11.10 Foods

A bit ago Claudia asked what people liked about November and many of the answers came back as food, which apparently surprised her, as she doesn't associate any month with a given food.

I mentioned foods in my answer to her, but really, I would probably have mentioned foods associated with almost any month mentioned. It's not that I eat more at any one time of the year than at any other, it's just that I grew up, and have continued, a yearly cycle of menus. My cycle as chief cook differs from my mother's to some extent, but she and I both depend a great deal on "what's in season". Additionally, while we definitely have some "holiday foods", these are in substitution for other foods, not in addition to those foods.

So, herewith is my list of foods by month in which we eat them. If you ask me what I like about these months, these foods will come up!

January: New Year's Day we have tamales, because that's an easy going day where all the hands are available for fixings!

February: Artichokes: my mother's b'day is in Feb and she always requested them for her birthday; February is when they first showed in the grocery stores on the east coast. Also, Angel food cake and strawberries (frozen), ditto.

March: I don't care for corned beef, my family does. I fix it once a year, in March.

April: Crown roast of pork for Easter dinner. I fix it then because it is sometimes available then without having to special order one.

May: My birthday - Pecan pie. I don't bother much with b'day cake; b'day pie is another matter! Also, if I can get them, fresh spargeln.

June: Strawberries. Bacon Lettuce sandwiches (don't ask me why this one - It's Traditional. Maybe because that's when the early lettuce is ready?)

July: Blueberries. Grilled items. Lettuce salads.

August: Watermelon and fresh corn. Cantelope. Maple syrup we get when we go to Canada. More grilled items.

September: Fresh corn. Squashes. Grapes.

October: Winter squashes in casserole.

November: Sourdough bread - bread season starts in November when the house is cool enough to bake again. Pumpkin pie. Turkey?

December: Turkey?* Waldorf salad (the kind with mustard dressing not mayo), and butterhorns.

Obviously we eat a lot of other things, but these are the main seasonal ones, and they belong in their own time of the year. What things do you associate with a given month or season?

* Turkey is a toss-up between Thanksgiving and Christmas - once we've had one turkey a year, we're done for another year. Which makes S ever so sad as it is one of his favorites. Last year, he learned to roast a turkey himself so that we would have it twice in a year.