The things I'm learning working here... the routines, personalities, superstitions and traditions.

Starting December 1st, everyone in our building is assigned a day to bring in a treat to share.  It's "technically" called the 12 Days of Christmas but it seems that it's affectionately referred to as the 12 Pounds of Christmas because it's hard not to pack on a few extra with all the homemade cookies, candies, crackers and so on that appear every day.

Eladia!  She brought Bunuelos - a light, flaky cinnamon-sugar dusted confection that must be experienced at least once in everyone's lifetime.  I think I could have eaten my weight in them!

(The picture is from Pinterest - Eladia's Bunuelos didn't last long enough for anyone to get a picture of them.)

So not only do the folks here like to eat - everybody likes to bake and cook!  We share recipes as often as we share the names of restaurants and shops with great eats.  So when Lissa asked at Quilt Market if the Moda Reps had recipes to share, we got recipes and stories!

The recipes Lissa collected will be popping up daily on our Facebook page but we wanted to share a few of them here too.  A few of the recipes here are a link to a PDF. version.

From Richard Cubbage - Oyster Swiss Chard Gratin.

In the Cubbage household,  oysters are always on hand for the winter holidays - okay, we're very fond of them in the summer too!  I like to plan my sales calls to the Northern Neck of Virginia which is a strip of land bound by the Potomac River to the north and the Rappahannock River to the south between Thanksgiving and Christmas because that's when I can get a bushel of oysters for what three-dozen oysters would cost at home. 

Oyster Stew is our tradition for Christmas morning and our dinner always has fried oysters with Virginia Country Ham. This recipe calls for 18 shucked oysters but I always have two-dozen on hand so I can slurp a few raw oysters while I'm shucking the rest for the dish. Fresh oysters in a jar are a good substitute if you live in an area where fresh-in-the-shell oysters are hard to find.

Update:  We found the recipe for the Oyster Swiss Chard Gratin - the real one.  :)

Chestnut-Bacon Stuffing. 

(This isn't Richard's picture - I just needed a food-picture-fix while reading all these recipes.)

My wife, Robyn, would probably divorce me if I didn't make this every Thanksgiving.  Finding Chestnuts can be difficult in some areas, and removing the shells and leathery skin can be just as challenging. Vacuum-packed chestnuts that are already shelled and cleaned are easily found in specialty stores and on the internet.

From Stephanie Hove - Swedish Cremes.

Christmas cookies are my favorite!  I LOVE to bake year-round, actually.

This recipe is something we had every year growing up.  Unfortunately, we never found the recipe my mom used so after she passed, my sister and I scoured the internet and tried several different recipes until we found one that we thought was closest to our memory.  I'm not sure which website this came from, but we've made a few changes anyway.  I still have to make extras to send home with my brother... although he is married now so maybe I'll give this recipe to his wife.

We always called them "Swedish Creams".  They're light, fluffy pillow cookie sandwiches with a creamy frosting in the middle.

(This isn't Stephanie's picture but you didn't think I'd include a cookie recipe without a picture!  As if?!?)

Do you have any family baking-cooking-eating traditions?

Many, many years ago, on a whim, my Mom tried a recipe from her Betty Crocker cookbook, circa 1952, for a chiffon-like pie called White Christmas Pie.  She liked the name of it, thought it sounded good, so she tried it.  It became our Christmas Eve dinner tradition - no matter what we had for dinner, we had that pie with it.  Company?  She'd make two pies.  If we went "out" for dinner to relatives, a restaurant, a holiday party... we'd still come home to this pie.

Here is the original recipe - a picture of the page.

Thank you Ruby and Dixie!  I sure do love this pie.

Have a terrific weekend!

(And if you gain twelve pounds over the next couple of weeks, it's not Moda's fault.)