Sakura Mochi are desserts traditionally eaten during Japan’s Girls’ Day Festival. The pink treat consists of a sweet rice cake and red bean paste.

March 3^rd in Japan is a doll lover’s dream. Also known as Girls’ Day,the Hina-Matsuri or doll festival takes place every year. The holiday can be traced back to ancient Japan and involves the purification ritual of getting rid of bad luck and sin.

While Americans usually feature Egg Nog as a holiday drink, in Trinidad and Tobago there are several beverages that are consumed during the Christmas season. Among them is sorrel, puncha cream and ginger beer. My favorite is ginger beer because I love ginger — it aids in digestion. It also reminds me of the variation of the drink that I grew up with in Sierra Leone, West Africa. The ginger would steep for at least one day so the output was quite a pungent drink that had quite a punch!  - by Jeneba Ghatt

Family, food, and travels are synonymous with the holiday season. As leaves begin to change colors and winter coats make their way out of the back of the closet, visions of pumpkin pies, turkeys, and sorrel fill our dreams. Did I lose you somewhere? If you’re a lover of Caribbean cuisine I didn’t. Sorrel is a drink that is a holiday favorite in the Caribbean and many American homes.

Flan is a favorite of our logo designer Leo Cortez.  It is an ultimate comfort dessert.  This goes out to all the flan lovers out there.

There are two matzo ball camps: those that like them heavy and leaden at the bottom of a bowl and those that like them light and fluffy–these are the latter, and in my mind, the better ones.

If you can’t find matzo meal, pulse a few pieces of matzo in your food processor until it is a coarse powder. If you can’t find matzo, well, you obviously do not live in New York City.

INGREDIENTS

• Oil for frying
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 – 6 medium mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1¼ cups (10 fl oz, 300 ml) vegetable stock (or water)
• 1½ cups (6 oz, 175 g) finely chopped nuts
• 3 cups (6 oz, 175 g) breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• ½ tsp. dried herbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Flour for coating
• Oil for roasting

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
6 apples – peeled, cored and chopped
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup quick-cooking tapioca
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten

The initial thought of a a chicken stuffed in a duck which is then stuffed in a turkey is a little hard to comprehend. It just seems like too much! However, when you find out that this specialty called turducken is said to have been created in Louisiana; it somehow all makes sense.

This is a great alternative to marshmallow topped sweet potatoes. Cutting the sweet potatoes into slices of even thickness is important in getting them to cook at the same rate. A potato masher will yield slightly lumpy sweet potatoes; a food mill will make a perfectly smooth puree.  You can also skip the cookie topping and just serve the sweet potatoes on their own.