 Just in case you still have eggnog to spike or plums to sugar before the gang arrives, consider us Santa's little helpers. We're sharing our time-tested Christmas tips and recipes, as well as plenty from chefs, hospitality experts, celebrities, hosts and home cooks we love. Our goal – sending you into Christmas with a jolly smile on your face, and seeing you emerge on December 26 with your sanity intact. Here are a few helpful holiday posts that might have jingled right on by during the holiday hullabaloo. In Iceland, Christmas is observed the evening of December 24. The day before that, there is a pre-Christmas tradition that some daring folks observe: Eating rotten fish. One day a year, folks get together and eat putrid skate, accompanied by bread, potatoes and little else. Throughout the country, wives, husbands and even entire apartment buildings forbid the practice. Few restaurants cook it. “They say that if you cook it in a house, then you will have to paint the house afterward - or move to another house to get rid of the smell,” said iReporter Halldor Sigurdsson.  Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray. Few issues in the world are truly black-and-white. Cats, for instance. Some people think they’re nice pets; some people think they’re furry little narcissists who’d happily dine on your face if there were ever a complete collapse of civilization due to a nuclear apocalypse. Ditto Elvis (meaning some people love his music, some think it’s awful. ...Not that he’d dine on your face. Though, honestly, if it were a zombie-based apocalypse, I suppose he might.) But one thing that can be divided into simple, black-and-white categories is winter and holiday beers. Basically, there are the ones that taste like something your grandmother would bake, and the ones that don’t. Not that I’m trying to tick off the grandmothers of the world. I don’t want a legion of rolling pin-wielding grannies chasing me down Fifth Avenue, bent on my demise. However, I do think that a beer should, at least in some way, taste like a beer instead of, say, a fruitcake. Other people may not be as riled up by this topic as me. I accept that. Since it’s almost Christmas and there’s still time to buy a case of tasty winter ale, I don’t want the beer drinkers of the world to come back home with something that tastes like a fermented brown sugar-cinnamon Pop-Tart. So here are six that are actually very good: 
 Linnie Rawlinson is the Special Projects Editor in CNN's London bureau. As the temperature falls and the leaves start to crackle under foot, British minds turn towards comfort food – and there’s nothing more comforting than a traditional suet pudding. Suet, as in, beef fat? In a dessert? Why yes, actually. And do you know what? It’s really rather good.  Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray. As Christmas approaches, we’re now at the start of the mad scramble that those among us who are disorganized endure every year. Sure, people we know - elderly mall-going aunts, hyper-organized mothers, friends with way too much time on their hands - have already finished their gift shopping, but those people are annoying. And, they probably got you a sweater anyway. So, for the lackadaisical, type-B, fun people of the world, how about a few wine gift suggestions? After all, we may be a disorganized bunch, but we do know how to improve a party.
 Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up. If you go to xmasclock.com, you can watch the seconds tick away until Christmas. Not to stress anyone out who still has holiday shopping left to do, but I’m watching the minutes fly by. If you’re still shopping for gifts for food lovers, you’re in luck - especially if that person is an aspiring mixologist, a wanna-be hipster or a black and white cookie fanatic.
 5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Ron Ben-Israel is rooting for you to use fresh ginger. "It's spicy and peppery with a fresh, tangy flavor - and a snappy aftertaste," said the master pastry chef and host of Food Network's "Sweet Genius." This knobby little root, which is actually the rhizome or underground stem of the ginger plant (Zingiber officinale), not only packs a serious aromatic punch, it has long been revered for its medicinal properties. Here are five, gingery recipes to make in a snap this holiday season. Five Ways to Use Fresh Ginger Root: Ron Ben-Israel  Raindrops, roses, whiskers, kittens - all lovely items to be sure, but perhaps not the gifts that will make the holidays glow as brightly as you'd like. Certainly not* if they're for the food lover in your life. With that in mind, as a person who lives, breathes and, yes, eats food for a living, I'm sharing my personal list of beloved foods, drinks, gadgets, books and save-the-world gifts to fill the hearts and mouths of your favorite food freaks. And yes, they're all available online.  Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up. You might be set with your holiday shopping, having taken good advantage of Black Thursday and Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Personally, I wish there was a day of the week given over to shopping for holiday gifts of questionable taste. So I’d like to propose Wacky Present Wednesday. That would be the day you’d get big discounts on items that crack you up as much - or more - than whoever is the lucky recipient.
White House Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses revealed the gingerbread replica of the First Family's home during a preview of the 2012 White House holiday decorations on November 28. |
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