This 'n That Thursdays: My List of the Worst Christmas Foods

One thing to be thankful for this Christmas 2020 is that no one has ever tried to serve me candy cane pizza! (from The Sun)

Last week I put together a nice Christmas post featuring cozy YouTube vlogs with a holiday theme.  This week I thought I would focus on something naughty, and chose those Christmas foods that in my opinion have no right to make an appearance at any time of the year!  Without further ado, I present my personal list of the worst Christmas foods I have ever encountered:

From The Wall Street Journal

1) Fruitcake - is it any surprise that this frightful confection tops the list?  And this opinion comes from someone who has a reputation among family and close friends for making the best fruitcake they have ever tasted!  I first started baking this boozy bread disguised as cake for my mother, and now my siblings expect me to continue the tradition for each one of them.  My sister in particular delights in sharing my fruitcake with friends, who then ask for my recipe - she has even shared the recipe, with my permission, with a friend to include in a fund-raising cookbook.  Just imagine how humiliating this reputation is for someone who despises fruitcake!  I will continue to bake them for my siblings every Christmas because they are dear to me, but personally I dislike fruitcake, will never like it, and it will always top my list of worst Christmas foods ever.

From Mental Floss

2) Candy Canes - I have never been fond of peppermint, so the thought of eating a poor excuse for candy that is basically just a peppermint and sugar combination does not appeal to me.  As far as I am concerned, candy canes are strictly for decoration.  I even have a package of all-white candy canes that I have used as Christmas tree decorations for decades (rather scary that they have lasted so long and still look the same as the day I bought them!).  And don't get me started on all of the weird candy cane variations in all of their odd flavors and colors - at least traditional peppermint candy canes come in Christmas colors of red and white.

From SweetServices.com

3) Hard Christmas Candy Mix - this is a tradition from my childhood that I have never understood.  Every year my mother would buy a bag of these bland but sugary tooth destroyers, and every year the only ones that would disappear were the peanut-shaped ones, of which there were only about two or three in the mix.  The rest sat around gathering dust until they would finally end up in the trash come summer (and my mother hated to throw away food).  Amazingly, there are many variations on this hard candy theme (check them out on Amazon here) - who buys these things?

From Taste of the South

4) Sweet Potato Casserole - while this concoction is more likely to show up at the Thanksgiving feast, there are those who love it so much that it makes an appearance at Christmas as well.  My mother only attempted to create this dish once, and it was once too often.  Whoever came up with the idea of combining sweet potatoes (emphasis on the sweet) with brown sugar and then topping the whole mess with marshmallows must have had a diabolical scheme to turn us all into diabetics - this casserole is tooth-achingly sugary.  I like sweet potatoes, but prefer to have them baked with a bit of butter, not with even more sugar added.  I even like to eat the occasional marshmallow, but as a dessert, not in a side dish!  (If you want to see a recipe or, heaven forbid, even try making this casserole, click on the image link above.)

From Livin' the Pie Life

5) Mincemeat Pie - here is another holiday tradition that I could never understand.  Just what exactly is mincemeat?  And why is it in a pie?  One of my aunts used to bring this dessert to our annual family Christmas gatherings when I was young.  I tried it once and was still confused.  I honestly did not think it tasted so bad, but it was very heavy and rather gooey, so one taste was enough for me.  I later found out that in the past mincemeat really was made of meat (or at least suet, which I always thought was bird food), but now it is merely a mix of anonymous fruits cooked into a sticky, spicy mass and plunked into a double-crust pie, presumably to hide its appearance until you have already committed to a slice and cannot backtrack to refuse it.

 🎄⛄🎅🍭🍰🍪🎅⛄🎄🎁🎄⛄🎅🍭🍰🍪🎅⛄🎄

I could include a few other dreadful options, but I stopped at only the ones that I have encountered (fortunately my family does not serve jello molds or steamed puddings for any holiday).  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, with all of your best-loved foods and none of your least favorite ones!