Poll Favorite seasonal foods appreciation thread

[Kor]

Cuisine doesn't seem to get much attention around these parts, so here's something a little different for discussion.

Every year around this time, certain special food and drink items become common. You start to see pumpkin pies and cartons of eggnog in the grocery stores, along various squashes and pumpkins, and promotions and sales on whole turkeys and hams. Some of the foods that crop up toward the end of the year are traditional fare, and some are more recent innovations such as packaged foods flavored with seasonal ingredients.

Especially intriguing is the proliferation in recent years of items made with pumpkin and/or seasonings that are traditionally used in pumpkin pie, starting of course with the beloved pumpkin spice latte, and continuing with the subsequent explosion in popularity of such products as pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spice ice cream, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin spice donuts, pumpkin spice dog treats, pumpkin spice tea, pumpkin bagels, pumpkin spice coffee creamer, pumpkin spice pretzels, pumpkin spice yogurt, pumpkin spice kale chips, pumpkin spice butter, pumpkin spice cream cheese, pumpkin spice chocolates, pumpkin spice liqueur, pumpkin spice marshmallows, pumpkin spice salsa, and even a pumpkin spice pizza now available at a pizzeria in New Jersey... surely, a paradise of endless delights for lovers of pumpkin or pumpkin pie spices.

So what are some of your favorite seasonal foods and beverages? Here is your chance to discuss, and to vote for up to five items. Sorry for the North American regional bias in the poll... I was trying to keep the list somewhat manageable. Feel free to mention any other edibles that you enjoy in your area over the course of the last couple months of the year.

Kor

 

[auntiehill]

Yorkshire pudding. We have it every Christmas. It is probably the most unhealthy edible substance on Earth but damn, it's good. We also make candied walnuts, which are fantastic; my hubby calls it Christmas Crack.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Voted for PSL, roast turkey, fruitcake, hot apple cider and gingerbread. Although I think I generally like everything on the list except that I don't really care for eggnog, I don't drink alcohol, and I've never in my life had a deep-fried turkey.

This time of year really is a treasure trove for seasonal flavourings. In my own baking, usually from about September to November I go seriously overboard with pumpkin this and pumpkin spice that. Then in December I switch over to more usual holiday fare, but usually with an emphasis on gingerbread-flavoured things, or things with cranberry or mint.

Fall is also traditionally apple season, so I love making apple crisps around this time.

 

[Refuge]

I put roast turkey and fruit cake. I would add fruit mince pies, trifle and lamb sandwiches.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I would add fruit mince pies

Oh, yeah, mincemeat pies (and tarts, and cookies...). That's one I forgot about, but shouldn't have. That's another one I look forward to every December.

 

[Refuge]

Oh, yeah, mincemeat pies (and tarts, and cookies...). That's one I forgot about, but shouldn't have. That's another one I look forward to every December.

I've gone through my first six pack of mince pies of the yet to be season, already! It's October

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Roast turkey
Baked ham
Gingerbread
Swedish meatballs
Roast tri-tip
Garlic mashed potatoes

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Deep fried turkey... Also pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.

As for the mulled wine? It could work:

Should I have some wine?
(MULLS it over)
Yes, I think I will.

 

[Refuge]

This deep fried turkey thing. Is it a whole turkey fried?

 

[Timewalker]

Pumpkin pie is popular throughout October here, since Canada's Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. Of course it's popular for Halloween, too.

I'm really not that fond of it, anymore. I'll have a piece of pie now and then, but that's as far as it goes.

Eggnog is a Christmas/New Year's Eve treat. So is gingerbread, though I don't get it often.

My "other" is chocolate. Lots and lots and lots of chocolate, entirely guilt-free during the holiday season. My favorites include After Eight mints and liqueur-filled chocolates. Many years ago I used to make my own chocolates - especially chocolate-coated grapes, and my own original recipe for peanut butter cups.

 

[Kor]

This deep fried turkey thing. Is it a whole turkey fried?

It certainly is! Deep-fried turkey is a classic treat from Cajun country, dating back around forty years. It was possibly first done about eighty years ago.

The bird is seasoned and then fried in a large metal vat. It's not battered or floured, it just gets its own skin crispy. Supposedly this results in very moist meat, as the skin is sealed from the frying. If you do this at home, the advisory is to only cook outdoors, for safety.

I started noticing this gain some popularity in my area about fifteen years ago or so, but I actually haven't tried it yet, since it seems all the restaurants that do this make you buy the whole thing for a family meal, instead of just a single serving.

Kor

 

[tharpdevenport]

I voted Other. I liked special flavored products. This year a new one came out: Hostess Candy Corn-flavored cup cakes. The only thing that has stopped me from getting more -- they're all sold out. It's a Halloween time product.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Garlic mashed potatoes

I wasn't aware there was any other way to make mashed potatoes.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

^^ we all know how you love the pumpkin spice tharp.

MMM. Pumpkin spice doughnuts.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Pumpkin pie is probably the greatest thing that's ever happened ever.

 

[cosmic mouse]

other: stuffing ...like the kind my grandma used to make!


worst seasonal food ever: eggnog (slimy, salmonella-ridden disgustingness!!!!)

 

[auntiehill]

^ Yeah, never got the whole Egg Nog thing myself. Bleh.

 

[Avro Arrow]

My "other" is chocolate. Lots and lots and lots of chocolate, entirely guilt-free during the holiday season.

Oh, yes, I totally agree about chocolate... I just consider it an all-year-round thing! (Sadly, though, I can never escape the guilt, even around the holidays. )

It certainly is! Deep-fried turkey is a classic treat from Cajun country, dating back around forty years. It was possibly first done about eighty years ago.

OK, well, I admit I hadn't heard of this before, but I would try it.

Another turkey-related dish that I've heard about from the US, but never tried (or really had any desire to try) is turducken... apparently a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken... because, you know, why not? Is that still a thing down there, or was it more of a limited-duration fad?

This year a new one came out: Hostess Candy Corn-flavored cup cakes.

This just proves you and I are on complete opposite ends of the flavour spectrum. Why anyone would want anything to taste like candy corn is beyond me.

Garlic mashed potatoes

mashed potatoes

How are mashed potatoes possibly a "seasonal" food?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I was just listing foods we typically have with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, not saying that it's the only time you can have them.

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ Oh, OK, sorry.