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The Best Christmas Food Gifts Ever — Funny, Nostalgic, Unforgettable · Family Tree Food Stories

• 0:00
  Nancy May: Hey, Sylvia.
• 0:01
  Happy holidays.
• 0:03
  Ho, ho, ho.
• 0:05
  Sylvia Lovely: Don't get ahead of yourself now,
• 0:06
  Nancy May: I know, right?
• 0:08
  this week we're talking about regional traditions and, food gifts.
• 0:13
  But before we get there, I have to share.
• 0:16
  I think this is one of the most fun gifts we've had almost all year, Sylvia.
• 0:21
  Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
• 0:22
  Nancy May: Well, I was listening to a podcast driving back from a long drive
• 0:25
  this morning, and I heard Christopher Kimmel from Milk Street talking
• 0:30
  about eating your Christmas tree.
• 0:32
  Sylvia Lovely: Well,
• 0:33
  Nancy May: guess what?
• 0:34
  Sylvia Lovely: We did it first!
• 0:34
  No.
• 0:36
  Busted.
• 0:38
  Nancy May: And eating bugs.
• 0:39
  So as they say, imitation is the finest form of flattery.
• 0:43
  So we'll either pat ourselves on the back with a spoon.
• 0:48
  Sylvia Lovely: I know, but I wanna tell him.
• 0:50
  Nancy May: I know we, well, I think other people have been
• 0:53
  eating that stuff first, but
• 0:54
  Sylvia Lovely: and, you created a video about it, I mean, yeah.
• 0:57
  Nancy May: did.
• 0:58
  So anyway, that has been a lot of fun, but let's dive into our show about the
• 1:04
  nostalgic and regional traditions, and of course you can't have the holidays,
• 1:08
  especially Christmas without food gifts.
• 1:11
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh, absolutely.
• 1:11
  Got some really cool stuff on that.
• 1:13
  . But first of all, , what we looked at were all these regional things and
• 1:16
  it's like pages and pages of them.
• 1:18
  'cause all the little sub regions and all of that kind of thing too.
• 1:21
  But we start out with your neck of the woods, which is the northeast,
• 1:25
  and , all the things that go on up there.
• 1:27
  , Salt, cod, baked beans, brown bread.
• 1:30
  The one thing I'd love to talk about a little bit is the Feast of Seven Fishes.
• 1:34
  Nancy May: Oh yeah, there's a lot big Italian communities up there for sure.
• 1:37
  Sylvia Lovely: yeah.
• 1:38
  And it was formed, in southern Italy.
• 1:40
  It's very obviously religious oriented, and it is a dinner held on Christmas Eve.
• 1:45
  , Typically, although in modern days it's, it varies a little bit.
• 1:49
  And the Seven Fishes, I was fascinated by this.
• 1:52
  that's significant because it relates back to the Bible and seven
• 1:56
  is a magic number in the Bible.
• 1:57
  'cause it's, , seven days of , creation, sacraments, , the heavenly bodies at that
• 2:02
  time, seven of them were able to be seen.
• 2:04
  So that was the origin of the Seven Fishes.
• 2:06
  And it's a variety of.
• 2:07
  Fishes,, but I'm so proud of it because for several years now, Azure
• 2:11
  has done a Feast of the Seven Fishes.
• 2:14
  Nancy May: Well, wait a second.
• 2:15
  I've got one for you.
• 2:16
  'cause I think we figured out that alligator was considered.
• 2:20
  fish at some point when you couldn't eat fish.
• 2:22
  Right.
• 2:22
  So maybe we can
• 2:24
  Sylvia Lovely: I
• 2:25
  love that.
• 2:26
  Nancy May: fishy gator along the way and make it a southern deal
• 2:29
  Sylvia Lovely: Uh, okay.
• 2:29
  I think I will pass on that.
• 2:31
  We used to do it as a big family style thing, like 40 people
• 2:34
  around tables put together.
• 2:36
  People didn't like that.
• 2:37
  Isn't that interesting?
• 2:38
  They didn't like sitting by people they didn't know, which I think is a
• 2:41
  shame, except if you've ever been at a dinner party and you got placed besides,
• 2:46
  have you ever been in a conversation where you did all the conversation?
• 2:49
  Nancy May: Oh God,
• 2:50
  Sylvia Lovely: it, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:52
  Nancy May: I think you had a date like that once,
• 2:53
  Sylvia Lovely: I did.
• 2:55
  I was the perpetrator.
• 2:56
  But you , to try to sit there and talk to someone who doesn't wanna talk to
• 3:00
  you, but it's kind of a shame because it's supposed to be a family kind
• 3:03
  Nancy May: Social.
• 3:04
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
• 3:05
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 3:06
  So anyway, that's kind of one of the big signing stars of the
• 3:09
  Northeast, miss Northeasterner, as opposed to a Noreastern.
• 3:14
  Nancy May: Yeah.
• 3:14
  well, we get those too in the wintertime with snow, but that's for another show.
• 3:18
  Sylvia Lovely: But then we have the south, and there you are
• 3:20
  in Florida with your Gators
• 3:22
  Nancy May: That's right.
• 3:23
  Go Gators.
• 3:23
  Sylvia Lovely: all that kinda stuff.
• 3:24
  What I'm most interested in there is the Hoppin' John.
• 3:27
  And I have a recipe, that I sent to you and , it's everywhere.
• 3:31
  I mean, we serve it here, , kind of health oriented restaurants, serve,
• 3:35
  Hoppin' John, and sort of the major pieces of that is a ham hock.
• 3:39
  And , different kinds of beans and a lot of wonderful spices.
• 3:43
  And,, it comes out of, this is fascinating.
• 3:46
  The Gullah Geechee, I, I, I have to almost look at it to say it, which is along
• 3:51
  the coast of the US South Carolina being kind of the epicenter of that culture.
• 3:55
  It's African American, , former slaves, , from.
• 3:58
  west and Central Africa and they have created a whole culture
• 4:03
  around, have you ever heard of the rice that's famous out of there?
• 4:06
  Rice Oka collared greens, but it's, uh, Carolina Gold.
• 4:11
  Yes.
• 4:12
  Nancy May: Yes.
• 4:13
  Very famous brand.
• 4:14
  Absolutely.
• 4:15
  Sylvia Lovely: And it, it's wonderful.
• 4:16
  And , Carolina Gold is very expensive and they keep it that way.
• 4:21
  It's like old saved seeds that they brought forward, and it's a
• 4:24
  particularly delicious, nutty, flavored, creamy, all that kind of stuff.
• 4:29
  So it sound
• 4:29
  Nancy May: So it's like a heritage rice then.
• 4:31
  Sylvia Lovely: It's a heritage, rice
• 4:32
  gold, California Gold, or California gold.
• 4:35
  Listen to me.
• 4:36
  Uh,
• 4:36
  Nancy May: Carolina Gold.
• 4:38
  Sylvia Lovely: Carolina, I'm
• 4:39
  Nancy May: your mouth girl.
• 4:40
  It's not California.
• 4:42
  Sylvia Lovely: Sorry, Carol Carolina.
• 4:45
  Nancy May: Well, you've got Kentucky too.
• 4:46
  You mentioned jam cake when we were chatting and, I have
• 4:49
  never heard of jam cake.
• 4:51
  Sylvia Lovely: Jam cake.
• 4:51
  , I've seen it.
• 4:52
  My grandmother would make it, and it has several layers, but the reason
• 4:56
  it's called Kentucky is the Germans.
• 4:58
  This is at least as the myth, I don't know if it's true, I wasn't along for
• 5:02
  the ride, but the German population, they settled mostly in Cincinnati, but
• 5:07
  as they came, so more south, which is where we are in Appalachia, is south.
• 5:11
  Then they were looking for black walnut trees.
• 5:14
  Why?
• 5:15
  Because that meant the soil was rich.
• 5:17
  Now, I know we have tons of walnut trees around here, because I've
• 5:20
  had 'em clunk on my head when I've gone for a walk in the fall.
• 5:23
  But , what Kentucky's is, , it's a spicy, kind of boozy, kind of juicy blackberry
• 5:29
  jam layers, and the Kentucky Jam is really most famous for Blackberry.
• 5:34
  It's our state.
• 5:35
  Berry, ? So blackberry jam, it has to be the real thing.
• 5:38
  Nuts and spice cake, obviously walnuts,
• 5:42
  Nancy May: and put a little bourbon in there too.
• 5:43
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh, I say if you are a good kentuckian, you
• 5:46
  would, but it has that definite.
• 5:48
  , And it says other facts about say that if you don't use homemade
• 5:51
  jam, and this is like a warning, the jam will sink to the bottom.
• 5:56
  Well, that's because if you go buy store-bought, you don't buy, store-bought.
• 6:00
  You do the jam that grandma makes.
• 6:02
  , And unlike a lot of other jam cakes, which are layered Kentucky
• 6:05
  jam cakes, mixes it all together.
• 6:07
  And
• 6:07
  Nancy May: So you mix the jam into the batter?
• 6:10
  Sylvia Lovely: That's what they say.
• 6:10
  I'd love for our listeners to confirm that if they've actually made it.
• 6:13
  , It says a sweet, tangy flavor and, uh, I love this part.
• 6:17
  Covered in caramel,
• 6:19
  Nancy May: Oh.
• 6:19
  You know, I think we're going to have to give this assignment to Meredith to learn.
• 6:24
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh yes.
• 6:25
  I've checked in with Meredith, by the way.
• 6:27
  Had a birthday dinner with Meredith and I said, are you still cooking?
• 6:31
  Yes, she said, I'm a machine.
• 6:33
  I'm cooking all the time.
• 6:35
  Nancy May: A bread machine.
• 6:37
  Sylvia Lovely: I am surprised that DoorDash hasn't gone outta business
• 6:39
  since Meredith started cooking.
• 6:42
  Nancy May: That's funny.
• 6:43
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh, yeah.
• 6:44
  So , we went to a restaurant for her birthday, but she's having a
• 6:48
  Christmas event and cooking for it.
• 6:50
  So I'll get a
• 6:51
  Nancy May: Whoa.
• 6:52
  Meredith is taking on the big challenge.
• 6:55
  You go, girl.
• 6:56
  Yeah.
• 6:56
  For those who are listening and don't know Meredith, Meredith is our convert.
• 7:01
  I'll call her who didn't cook.
• 7:03
  She would always bring the paper plates to the party and well, we helped her
• 7:08
  turn that tide or turn that page, and she's got a lot of stories to go along
• 7:13
  the way, which I'm very proud of.
• 7:15
  Sylvia Lovely: Does that mean we're influencers?
• 7:17
  Nancy May: Oh, well, certainly on Meredith, but anyway, speaking
• 7:21
  Sylvia Lovely: come on.
• 7:21
  Take a walk of pride.
• 7:23
  You're an influencer.
• 7:24
  I love
• 7:24
  Nancy May: Right, right.
• 7:25
  Yeah.
• 7:26
  Sylvia Lovely: Uh, what about Scandinavian influence?
• 7:28
  I think that's kind of
• 7:29
  an
• 7:30
  Nancy May: well that is interesting.
• 7:32
  if you've listened to our Hanukkah show, we talked with Madelena,
• 7:36
  who is of Scandinavian Jewish descent, which is a, rather small.
• 7:41
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
• 7:41
  Cohort.
• 7:41
  Mm-hmm.
• 7:42
  Nancy May: she does a lot of mixing of the Scandinavian foods and the
• 7:47
  traditional Jewish holiday traditions.
• 7:49
  So that was fascinating.
• 7:51
  But I guess, Minnesota is also a big thing too.
• 7:54
  It's not just Jewish,
• 7:55
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, lots of that.
• 7:56
  in fact, Duluth, where my son is, is why I'm more familiar with this.
• 8:00
  So I got to talking one day in the hotel restaurant to a lady who
• 8:04
  was there for the Scandinavian.
• 8:06
  Festival and the foods that they served at the Scandinavian festival , and they
• 8:10
  were from a small town in Minnesota.
• 8:12
  They had traveled to Duluth, which is on Lake Superior.
• 8:14
  And she talked about all the things like Swedish meatballs, you know,
• 8:17
  this is interesting what they serve at holiday time, crisp pork belly.
• 8:22
  I don't think of that as Scandanavian
• 8:23
  Nancy May: Ooh.
• 8:24
  No, , I would think fish more, right?
• 8:25
  So I do know that I've got some friends over the years who were scan,
• 8:29
  or are Scandinavian and Norwegian.
• 8:32
  , Bob's cousin is from that, well, her husband's from that region north of
• 8:36
  the Arctic Circle in Trumso, Norway.
• 8:39
  In fact, when we first met him, , we asked where he lived and he, drew
• 8:42
  the line in the Arctic circle.
• 8:43
  He said, see that?
• 8:44
  He said, yes.
• 8:45
  I live way north of that.
• 8:47
  So,
• 8:48
  Sylvia Lovely: Wow.
• 8:48
  Hearty soul.
• 8:49
  Nancy May: but there's a cold water shrimp that I know the, Swedish people love,
• 8:55
  and it's , tiny and, very, very sweet compared to the shrimp that we're used
• 8:59
  to down here in, more of the southern region that are big, meaty shrimpy things.
• 9:03
  Right.
• 9:03
  You know, technical terms, shrimpy things.
• 9:05
  Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
• 9:06
  Yeah.
• 9:07
  Oh, tiny.
• 9:08
  Oh, I
• 9:08
  love that.
• 9:09
  Nancy May: teeny tiny.
• 9:09
  Yeah.
• 9:10
  But
• 9:10
  Sylvia Lovely: You wanna Uh, you wanna hear a preparation that
• 9:12
  makes me like say, I don't want it.
• 9:14
  It's dried.
• 9:15
  white fish.
• 9:16
  Soaked, soaked in lie Seriously.
• 9:19
  Nancy May: yeah, that is that Luda Fish.
• 9:21
  Lu Lu.
• 9:22
  Sylvia Lovely: Well, it's called, yes, it's called Luta Fish.
• 9:25
  Nancy May: Luda Fish.
• 9:25
  Yes, I've heard about that.
• 9:26
  Yeah.
• 9:27
  No, it doesn't make me think that's good.
• 9:28
  Sylvia Lovely: Kind of.
• 9:29
  Gelatin kind of texture.
• 9:31
  Um, and I'm like, no, I don't think so.
• 9:33
  But , these Scandinavians look pretty healthy.
• 9:36
  Nancy May: I know , I could maybe choke down a bite, but,
• 9:40
  Sylvia Lovely: one last one I wanna mention because it's just
• 9:42
  familiar to me, is Getta, and it's a, and a huge German influence.
• 9:46
  Oh, by the way, uh, my brother did one of those ancestry things.
• 9:49
  I'm part German.
• 9:50
  Nancy May: oh
• 9:51
  Sylvia Lovely: Huh.
• 9:51
  Nancy May: ya.
• 9:52
  You
• 9:52
  are
• 9:52
  German
• 9:53
  Sylvia Lovely: me,
• 9:55
  me.
• 9:55
  I guess they're short and, you know, I don't know, you know that
• 9:58
  'cause I am, well, well I am, Irish, Scots English and German.
• 10:02
  but it's spam like, , but it's a combination of pork, beef and steel cut
• 10:06
  oats, which we've already had a show on oats and it's in the Cincinnati region.
• 10:11
  And it's pretty good.
• 10:12
  It's like they cook it as in sausage patties, so serve it a lot with
• 10:15
  breakfast foods and then have it on holidays too, because Getta just
• 10:20
  real popular in Northern Kentucky and
• 10:22
  Cincinnati.
• 10:23
  Nancy May: they, make it like blood sausage 'cause I think they do
• 10:25
  the same thing with blood sausage, with, oats in, it there as well.
• 10:29
  But
• 10:29
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh.
• 10:29
  Nancy May: never, had that,
• 10:30
  Sylvia Lovely: I don't want it.
• 10:32
  Nancy May: yeah.
• 10:32
  Sylvia Lovely: I don't want it.
• 10:33
  Nancy May: Yeah.
• 10:34
  Sylvia Lovely: Anything says blood in it.
• 10:35
  I wanna stay away from
• 10:37
  Nancy May: No, no, but, on that note, we also have the holidays.
• 10:42
  Have you ever received a food as a gift
• 10:44
  Sylvia Lovely: Yes, I've forgotten chocolates.
• 10:46
  I've gotten big, giant hams.
• 10:49
  I've gotten like two hams, in one holiday and gave the one of
• 10:52
  them away because they're big.
• 10:54
  Right.
• 10:55
  but yeah.
• 10:55
  Yeah.
• 10:56
  And cookies.
• 10:56
  And then my neighbor makes stolen bread.
• 10:59
  Nancy May: Oh, that's a big deal.
• 11:02
  I love,
• 11:02
  stolen.
• 11:03
  Sylvia Lovely: He learned how to make it.
• 11:05
  At a festival in Germany that he was touring, they go and they
• 11:08
  tour in, in Europe and it was really tasty and ,, it's related,
• 11:12
  by the way, to the fruitcake.
• 11:13
  Nancy May: That I didn't know.
• 11:14
  So every Christmas morning growing up, we had stolen because my dad's
• 11:19
  dad side of the family was German.
• 11:22
  And we'd sing, well, he would sing the Christmas carols like O
• 11:25
  Tannenbaum and things like that.
• 11:27
  And some of the German.
• 11:29
  , Christmas carols in German.
• 11:31
  As he remembered, but it was always stolen and eggs in the morning,
• 11:34
  and so I brought that tradition.
• 11:36
  When Bob and I got married, I made it once, I'm not sure it was traditional,
• 11:41
  so I have to get your friend's recipe
• 11:42
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, it was really good and I had never had it before, but it
• 11:45
  does have those little fruit bits in it,
• 11:47
  Nancy May: and dusted with sugar and buttery and it's, yeah, it's delicious
• 11:52
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
• 11:52
  so Fruitcakes . Panton, which is a sweet Italian bread.
• 11:56
  Yeah.
• 11:56
  Sweet bread.
• 11:57
  But, um, you know, we could not talk about food gifts at holiday
• 12:02
  time without mentioning the good old fruitcake, don't you think
• 12:05
  Nancy May: I agree.
• 12:06
  Oh, my parents once got a fruitcake as a gift from friends.
• 12:09
  I guess they were clients of my dad or vendors in Texas, and
• 12:13
  the fruitcake was in the shape.
• 12:15
  Of Texas and a big old cherry, like one of those candy cherries was right in the
• 12:20
  center where the capital was in Austin.
• 12:23
  It was the best darn fruitcake I've ever had,
• 12:26
  I like.
• 12:26
  Fruitcake, so yeah.
• 12:27
  Sylvia Lovely: I see I, my dad loved fruit cake, but there's a big
• 12:30
  joke that started by Johnny Carson.
• 12:32
  If you are under 40, you don't know who Johnny was, but he was
• 12:35
  a big late night star, right?
• 12:36
  And he famously said, there is only one fruit cake in the world, and
• 12:40
  everyone just passes it around.
• 12:42
  Nancy May: Yeah.
• 12:43
  Well, , and it's probably well pickled with some sort of
• 12:45
  Sylvia Lovely: Spirits.
• 12:46
  Yeah,
• 12:47
  Nancy May: they put ram in it
• 12:48
  Sylvia Lovely: yeah, yeah.
• 12:49
  It's real popular in the Caribbean, , for that reason.
• 12:52
  But,, the oldest one though, it was baked during the Hayes
• 12:54
  Presidential Administration at 1878, and it still exists.
• 12:58
  I don't know if you can eat it or not.
• 13:00
  Nancy May: where is it?
• 13:00
  We gotta search right?
• 13:02
  Sylvia Lovely: That's,
• 13:02
  Nancy May: right?
• 13:04
  , Sylvia Lovely: But the Romans invented fruitcake because it was an energy 'cause
• 13:08
  remember, uh, what all it's got in it.
• 13:09
  It's got all these fruit bits and all of that, and it's really
• 13:13
  sustainable because it lasts forever,
• 13:15
  Nancy May: So it was like your first granola bar with fruit,
• 13:17
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, I, so it's a Roman, Roman energy bar, but, they say
• 13:21
  it's declining here in the us but they still sell about 2 million every year.
• 13:25
  I call it the default gift.
• 13:27
  , That was started by the US Postal Service in 1896.
• 13:32
  They opened up mail service to the rural parts of the country and
• 13:35
  fruitcake, boomed as a result of that.
• 13:38
  Nancy May: So I'm gonna have a theory that if the US Postal System promoted.
• 13:43
  Well, they may not have promoted, but they did a lot of shipping.
• 13:46
  A fruitcake if you're paying by the pound to move something.
• 13:49
  Sylvia Lovely: I know.
• 13:51
  Nancy May: Maybe it was a way to, , increase the pension rolls
• 13:56
  Sylvia Lovely: exactly.
• 13:57
  Nancy May: was,
• 13:58
  Sylvia Lovely: So what do you think are the most popular, , gifts?
• 14:01
  What do you think?
• 14:01
  Food, gifts?
• 14:02
  . There are two kind of food gifts.
• 14:03
  One is the hostess gift and the other's just.
• 14:06
  That you give people, right?
• 14:07
  So what do you
• 14:08
  Nancy May: Well, , we've got a few gifts that we have dealt with over
• 14:11
  the years and Bob's grandfather, used to send us every year, apparently it
• 14:16
  was a tradition before I got there.
• 14:18
  Obviously Grandpa Dunn, the Hickory Farms,
• 14:21
  Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
• 14:22
  Nancy May: The sausage and cheese boxes, and when we first got
• 14:26
  one I looked at this and said.
• 14:28
  Really, are we supposed to like this?
• 14:33
  Sylvia Lovely: My Dad loved them!
• 14:33
  Nancy May: One before.
• 14:35
  Then we waited till we had a party and we started to slice and taste it
• 14:39
  before guests get figuring like, okay, let's see if this is really good.
• 14:42
  I have to tell you, I was hooked.
• 14:43
  I couldn't wait for every year thereafter to get the Hickory Farms gift box or the
• 14:48
  gift box of cheeses and smoked things.
• 14:51
  And then when Grandpa Dunn died at, I think he was just like a week or so away
• 14:55
  from his hundred and second birthday, so.
• 14:58
  I thank you.
• 14:59
  Hillshire Farms or Hickory, Hickory smoke farms, whatever, Hillshire,
• 15:04
  Hickory Farms, Swiss Colony, all those kind of companies that do that.
• 15:08
  Then his stepmom, Barbara gave us the boxes came out and so, but when Barbara
• 15:15
  passed and we had to go get our own.
• 15:18
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh.
• 15:18
  Nancy May: our own, so
• 15:20
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh, ah.
• 15:21
  You should have buried a box with him, but
• 15:23
  yeah, you know.
• 15:24
  Do you remember getting your Harry and David catalogs?
• 15:27
  I don't get 'em anymore
• 15:28
  Nancy May: Oh, I do remember the Harry.
• 15:29
  I used to, I never bought anything for anybody, but I certainly,
• 15:33
  I like looking at the catalogs,
• 15:35
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh, they're so pretty.
• 15:36
  And then they've expanded.
• 15:37
  I've just seen them fleetingly, but they serve everything now, like meats.
• 15:42
  And you can get anything.
• 15:43
  You can get anything, you know, like Omaha steaks
• 15:46
  Nancy May: Oh, and now I have done Omaha.
• 15:48
  I have given Omaha steaks, so
• 15:50
  Sylvia Lovely: How do you do that?
• 15:51
  Nancy May: Well, it's pretty interesting 'cause I, we got one ourselves once from
• 15:54
  Bob's brother, and here's what they do.
• 15:57
  They, they basically send everything in this big styrofoam box.
• 16:01
  It's very thick styrofoam, like a, like a cooler with some dry ice
• 16:05
  and, or I think, I don't know if it's dry ice or regular ice, but it's
• 16:08
  cold when it arrives, even if it's
• 16:10
  down south.
• 16:10
  And all sorts of delicious things that were in there.
• 16:13
  We had mini sticks and things, but I would get them every year for all of the
• 16:17
  aids that took , care of mom and dad, as well as bonus things that they got.
• 16:21
  But my focus on this was they did so much to cook and take care of, and,
• 16:27
  support my parents over those years.
• 16:29
  That I wanted to give them something so that they wouldn't have to cook.
• 16:32
  It was all sort of packaged that their family could put it on the
• 16:36
  grill or would do whatever and they could just enjoy something special.
• 16:39
  So yeah, I think they, I hope they enjoyed that.
• 16:42
  But um, that was kind of fun to give.
• 16:44
  So I'm a hosts
• 16:45
  Sylvia Lovely: Okay.
• 16:46
  Now do you watch, uh, okay, I'm gonna make a confession here.
• 16:50
  I incorporate jokes from really good sitcoms
• 16:53
  Nancy May: well wait a second.
• 16:54
  Can we stop before you make
• 16:56
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
• 16:57
  Nancy May: confession
• 16:58
  Sylvia Lovely: am gonna make the confession after
• 16:59
  Nancy May: and you're gonna make a confession, but we're going to
• 17:02
  keep everybody on hold for just a minute because beyond holiday gifts, well
• 17:09
  beyond holiday food gifts, you might wanna get a book and here's that story.
• 17:14
  We'll be right back.
• 17:31
  Okay.
• 17:32
  Sylvia, I
• 17:33
  Sylvia Lovely: Okay.
• 17:33
  Nancy May: what your, you're confessing to Nancy and to the world of our listeners.
• 17:39
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, I know.
• 17:41
  Nancy May: Father Jim?
• 17:41
  When we need him, right.
• 17:42
  Sylvia Lovely: yeah, really, really,
• 17:44
  I watch sitcoms, really quality ones where the acting is just amazing 'cause
• 17:48
  you learn so much about comedy technique.
• 17:51
  And one of them, though, I don't watch much anymore, but used to is Raymond.
• 17:54
  Nancy May: Oh yeah, I was about to say, are there
• 17:56
  Sylvia Lovely: well.
• 17:56
  Nancy May: that comes?
• 17:57
  I guess there are.
• 17:58
  Sylvia Lovely: They really are Frazier, they're just beautiful little sitcoms.
• 18:01
  But anyway, this one, there's two episodes dealing with the parents,
• 18:06
  which who are real characters, real independent, crazy, all that
• 18:10
  kinda stuff, and all their antics.
• 18:11
  But one year they got a Harry and David Fruit of the Month.
• 18:16
  and the show was just all about a fruit of the month.
• 18:20
  Who would eat a fruit of the month?
• 18:22
  We don't need that.
• 18:24
  But the even better one is they got them a toaster one year and
• 18:28
  they took it back to the store
• 18:30
  and you know, and again, give it, yeah.
• 18:32
  I mean they were that irreverent, right?
• 18:34
  But then they found out that it had been engraved with
• 18:36
  Raymond's family's names on it.
• 18:38
  Nancy May: No.
• 18:40
  Sylvia Lovely: And it showed 'em going through the warehouse
• 18:42
  looking for this toaster that they had accidentally returned.
• 18:45
  Anyway, those are funny kinds of gifts.
• 18:47
  'cause some people like the Harry and David Fruit of the month.
• 18:50
  I haven't ever gotten one, but you have pretty fruit.
• 18:53
  Nancy May: And wine.
• 18:53
  So , I will take the wine, , of the month, please.
• 18:56
  Thank you very much.
• 18:57
  So if you're thinking about me,
• 18:58
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah,
• 18:59
  Nancy May: you can do that.
• 19:00
  You know the interesting thing about wine of the month is that
• 19:03
  when they do those, , Wall Street Journal and other companies, do
• 19:06
  the, or predominantly publishers do that, here's how they do this.
• 19:10
  This is kind of interesting.
• 19:11
  So they typically work with small producers and you can't buy those wines.
• 19:17
  Elsewhere.
• 19:17
  You get them in your packages and when you try and go look for them, it's like,
• 19:21
  oh my God, that was a really good wine.
• 19:22
  You can't find it again.
• 19:24
  Because they cater to those.
• 19:26
  So we've had friends who've done that and we've had some great wines with that.
• 19:29
  They've
• 19:29
  gotten, but yep, yep.
• 19:31
  Sylvia Lovely: that's fascinating.
• 19:32
  Nancy May: Yeah.
• 19:32
  So can I tell you about another gift?
• 19:34
  So this is a gift that is , we're gonna switch to homemade gifts because not
• 19:40
  everybody likes homemade gifts, but this is a homemade one and I mentioned
• 19:44
  it, I think I mentioned it last year.
• 19:45
  But this is Bob's gift.
• 19:47
  It's Santa's secret flying sauce, he learned this, it's actually written up in
• 19:52
  our book, but he learned how to make this, I think from one of his old, , police
• 19:57
  captains when he was a police officer.
• 19:59
  In days gone by, I think we make it better, but.
• 20:02
  It's basically homemade Bailey's.
• 20:05
  And then he didn't have a name for it.
• 20:06
  It was just, he called it homemade Bailey's.
• 20:08
  And then when he met me, I said, well, you can't just give that
• 20:10
  away with the name Bailey's on it.
• 20:12
  We have to create , a new name for it.
• 20:14
  So I nicknamed it Santa's Secret Flying Sauce because this stuff is so potent
• 20:20
  that this is all Santa needs to drink to get around the globe in 24 hours and back.
• 20:26
  In fact, we've seen it work on attitudes of friends who have not had
• 20:30
  such a good attitude end up leaving with a very good attitude at the end.
• 20:35
  Sylvia Lovely: Ah, so it's a, it's a sauce or a drink.
• 20:38
  Nancy May: it's a drink, it's homemade be, I'll put the recipe,
• 20:40
  in the show notes, so we'll
• 20:42
  Sylvia Lovely: Homemade Bailey's.
• 20:43
  So you're a re you are a, uh, oh, what do you call those?
• 20:46
  Um, you don't have a still out in your, uh, your making your backyard.
• 20:51
  Bailey's
• 20:53
  Nancy May: It puts a new word on, or a new definition , on the word stiff
• 20:57
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh,
• 20:59
  Nancy May: or relaxed.
• 21:01
  Just relax and drink this.
• 21:02
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh.
• 21:03
  Nancy May: the sauce.
• 21:04
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, well, you know, uh, hostess gifts.
• 21:07
  This one I liked.
• 21:08
  a jello mode, , was g brought by an aunt year after year and one year she said,
• 21:13
  well, I don't know if I can bring it.
• 21:15
  And everybody broke into cheers.
• 21:18
  She brought two the next year
• 21:21
  Nancy May: I love that.
• 21:22
  That's hysterical.
• 21:23
  Oh
• 21:23
  Sylvia Lovely: I know.
• 21:25
  careful what you cheer for.
• 21:27
  Nancy May: right.
• 21:27
  So, and then of course, chocolates, chocolates and wine are always
• 21:31
  Sylvia Lovely: Chocolate and wine and, and together, uh, you know, they're great.
• 21:34
  , I could not let this show goodbye though that I don't mention the
• 21:37
  lowly orange, during the depression, the orange was a delicacy.
• 21:42
  And I remember my mother and father saying on occasion they got an orange
• 21:46
  for Christmas and that was all they got.
• 21:48
  And people would send home an orange, , and send that back to the families
• 21:53
  that were, impacted by the depression
• 21:55
  Nancy May: So the orange.
• 21:56
  Sylvia Lovely: don't care.
• 21:57
  Nancy May: Yep.
• 21:57
  The orange was always in the toe of our stockings.
• 22:00
  And , my husband said that when growing up, they had them
• 22:03
  in the toes of their stock.
• 22:04
  I guess that's better than coal.
• 22:06
  Or you know, the, the families that have the snowbirds in the
• 22:09
  early days and send you back.
• 22:10
  Boxes or the cartons of the oranges.
• 22:13
  One year we had, some hunters, or some folks who wanted to hunt our
• 22:16
  property up in Connecticut for deer, and we said, fine, because they were
• 22:21
  getting a little un unruly if, if you were upset with hunting, I'm
• 22:25
  sorry, , if you eat meat, then.
• 22:26
  You know, so be it E Ex. Exactly.
• 22:30
  But , that's not to put anybody down who does or doesn't.
• 22:33
  So they sent us as a gift, not just , some venison, which they had gotten
• 22:38
  enough of, but they also sent us a big carton, , one of those gigantic boxes.
• 22:43
  Oranges from Florida, which was lovely except our mailman
• 22:47
  crammed them into our mailbox.
• 22:50
  Now we had a big mailbox, but are like trying to pry that thing out.
• 22:54
  Don't ever try and pry, first of all, if you work for the postal system, don't cram
• 23:00
  or just in somebody's mailbox, because we needed a crowbar to take it out.
• 23:04
  I think we probably ended up with more orange juice than orange juice
• 23:07
  Sylvia Lovely: had orange juice coated, uh, mail delivery.
• 23:11
  I love that.
• 23:12
  Um, you know, they're, uh, people re-gifting things.
• 23:15
  That's another interesting thing.
• 23:17
  Nancy May: food.
• 23:17
  That's kind of hard though.
• 23:19
  Sylvia Lovely: That's hard, but like a candle.
• 23:20
  I mean, how many candles have you gotten?
• 23:22
  How many coffee cups have you gotten?
• 23:23
  And that's sweet.
• 23:24
  It's a good gesture, but a lot of people will give those candles
• 23:27
  away ' cause they get so many of them.
• 23:29
  And, sometimes it's ended up with the person who gave the gift.
• 23:32
  'cause
• 23:32
  that's the cardinal sin.
• 23:34
  You're not supposed to let the person know that it was, a gift.
• 23:37
  So, that it was their gift you, that you're regifting.
• 23:40
  'cause it's okay to regift if, you are very careful about it.
• 23:43
  Like maybe a distant cousin or somewhere and you take the candle and give it away.
• 23:47
  'cause you want something to be used, right.
• 23:49
  Nancy May: we had a lot of dusty candles.
• 23:50
  Yes.
• 23:51
  Sylvia Lovely: Now, I don't know about you, but I don't buy new gift bags all
• 23:54
  the time because they're so expensive.
• 23:56
  So I read gift and gift bags, but I try to be careful to make sure
• 24:00
  their name of the other person's not
• 24:03
  Nancy May: Taken off of it.
• 24:04
  Yeah, I've done that too.
• 24:05
  Absolutely.
• 24:06
  Sylvia Lovely: So there you go.
• 24:06
  Nancy May: So I have one, story that,, needs to be said before we, wrap
• 24:11
  up, but I know you've got one too.
• 24:12
  But,, we had the story of traveling Jack now traveling Jack was this
• 24:18
  container, you know, like sometimes they have round paper containers,
• 24:22
  almost like tubes for wine and.
• 24:24
  The name of the person who got traveling, Jack would go on the list and then
• 24:28
  you'd send that traveling jack with a bottle of wine to somebody else's.
• 24:32
  And apparently traveling, Jack is traveling the world.
• 24:34
  So if you see my name somewhere along the line on this long lineup of a
• 24:39
  carton that looks like a snowman called Traveling Jack, it was in our house.
• 24:44
  So you might wanna try your own traveling Jack in Kentucky.
• 24:47
  Sylvia Lovely: I love that.
• 24:49
  That's Oh, yeah, so, so kind, kind of weird gifts.
• 24:53
  Let me, let me get onto that.
• 24:55
  my husband's, for some reason, he got a can of tomato soup from a relative
• 25:00
  with a handkerchief.
• 25:01
  Nancy May: soup.
• 25:02
  Sylvia Lovely: A Campbell soup and it was given to him by this family member.
• 25:05
  And they were really young and I think they just didn't know.
• 25:07
  They knew he liked tomato soup, right?
• 25:09
  But Bernie's mother was a tease.
• 25:11
  So every Christmas thereafter for 10 years, he got a can of tomato
• 25:16
  soup wrapped in the handkerchief.
• 25:18
  So that was a good one.
• 25:20
  But here's one of my favorite ones is, , the corporate gift.
• 25:23
  You know, you don't look at it, you just order it and
• 25:25
  have it delivered to somebody.
• 25:27
  Right?
• 25:27
  Well, it was delivered to all the employees.
• 25:30
  And in the basket with all the fruit and meats or whatever was in it, A raw potato.
• 25:35
  Nancy May: Oh,
• 25:36
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
• 25:37
  So they started comparing notes and everybody got a raw potato, but they
• 25:42
  were like, does it have a message?
• 25:44
  Uh, you know, is it, is it, is it a, does that mean it's a spud, I'm a dud?
• 25:48
  I mean, what does that mean?
• 25:52
  So anyway, they found out it was packed at where the packing thing was.
• 25:57
  Accidentally got a potato put in every one of them.
• 26:00
  Is that
• 26:01
  Nancy May: Yeah, a lot of
• 26:02
  corporate, a lot of corporations give out turkeys and hams
• 26:05
  and others at the holidays.
• 26:06
  We've seen those as well, and I have given out food as, or given food as a
• 26:12
  corporate gift in the past and one year.
• 26:15
  For a Wall Street client, I found these, you know, the, the giant Whitman's
• 26:20
  chocolates, you know, Whitman's chocolates that you get in the grocery store and
• 26:23
  you just think like old fashioned, right?
• 26:25
  It, it just reminds you of Grandma.
• 26:27
  That's it.
• 26:27
  Well, I happened to find one that was a 10 pound box, and it's huge.
• 26:31
  It's like the size of my desk, but it's only one layer.
• 26:35
  But the size alone just made me laugh hysterically.
• 26:38
  So I'll see.
• 26:39
  I thought, oh, let's see how much of a sense of humor these folks have.
• 26:42
  So I sent them this giant box and then I got a call back.
• 26:47
  with everybody was in laughter
• 26:49
  thinking they, they thought that was the best guest they had ever gotten.
• 26:52
  And they put it in the conference room and they were all
• 26:55
  like, do we just take a bite?
• 26:56
  And if we don't like it, put it back?
• 26:57
  back
• 26:59
  Sylvia Lovely: I love that.
• 27:00
  Nancy May: So, , and we found some more of them.
• 27:03
  So I've got a few folks that are gonna get some giant 10 pound
• 27:07
  boxes of old fashioned Whitman's
• 27:09
  Sylvia Lovely: I've never seen one of those.
• 27:10
  I've seen the compact boxes.
• 27:11
  Okay, so final story, final question.
• 27:14
  What do you get people who have everything.
• 27:17
  What would you get?
• 27:17
  Elon Musk
• 27:21
  isn't either world's
• 27:22
  first billionaire.
• 27:23
  I mean, what would you give him?
• 27:24
  Nancy May: I, uh, you know, um, um, moon pies right
• 27:28
  Sylvia Lovely: Moon pies.
• 27:29
  Nancy May: to the moon, Elon to the moon.
• 27:32
  Sylvia Lovely: How about Mars bars?
• 27:33
  Nancy May: Mars bars.
• 27:34
  Okay.
• 27:34
  That's a good one too.
• 27:35
  Right?
• 27:36
  So Mars a little further, but I like moon pies and Mars bars.
• 27:38
  I think we should get 'em a box of those.
• 27:40
  Sylvia Lovely: yeah.
• 27:41
  Put us on the map.
• 27:41
  Nancy May: what about Bezos?
• 27:42
  What would you
• 27:43
  Sylvia Lovely: Oh, I don't know what to do with him.
• 27:45
  Uh, one idea was three hot sauces, mercury Mind, , mild Mercury mind, Venus
• 27:51
  Volcano or Mars meltdown with a note.
• 27:54
  Nancy May: I think that goes back to Bezos and Elon.
• 27:57
  We can send them to the moon doll and send them to the moon.
• 28:00
  Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
• 28:00
  So anyway, that, I don't know what you do for those guys.
• 28:03
  I mean, I,
• 28:03
  don't think I'll be asked though.
• 28:05
  Nancy May: no, no, and, and I I am not sure I'm gonna be going up with
• 28:09
  either one of them anytime soon.
• 28:10
  Sylvia Lovely: No.
• 28:11
  I'll, I'll take care of my earthly traditions first.
• 28:15
  Nancy May: I would agree with that.
• 28:17
  So on that note, if you are creating some ideas or, lacking
• 28:22
  ideas for gifts for the holidays, why not consider some food gifts?
• 28:26
  Why?
• 28:27
  Well, food gives carry history, right?
• 28:29
  . We talked a little bit about the history of the food cake and the Romans, so
• 28:33
  there is a tradition way back when, and the right gift is personal.
• 28:38
  It's thoughtful and it's universal because if you put thought into anything, even
• 28:43
  if it's a Whitmans chocolate box that's size of your desk, it makes you laugh.
• 28:49
  And if it's wine or just something, it doesn't matter
• 28:51
  the thought that you put into it
• 28:52
  Sylvia Lovely: Absolutely
• 28:53
  Nancy May: it versus just tossing one out
• 28:54
  Sylvia Lovely: Absolutely.
• 28:55
  Yeah.
• 28:56
  I love that.
• 28:57
  I love the idea of gifting.
• 28:59
  I, you know, I've started my list, I go into my list and, it's just
• 29:03
  a wonderful time of the year.
• 29:04
  Yeah.
• 29:05
  I love it.
• 29:05
  Nancy May: And food gifts always come with a story.
• 29:08
  They can be funny, they can be messy, they can be nostalgic, and that's what
• 29:11
  we're all about because every meal has a story and every story has a feast, We'll
• 29:17
  see you soon and we'll hear you soon.
• 29:20
  Bye-bye.