Laba is a Chinese festival that has traditionally started off the Chinese New Year preparations. It’s on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Agnes wrote about it from China: "We eat Laba Rice Porridge and Laba Garlic for the Laba Festival. Laba Porridge is made of mixed grains and corns, like peanuts, chestnuts, dates...

A hoecake is a flat cake similar to a little pancake that’s made with cornmeal. The name comes from the fact that American farmers cooked them right on the end of their hoes over a fire. This type of food originally comes from the Native Americans. Hoecakes were originally made by farmers with just cornmeal, salt...

Linda Nataprawira wrote from Indonesia: Mother’s day = "onde" day December 22nd is Mother’s Day in Indonesia.  In indo-chinese tradition, we always make "onde" on that day too. They’re made of glutinous flour and filled with peanuts & sugar inside. The taste is sweet. Onde is also called onde-onde.  Sometimes it’s served in...

Maryann Serra was kind enough to contribute her recipe for Anise Cookies… Anise cookies are a popular tradition for Italians and other families around the world, especially during the holidays. This light fluffy cookie tastes much like licorice cake, so people who like the flavor licorice especially enjoy them. Making Italian anise cookies is fun and...

  French "fruits déguisés" (fancy fruit) is eaten at Christmastime in France.  It’s dried fruit, mainly dates, prunes or figs, stuffed with almond paste or a sweetened crumbled cookie mixture.  The filling is usually made in different pastel colors.  Almond paste is actually sold in different colors in France.  The normal colors you find at...

Barmbrack is an Irish fruit bread that’s served for Halloween and for Samhain, a similar holiday celebrated on November 1st. Barmbrack has traditionally been cooked with objects inside that are used for “fortune-telling”.  Below are some objects used.  Whoever receives the slice with that object is supposed to have the corresponding fortune in the upcoming...

The site Allsorts has an article about the importance of potatoes in Irish cuisine: “A discussion of Irish childhood food memories has to be somewhat coloured by potatoes… Every single meal I remember had potatoes in one disguise or other… If it didn’t have potatoes, it wasn’t a proper meal; more like a snack.” They even...

Emanuela wrote to me from Italy about how they eat chestnuts there in the fall.  She’s a teacher and they cook them at the school.  Here’s what she wrote: Hi Lisa, We eat chestnuts in November for autumn.  Grandfathers and their friends come to cook the chestnuts. (1st they need to have an x cut into...

My daughter’s class had a multicultural celebration recently where each kid interviewed a relative about a recipe that’s been handed down in the family.  My daughter interviewed my Mom about her manicotti recipe. Here’s part of what she learned: "Manicotti is from Italy, and it’s been in my family since 1810.  It was passed down from...

Yuzu is a citrus fruit they enjoy in Japan especially near the Winter Solstice and the New Year.  I’ve never seen the actual fruit here to try it.  But today I found a Yuzu drink you can buy at the American chain store Trader Joe’s.  You simply empty a packet into a cup, add hot...

Ayako Egawa wrote from Japan about Kamaboko, a sort of gelled fish cake that’s eaten there.  The one pictured below was made for the New Year.  The character on these Kamaboko is called Kizuna (meaning bond) which is the symbol for 2011.  (A character is chosen annually in Japan that best symbolizes the year that...

I’ve been corresponding with Gian Carlo Macchi who’s from Italy about foods eaten for Christmas and Santa Lucia in Italy and how they differ from food eaten by Italian Americans the US (I’m an Italian American).  We’ve also been discussing gift giving in both countries and greetings for the season.  These comparisons are interesting!  ...

Monique wrote from France: "La pâte d’abricot is apricot paste.  It’s like candy.  Here’s how you make it: Recipe for Apricot Paste 1. Peel apricots and cover them with water in a pot.  2. Cook them until heated.  3.  Purée the mixture until smooth.  4.  Weigh the mixture and add sugar in an amount equaling the weight...

It can be tricky finding English equivalents of French foods.  I know this for a fact because we had to work for a whole week translating a French kids song about a bunch of pastries and sweets.   The song is called Il était un’ dame Tartine.  (Click the link for the song lyrics and translation...

Emanuela Marsura wrote to me from Italy and sent this guide to making potato gnocchi.  She wrote: "I sent you photos of the preparation of potato gnocchi." Recipe for Potato Gnocchi Ingredients 2 1/4 pounds Potatoes (1 kg) 2 Eggs (whole or just yolks) Pinch Salt ...

Over half of Americans drink coffee every morning… I’m one of them.  As a matter of fact, I’m sitting here right now waiting for my first cup to brew.  Mmmmm.. smell it? Do you drink coffee every morning?  Or is there a different beverage of choice in your country?  Let us know in the comments below. ...

Tamarind Sauce is a sweet and sour chutney from India.  I call it a sauce because it’s thinner and more liquid than common chutneys.  It’s often served with poppadom, a crispy round wafer. Tamarind sauce is hard to find in stores in the US.  Since my husband and I love it, I decided to learn how...

There’s a new modern tradition that’s come about with the advent of sonograms that let expectant parents know the sex of their baby.  Some parents-to-be will have the doctor seal in an envelope a card with the sex of their baby written on it… without telling the parents.  Then the parents-to-be, or their friends and...