Most of you have recipes that only come out at the holidays. Maybe because they are more involved and time consuming, or maybe because you just want to keep them special. If you made The Most Amazing Crab Dip every month of the year, it just wouldn't have the same significance as it does at Christmas. Same in my family. Around the turn of the century (how fun to say that - I sound like I should be wearing petticoats or something) my mom started making egg rolls. Like, really really good egg rolls. She probably clipped the recipe out of the newspaper and thought she'd give them a whirl. Remember clipping recipes out of newspapers? Does anyone still do that? The first year she made them for us at Christmas, we were freaking out they were so good. Better than many Chinese restaurants in fact. I would tease my mom and say she must have been a Chinese grandma in a former life. She just smiled at me. "Oh, Renee" she would say.
