I am quite honored and excited to be part of this year’s Virtual Advent Tour. It took me awhile to decide what I would make my post about, but I decided that since one of the most integral parts of the holiday season is the food, I would share with you two simple but iconic foods that symbolize the holidays for me, one from my past and one from my present.

Sweet treats abound during the holidays, starting somewhere before Halloween and ending sometime after Easter. But for the Christmas holidays, one of the delectables I always associate with this time of year are Newfoundland Snowballs. These were always around our house during the holidays and were a staple of bake sales and Christmas parties out around the bay.  I had gone years without a recipe, but then thanks to the wonder of the Internet, I was able to find a recipe whose product perfectly matched my recollection of the look and taste of these yummy goodies. That search lead me to Rock Recipes, which has since become one of my favorite web sites. The chef and owner of the site, Barry, does an excellent and delicious job of mixing the traditional with the new, and making my mouth water every time I visit to check out his newest creation. Since making my first batch of snowballs using his recipe a few years ago, I have made them several times for holiday bake sales, cookie swaps and Christmas parties, and they are always a bit hit. For this expat, it’s a little bit of home down south and helps bring back some fond memories of Christmases past. If I haven’t enticed you yet, here’s a photo to tempt your tastebuds.

The South definitely rivals Newfoundland with its regional dishes and traditional foods. My mother-in-law was a wonderful cook who made it her mission to make every holiday special and filled with food, family and fond memories. One of the things she always had on hand during the holidays was a batch of sausage balls, little globes of cheese and sausage-filled goodness. She was the type of cook who relied more on instinct than recipes, so when she died, many of her family’s food favorites were lost as well. A few years ago, I was browsing through my copy of Paula Deen’s Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook when I came across a recipe for sausage balls. (Incidentally, I got the cookbook when my husband and I visited her restaurant in Savannah back in 2000, before Food Network fame – Paula was there, cooking and making sure everyone was enjoying themselves, and she chatted with me for a few minutes before graciously signing my new cookbook. That’s probably not the experience of someone walking in there today!) Anyway, I tried the recipe and after a couple false starts (not adding enough water and not kneading/mixing the doughy mixture enough), I finally produced what my father-in-law declared was the best sausage ball, exactly like his wife used to make. I now make a batch of these every Christmas, and be sure to set aside a container for him to take home (they freeze well). Here’s a photo of what these scrumptious Southern savories look like.

I wish you all a joyous holiday season, filled with the sounds of laughter, the smell of good food and the love of family and friends.