the kind with the candied fruit. The good, homemade cakes with lots of raisins, dates, spices, and nuts--and soaked in rum, bourbon, or whiskey.

A couple of more recent cravings: Maurice Lennell cookies and Fannie May Meltaways. This is the only time of year I can find these old Chicago favorites down here in the South. I started seeing them about the time Walgreen's began moving in, although I find the cookies at Rite Aid.

[tigereye]

23. my mom used to make little fruitcake-type cookies with raisins, nuts, etc.

soaked in bourbon- Lizzies. She also made those meltaways- wow were they rich. I can taste one right now... :D

[Lyric]

8. Holiday cookies, nut rolls, eggnog, pumpkin, cinnamon.

Basically all the things our house smelled like around Christmas when I was a kid. Oh--and my grandma's ribbon candy and cherry cordials.

[spinbaby]

11. Marzipan

Brings back childhood memories.

[arbusto_baboso]

19. And marzipan stollen. Mmmmm!

[canoeist52]

12. EasyCheese- straight outta the can!

[divineorder]

13. I just remembered the Fruit of the Month Club

And fruit baskets. We used to have one every year, and it would sit out on the coffee table and make the whole house smell wonderful. The fruit was always so good and sweet-and we had so much of it that it lasted until New Years.

In the years we had the Fruit of the Month, that first basket of fruit and nuts was so good, and every month, especially during the winter, we could look forward to something great to eat like grapefruit or pears or even some very good apples.

[trof]

14. Bourbon balls. Or rum balls. Or both. And fruitcake.

I like GOOD fruitcake.
Ones that are mostly candied fruit with LOTS of nuts and just enough cake batter to hold the whole thing together.
Roasted pecans in particular.

[trof]

15. Recipe:

This easy recipe is a Southern favorite, made with bourbon, vanilla wafer crumbs, and cocoa, along with pecans and confectioners' sugar.
Ingredients:

* 1 cup fine vanilla wafer crumbs
* 1 cup finely chopped pecans
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/4 cup bourbon
* 1 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
* confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preparation:
Thoroughly combine 1 crushed vanilla wafer crumbs, chopped pecans, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and the cocoa. In a separate bowl, blend the bourbon and corn syrup. Stir this bourbon mixture into the dry mixture; blend well. Cover and chill for at least a few hours. Sift about 1/2 to 1 cup of confectioners' sugar on a cookie sheet. Shape small bits of the dough into balls and roll them in the confectioners'. Store in refrigerator in tightly covered containers. Make these a few days in advance for best flavor, and roll in confectioners' sugar again before serving, if desired. These can also be frozen for longer storage.
Makes about 3 dozen bourbon balls.

[mikeytherat]

16. When "Santa" requested mom's bourbon balls instead of cookies, I suspected "Santa" was not real.

mikey_the_rat

[trof]

17. Oh Santa was/is VERY real.

It just isn't who you first thought it was.
;-)

[rebel with a cause]

18. I try to eat an orange every day, so that usual craving is out.

The ones that have hit me this last month are homemade sugar cookies, mallow cups, flan, homemade cheesecake, and any other sweet that I have made or ate during the Christmas season.

My sister laughed at me the other day because I use to not like sweets, was more into salty snacks. She asked me what happened and I told her diabetes happened and now I crave sweets. I also have to be on a very low salt diet due to my edema and I now do not like many salty snacks because they taste too salty. :shrug:

[tigereye]

20. Christmas mints, eggnog and chocolate pecan clusters..candied pecans!

I shouldn't really be eating much of any of those, either... :D

[Forkboy]

26. I'll get banned if I list my cravings.

Not just from DU but society in general.

[AsahinaKimi]

29. CANDY CANES!

[Oceansaway]

30. Oyster Stew....n/t

[surrealAmerican]

32. Chestnuts.

Just plain, hot, fresh, roasted chestnuts. I've been having a hard time getting them this year.

[Pryderi]

33. Mincemeat pie.