BOXING DAY RE-IMAGINED

Boxing Day – Re-imagined

          Regardless of how “cool” or cynical you have become in all the years past, the New Year simply insinuates in you a desire for new beginnings.  It whispers the possibility of “getting it right” this time by tempting us with “resolutions” for the New Year, even if their lifetime in the past has been embarrassingly limited.

          The overindulgence of Christmas celebrations since Middle Ages have always included in the United Kingdom the day after Christmas as a day for giving time-off and cash or material goods to servants as special compensation for the year and the excess of effort to create such extravagant feasts. Pepy’s Diary in 1663 refers to “boys’ box against Christmas” also as general charitable contribution. Around 1830’s this became known as Boxing Day, regarding all such contributions and is now is a National Holiday in Britain and Ireland.

          A necessary by-product of the servant’s day-off was boxing of leftover food from Christmas to be consumed by everyone the day after, since the cook did not cook and there was no one around to serve. For most of us the days of having a cook and servants are gone, but the concept has definite merit and I’m proposing to redefine and extend it beyond Boxing Day.

          Fortunately, the freezer will keep extra portions of lasagna and chili from visiting family meals, for ready use in the New Year. Our Swedish glogg and roast beef did not last past January 1. However, with all the holiday planning and shopping our pantry, refrigerator and freezer have accumulated an assortment of packages, cans and bottles that will require at least a month of inventive cooking to clear the shelves. Thus evolved my NEW Boxing Day/Month concept. Except for perishable fruit, vegetable and dairy products from the store, old Ben Franklin’s dictum “Waste not, want not” will rule in the kitchen.

                             Tangy Butternut Squash Bisque

          Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and bake face down in a pan at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork. When cool, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. There should be 2 ½ to 3 cups of squash. Sauté 1 chopped medium onion and a stalk of celery in 2 tblsp. butter in a 3-4 quart pot for 5 minutes, stir in 2/3 cup dry white wine, ¼ tsp. ground cumin, 1 tsp. chopped fresh ginger, ¼ tsp. nutmeg, ½ tsp. red pepper flakes, ¼ tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. turmeric, 1 tsp. salt, pepper to taste, 3 cups chicken broth, the broken up squash flesh and 2 medium tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced. Bring to boil and cook for 20 minutes, add ½ cup chopped parsley and cook for an additional 5 minutes. When cool, puree in a blender and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If soup seems too thick, dilute with a bit of water. Reheat to serve garnished with sour cream or crême fraiche and chopped chives.

                             Cranberry Bread

          It seems like there is always a partial bag of cranberries left in the refrigerator at this time of the year and cranberry bread is a perfect solution for their use. Grease an 8x4x2 ½ in. loaf pan. Sift 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour with 2 ½  tsp. baking powder, ¼ tsp. baking soda, ¾ tsp. salt. With a mixer cream 1/3 cup butter with ¾ cups sugar until fluffy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, and 1 tblsp. cream. Add flour mixture in 4 portions, beating well after each addition. Stir in 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries and ½ cup chopped pecans. Turn batter in prepared pan and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn out from cake pan on a cake rack and cool before slicing. Unsliced loaf freezes well and will keep for several months frozen.

          Boxing Day has changed significantly in modern times. Sports dominate in many places, though the traditional fox hunt has been held without “The Fox” since 2004. Questionably, in absence of servants and giving, it has also become one of the biggest shopping days of the year!

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)