[From the 2025 Fall Magazine]

Hello My Foodie Friends!

It’s the holiday season and it’s time for all the activities that reflect our traditions, gift-giving, and sharing time with those we love. For many of us, the holidays generate some of our most vivid memories. It can be funny the interesting things that stick with us. It's often not at all the presents or the eggnog. It could be a story of spying on “Santa” setting up the presents in the living room, or the first time you watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart or watching it with a group of family or friends crammed on a couch.

When I was a young boy, I shared a small bedroom with my two other brothers Danny and Billy. We had made a pact to finally catch Santa in the act. I was age five, my brother Danny was four and my other brother Billy was almost three. It was a huge undertaking for young boys because we were told that if we didn’t go right to sleep then Santa would not come. However, I needed proof of Santa’s existence. If you know me then you know if I say I’m going to do something, then by golly I’m going to give it my best shot. My father was very aware of his oldest son’s determination and made sure we were all tucked in as he read “The night before Christmas” to his three conspirators. Now Billy being very young and not quite age three and was not up to the task after my father’s story reading. He was out fast asleep, and Danny was wavering with heavy eyelids. I was focused on my spy caper. I could not sleep and waited about 15 minutes before shaking Danny and saying, “let’s go”! We checked on Mom and Dad’s room and made our two figures sleeping. We then turned to go downstairs and say “hello” to Santa.

We were almost frozen with fear and Danny clung to me like we were attached. We took one squeaky step at a time, and our eyes were as big as saucers so we could see in the dark.  We made out a figure from the back in a red coat and a big red hat putting presents under the tree. We took another brave squeaky step to see him better and that did it! 

We then heard a booming low voice asking “WHO’S THERE?” Danny looked at me and tried to scream but nothing came out. We turned and ran back to our beds with so much fear and excitement that we had our proof that Santa really did exist. It could not have been Mom and Dad because we were sure they were in their beds. The following morning, we woke up to freshly fallen snow. As Danny and I glanced out the window to look at the snow, we saw one set of footprints along with what looked like sleigh tracks on the snow. We gasped, stared at each other with our hearts pounding, realizing that what we saw earlier in the night was “real.” 
It was magic!!

We repeated this story to our little playground friends for many years. Our parents never commented on the story and always just smiled. When my father passed in 2010 at the age of 88, we were cleaning out his things, and I found a box with a Santa hat and a red coat hidden in the back of his closet. I never told my brother’s because I wanted to keep the Christmas magic alive.

What was your best gift ever? Or what were the “little things” that were done that made your holidays special and created that pure holiday magic for you? Make sure you have the must –have supplies you need to stir up your holiday feasts. Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place. Let us help you with the tools you need to make your food traditions and the gifts to help others create their own. The holiday time is a period of when our past, present and future come together in a magical experience. Our past blends together with our present as we hold dear the traditions set before while creating new memories and traditions in the present that will endure for the future.

Remember my Foodie Friends:
“Life and Love Happens in the Kitchen.”

Put a little holiday magic on your table.

Take Care, John & Paula

“Christmas is the Day that holds all Time Together”

~Alexander Smith

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• One 8- to 10-pound 10-bone crown pork roast, bones frenched (trim and scrape away the meat, fat, and sinew from the slender end of the ribs so that a section of the bones is exposed.), at room temperature
• 3 pounds root vegetables (turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celery root), peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 small red onions, peeled
  and quartered
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin
  olive oil
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F

2. Mix the light brown sugar, ground mustard, paprika, allspice, cayenne, red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons salt and 1 tablespoon pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mix all over the pork roast, including the inside of the crown.

3. Add all the root vegetables and the onions to a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the thyme and the remaining teaspoon each salt and pepper. Toss until the vegetables are coated. Mix the butter with the maple syrup in a small bowl. Set aside at room temperature while the roast cooks.

4. Place the roast in the center of a baking sheet and arrange the vegetables all around it. Roast, rotating halfway through, until the internal temperature reaches 140° F (about 2 hours). Raise the heat to 425° F

5. Add the white wine to the baking sheet, then baste the roast with the maple butter. Continue to roast for 15 minutes more.

6. Remove the roast to a serving platter.
Let the meat rest for at least 30 minutes.

7. Remove the vegetables from the baking sheet with a slotted spoon and place them into and around the crown roast on the serving platter. Pour any drippings from the baking sheet into a small saucepan.

8. Add the Dijon mustard and any remaining maple butter to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until reduced by half and slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the parsley. Pour the sauce over the roast and vegetables or keep on the side.

Recipe courtesy of Katie Lee Biegel from the Food Network at foodnetwork.com