Certain foods and smells have a powerful magic. They can instantly take us back in time and place, landing us straight in Grandma's kitchen when we're five.
Here are 12 holiday favorites that give us major childhood nostalgia, every single time.
1. Peanut Brittle
One glimpse of a big plate of peanut brittle, and I'm 6 years old again, standing in my great aunt's kitchen. Oh, could that woman cook. Sugary holiday treats were her specialty. Really good peanut brittle must, of course, be crunchy and brittle without being just break-your-teeth hard.
We recommend giving this easy microwave recipe a try.
2. Popcorn Balls
To really be traditional, these should be made with molasses, not corn syrup. My grandmother used to make these at Christmas time, and loving wrap each one in plastic wrap, tied with curling ribbon. Such sweet memories!
Here's a good old fashioned recipe if you'd like to re-create them.
3. Ribbon Candy
To be honest, even as a kid, I detested this stuff. But I loved detesting it.
It was just part of the Christmas window dressing, that made everything feel so special and festive. Never mind that the sticky and broken bits would hang out in the candy dish until Valentines day because no one really liked eating it. It was just...part of Christmas.
4. Russian Teacakes. Mexican Wedding Cookies. Almond Crescents...
Whatever you call them, they're basically the same thing, and they are one of the non-negotiable flavors of Christmas.
This is our favorite recipe for recreating these heavenly little white orbs.
5. Fudge. Any Kind of Fudge.
Peanut butter fudge. Chocolate fudge. Fudge with all manner of candy-like substances ensconced in it. If your childhood was anything like mine, fudge only happened at Christmas. Better get it while you can!
Here are 12 of our favorite old-fashioned fudge recipes that will take you right back to Grandma's kitchen.
6. Hot Chocolate With a Candy Cane In It
There is something so comforting about a warm mug of hot chocolate with a candy cane in it. For nostalgia's sake, this must of course, be hot chocolate from a packet. (This is our real-life childhoods we're talking about here. None of that luscious from-scratch stuff.)
Swiss Miss with desiccated marshmallows, and a big old candy cane, please.
7. Any Kind of Chocolate Bark
There are a thousand different kinds of chocolate bark, and they all feel like Christmas. I remember my grandmother making a dark chocolate bark with crushed peppermint on top once, and how magical it looked.
She had this self-deprecating (and so endearing) way of not quite being satisfied with how a recipe turned out, and I can't remember what it was about that batch that was wrong, but to me, it will always live in my memory as holiday perfection.
(We especially love this dark chocolate orange and almond bark, if you need a recipe!)
8. Gingerbread Cookies
This one almost goes without saying. Doesn't the smell of a hot gingerbread cookie take us all right back to childhood?
9. Eggnog.
Even if you don't love this stuff (and goodness I knows I don't!), the sight and smell of it still means that it's holiday time.
10. Turtle Candies
Oh, these were another bit of magic that only happened at Christmas time. I don't know why, because these little bites of heaven would be so good year-round. But at least as a kid, there was some kind of unspoken rule that they only get made for the holidays.
This maple version is our hands-down favorite.
11. Pork Pie
I know I'm not the only one who grew up enjoying this traditional favorite, every Christmas Eve. Made with well-spiced ground pork and potatoes, this is a tradition that needs to never go away.
12. Oranges
Waking up on Christmas Morning to an orange stuffed in the very toe of your stocking was a widely observed tradition, at least up until the recent past. For many of us, the holiday wouldn't be complete without a stocking orange. And for me anyway, the smell of orange is still hardwired to mean Christmas.
What holiday treats just take you right back to being a kid? Tell us in the comments, I bet you're not the only one!
Grandma's Favorite Christmas Candy Recipes
While some look forward to endless fresh-baked cookies at Christmas time, there's a whole other crowd that can't wait for one thing: all that homemade candy!
You know the types I'm talking about. The peanut brittle, the chocolate bark, buckeyes, and fudges that used to delight you at Grandma's house as a kid. Here, we've gathered twelve classic favorites to start the season right!
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Get the recipes here.
Anna Chesley
Anna Chesley is a freelance writer living a homestead lifestyle, with a special love for family travel, old books, vintage skills, and seaside living. In addition to founding Salt In My Coffee, she runs the website, New England Family Life, as well as The 1800's Housewife, a website devoted to re-creating authentic 1800's recipes.
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