Our Christmas Cookbook - Prologue. Prologue

Aditus

When Valkyrie, Cole, and I wrote twenty-five stories and/or poems and put together An Advent Calendar in 2016, I found out I love collaborating with others, especially with my good friends. It’s inspiring, motivating, and opens new perspectives.

For me as a northern hemisphere dweller, the Holiday season means shorter days, lights to chase the darkness away, and sharing good food with others. I’m totally ignoring the bad weather here, by the way. The idea of combining stories with recipes appeared obvious, so that‘s what we did.

I had lots of fun, learned new words, and am thankful for calling those two friends.

Cole Matthews

This is the time of the year for sharing. We bake cookies, have feasts, give presents, thank each other, and otherwise show appreciation. For some of us, food is a way to show our love and gratitude.

However, food is not something we can share virtually.

What we can do is share recipes dear to us. Those recipes tell stories, and prompt memories that offer others glimpses into our lives. Giving gifts, be it food, clothes, objects, or experience are ways to thank you for your love and support. This is a collection of recipes, but more importantly, they accompany pieces of our lives we freely offer to you.

In the coming days, you’ll see flashes of our hopes, our histories, our past, present, and yes, our future dreams. From me you’ll indulge in a magic confection. There are friends going the distance for one another. The pain of a loved one’s suffering is presented for your consideration. We often presume, but sometimes our loved one’s stories are so much more. A man, and perhaps a part of me, struggles with what life offers. Miscommunication is our biggest hurdle. We love, and may not understand why, but isn’t that part of it all?

Additionally, I’ll visit with the ghosts of my Christmas past.

My fellow gift-givers will also share generously. We hope you enjoy our offerings.

We do so with smiling hearts and gentle, humble spirits. Please enjoy our treats, and have very happy holidays.

Valkyrie

“How was your Christmas?”

“It was great! We had ham and potatoes and broccoli and pie for dessert.”

This is a typical exchange with the individuals I work with. You can sub any holiday/occasion and the response is inevitably about what food was served for the occasion. Scroll through Facebook or Instagram or any social media site and there are undoubtedly pics of someone’s dinner they’re either enjoying at a restaurant or made themselves. In the fall, I enjoy seeing Cole’s own posts featuring his “Fall Cavalcade of Desserts”—homemade goodies for us to feast on with our eyes, and maybe, if you’re lucky enough to live closer than several hundred miles, even get to nibble on a piece. Aditus and I regularly share recipes and pics of our dinner. If I’m stuck for what to make for a meal or add to my shopping list, Aditus usually has an idea to inspire me.

So when Aditus approached us about completing another Advent Calendar type collaboration, the idea of compiling a cookbook was a perfect fit for three people who love cooking and sharing our precious recipes and experiences.

The stories in this collection are a combination of joy, heartbreak, and levity. We hope you enjoy them as much we enjoyed writing them. And please share if you decide to try any of the recipes we’ve featured.

Happy Holidays!