Listening to the repeat broadcast as I missed it yesterday- these two women sound like they've been drinking the cooking sherry. Surprising that they've never heard of a cookie exchange or cookie party and yet they've written a book (with an offensive title, I might add) about entertaining. Oh my, they really do sound drunk...

My sister makes Artichoke Balls for every big holiday, including Christmas. It's sauteed artichoke hearts, garlic and onions in butter, then it's cooled and mixed with lots of parmesan cheese and Italian breadcrumbs. Roll into balls the size of a beer bottle cap, then dust with the cheese/breadcrumbs mixture and chill till set.

They're great served cold, very garlic-y, but they're amazing if you pan-fry them after they've cooled and set.

Here's a good recipe: http://www.grouprecipes.com/54162/cajun-artichoke-balls.html

My friend Jo bakes hundreds of cookies each Christmas, some of which she spreads out around the house to dry for 48 hrs before baking. She says this is an old, well-known tradition. If I tried it I'd have hundreds of roaches coming out for the holidays.

Is she right? Is this a tradition? Where? Why?

You can be a locavore and still have rhubarb in December. It freezes beautifully. I have several bags of cut up rhubarb from this summer's bounty. Also blueberries and strawberries (hull them before freezing).

Every Chanukah, and Passover, I make Tzimmes, with prunes, sweet potatoes, pineapple chunks, and large raisins,simmered in pineapple juice, a dash of vanilla and some water, and it is just delicious. My grandmother added carrots but we don't like it as much that way.

Two odd dishes that are always around during the holidays to fill the voids of more traditional dishes are chili spaghetti for christmas and swedish meatballs on new years.

My grandparents lived really close to Varallo's Chili Parlor in Nashville and for one year they got a huge amount of take out chili for their christmas party after accidentally distroying the turkey. Chili (on spaghetti) is always available during the holidays and never frowned upon if preferred over traditional holiday fare.

chili - spaghetti - vinegar

the southern holy trinity

its funny how people want brian to just say christmas and not include every other holiday, even though it was the christians that outright copied the jews, muslims and pagans and proclaimed jesus was born on december 25 because it was convenient for the church.

My family is Macedonian. On New Years Eve a Zelnich is made. This is a spinach pie made with many many layers of philo dough. A quarter is thrown in the spinach mix. And the pie is laid out and baked on a large sheet pan. The person that gets their tooth chipped on the quarter is to have good luck in the upcoming year. I got the quarter many times. My luck still stinks.

lux, lucis

Listening to those two cackling hens does not inspire the "Foodie" in me. Why can't these women discuss this topic without the endless silly laughter and idiotic groans and moans.

Unfortunately I may the end of a family tradition....My father is Norwegian and I grew up with a LUTEFISK dinner on dinner. Lutefisk is white fish prepared with lye. It is sad, but I can't bring myself to prepare or eat it...so it may be the end of an era!

My kids and I make 15 kinds of cookies (many, many batches) to give as gifts to teachers and friends. We have to begin before Thanksgiving and had to borrow a freezer this year with so many cookies. We've been doing this for about 7 years. We got in late last night from the delivery.

im Iranian...and we are a bit squeamish about blood...so imagine our faces when the cook in France was bleeding a live duck into a pan of fried onions...a bit like a boudin.....she said it was essential to cure the hang over

Bogotans (Colombia) enjoy having AJÍACO for the Holidays: A hearty holiday soup made with THREE kind of Andean potatoes, chicken, vegetables and a specific Andean herb called GUASCAS topped with capers and crema fresca, and served with fresh avocado. All the potatoes must melt and thicken the soup and it usually takes hours to make. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajiaco This place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Cafecito Bogotá makes authentic versions of this Colombian plate from time to time.

Every christmas, my aunt and I make buche de noel, a cake that looks like a yule log. It is a french tradition. The best part are the meringue mushrooms on top.

Our tradition is to make Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day. My mom uses a coconut and lime sauce...

I'm from Trinidad and Tobago. My favorite traditional food and drink for the holidays is black cake- which has rum and lots of fruit and ponche de la creme- which is similar to eggnog but with rum and lots of nutmeg....I even have it for breakfast!

tsk tsk tsk there are cookie only bakers, where have you been Brian! There are probably more cookie recipes in the world than any other types of foods.

You can use the Word Christmas Brian, they are called Christmas Parties not Holiday parties.

Every year my family makes "schnecken," which I think means "snails" in German. The recipe is from my father's German grandparents. They are delicious sticky buns, with a sweet batter and a brown sugar/butter topping

My mom's side is italian and my dad's side is german. So Christmas eve is the feast of 7 fishes and my mom makes these phenomenal oyster rockafeller and my grandma T makes this great calamari with olives thing..
Then Christmas dinner is thankfully quieter with saurbraten (spelling?) red cabage and spetzels. And my aunt makes me my favorite strawberry rubarb pie. mmmmm.... christmas

O & H kringle is the best! How funny to hear it mentioned. My grandfather was from Racine and my family orders loads of kringles from O & H Bakery for the holidays.

My German aunt always sent us these amazing butterhorns when I was a kid...they had this almond filling and they were aged in a basement for weeks before they were ready to eat. I've been searching for the recipe in my adult years so I can adapt it to a vegan lifestyle, but I can't find anything quite like it.

I made my first traditional English Christmas pudding this year! The ultra calorific, dried fruit laden sin-fest that you have on Christmas day. Some ingredients tricky to find in NYC (I'm a native Brit) but it mixed up well... and fingers crossed for Xmas Day!

...also planning to make a Stollen - complete with marzipan inside... yummy!

Oh God! Not again.

Oh goodness. Now we're in the 3rd hour of "Today" with Kathy Lee and Hoda on the Brian Lehrer Show. I'll check back in in about 20 minutes.

I've got lots of Hindu, athiest, Christian, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish friends - but the one thing we all enjoy is the Cookie Party I hostess every year. A huge variety of cookies, and "blank" gingerbread people - which my guests decorate themselves - brings our disparate beliefs together for some holiday joy and appreciation of the little things in life.

Brian, stop trying to include every possible group. The season is the Christmas/ Chanukha season, not every possible group, stop trying to be soooo politically correct.

my mom makes my great grandma's russian apple pie (it's only russian because that's where the fam is from)... every year she swears she sees her profile in the dough as she rolls it out. i dont believe her but it's cute.