Delicious Giveaway: The Polls are Open!

Nothing but death can keep me from y’all…and WordPress tried to kill me this morning–but I’m here…and I have the “Delicious Five” entries ready to roll out. I gave all of the entries a number, based on the number of ways they submitted their story and the top five entries randomly selected by Random.org are as follows:

So, that means…it’s now up to the readers and visitors to choose whose favorite holiday memory the enjoyed the best.

Here they are (don’t forget to vote after reading the stories below):

Entry No 3. Toy:

Last christmas was my almost 2 yr old niece’s first christmas where she could talk and walk - and actually enjoy the spirit (before that she was a newborn). So the entire family was SUPER excited about getting Carlee what she asked for. We had hyped her up so much, so she would sit in front of the tv everyday and say “ooo i’m gonna ask santa for that” and scribble scrabble with a crayon on a piece of paper that she called her list for santa. So days before christmas all the way up until christmas eve (yea we’re black lol), my sister, my mom and I ran all around the world looking for all the toys she had pointed out from the tv. She’s a little “honest” when it comes to things that she wants and gets (or doesn’t), so we wanted to make sure she got everything she had asked for because she would CERTAINLY call us out like “OMG santa forgot to get my [insert random item]!”

So we’re running around crazy getting all these toys, some of which are rare finds and we practically had to bribe people to get (damn you Elmo!)…So after an exhausting week, christmas finally comes - and the entire family gathers around the tree on christmas morning to see Carlee open her stuff. The adults took bets on which Toy she would play with the most. Needless to say, we ALL lost because THIS was her favorite toy I swear! http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1918/218/22/311703/n311703_33394166_1362.jpg … A christmas I would NEVER forget! LoL

Entry No. 11 Elita

My favorite holiday memory would have to be Holiday season 2007. I was pregnant with my first child and due on November 19, so I thought I would be having a Thanksgiving baby. Well, Thanksgiving day came and we all ate and enjoyed our time with family. Relatives who normally don’t make it down to Florida came because they thought they would get the double treat of a great family meal AND meeting the new baby. Alas, the baby decided to take his time and didn’t make his debut. As the days turned to weeks, I started to get annoyed that I was still pregnant and just wanted my baby in my arms! Finally, my son decided to come into the world (after my doctor threatened to induce) on December 4th, 2007. This was the first night of Hanukkah in 2007, so although I didn’t get my Thanksgiving baby, I got the best Hanukkah present of my life. For my husband’s family, who are Christians, he was an early Christmas present!

And here is my family recipe for perfect potato latkes.

2 cups peeled and shredded potatoes
1 tablespoon grated onion
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup peanut oil

Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, getting out as much moisture as possible.
In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels. Serve hot with applesauce and sour cream.

Entry No. 8 chichi

My favorite holiday memory has to be from last year December 2008. I am originally from Nigeria and had not visited for eight long, homesick years. I had recently graduated and had a little money saved up so my only desire was to visit and spend time with my grandma who practically raised me. She missed my sister and I so much and it broke my heart talking to her on the phone because she never wanted to hang up and our conversations always started and ended with how much she missed us. So I started shopping around for the best deals in airline tickets and getting everything together for my trip back unbeknown to her or the rest of my extended family. Before I could travel, I had to take a business trip for my job which would determine if I would go or not, this came up after I bought my ticket, so all I could do was hope and pray that everything would be order in time for me to make my trip. The business trip kept on getting pushed back and I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would not be able to travel anymore, however by some miracle, I was able to make the trip and was back exactly one week before my scheduled departure to Nigeria.

So because I had resigned myself to not traveling, I had stopped packing and making all needed preparations. Which meant I had a week to get ready, I wrote out my to-do list and started crossing them out one by one after I got home from work. I did not get a whole lot of sleep that week because I had to shop for gifts for my cousins and grandma, pack, schedule bills payments and still send out Christmas cards like I do every year. Three days before my scheduled departure, I called my grandma and told her I was coming home to visit, she was besides herself with joy which made it all worth it.

Entry No. 12 nonebetter

My mother always cooked a Christmas feast on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning, despite the fact that we ALWAYS went to her mother’s house. It never failed that my sisters and I would be in the kitchen helping her clean collards, slicing potatoes, cutting corn off the cob and slicing apples for the pies. According to her it gave her a break from cooking for a few days because we could eat off of that spread for the rest of the year. Christmas 2004 my mother didn’t really feel like going to Nana’s house, she didn’t have a real reason besides being tired from cooking. I was not having it and I was not backing down! Imagine a 24 year old crying, pleading to go to Nana’s for Christmas, but I was relentless. “Mommy,” I cried, “it just won’t feel like Christmas if we don’t go! PLEASSSSSE!” Finally my mother grew weary of my whining and agreed to go; my parents, siblings and I headed to Nana’s with my smile the brightest. I couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen and see what she’d prepared and steal a little piece of what I could before dinner. My mother insisted on telling everyone who was there what a fit I’d pitched about not coming, and I smiled proudly as I hugged my Nana. After dinner we played some oldies but goodies and when a song titled with Nana’s name (‘Gloria’) came on I grabbed her hand and we danced and twirled around the room. That was the last Christmas I spent with my Nana, she passed away 1 month and 5 days later. I am so thankful that I was the whiny baby that got us there, I am so thankful I shared that dance with her and I am so thankful for that Christmas memory because it means the world to me.

Entry No. 13 Dana

I grew up with two really loving parents and two sisters I adore. Family means everything to me and picking a great memory was hard until I really thought about it. I’ve been married for 6 years and 3 years ago my husband and I bought our first house in October. This was a real house, not our tiny condo we had lived in before and we decided we wanted our families to share our first Christmas in it. So we got our home ready in about 6 weeks, painting the entire place ourselves while I had just started a master’s degree program AND was working full time. It was a lot of work but we did it and my husband’s mother, younger brother and little sister came down from NY for the holidays and my parents, sisters and several of our friends came over on Christmas Eve for dinner at our house. I cooked my first turkey, a ham, homemade mashed potatoes, all kinds of vegetables and lots of desserts from scratch. I did it all, and got rave reviews but the best part, the best moment was when my husband looked at me and said, “with great food, great family, great friends, you totally turned our house into a home and I love you because of that.” Best Christmas ever.

And for my recipe, it’s not an original, but it’s the best cookie I’ve ever made. Brownie Cookies: http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Chocolate-Brownie-Cookies-recipe-4466.aspx

4 tablespoons unsalted butter; more for the pan
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

DIRECTIONS
Position an oven rack on the center rung. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment (or grease and flour the pan).

In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Stir to combine; let cool.

In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium high to a ribbon consistency, 3 to 4 minutes. Take the bowl off the mixer. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla; stir to combine.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Stir the flour mixture and the nuts into the batter; let the batter rest for 5 minutes. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a #4 tip (or into a heavy-duty zip-top bag with one bottom corner snipped to create a 2/3-inch diagonal opening).

For each cookie, pipe 1 tablespoon batter onto the lined baking sheet. While you pipe the second tray, bake the first until the cookies are puffed and cracked and the tops barely spring back when pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. The cracks should be moist but not wet. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

You’ve read them all? Now vote on your favorite holiday memory:

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