Holiday Smorgasbord

O * WHAT'S coOOKING * O FOR THE HOLIDAYS! HOLIDAY EATING BY THE NUMBERS: AND 86% OF AMERICANS 68% plan to spend the majority of their time cooking or eating. plan to gather with extended friends or family for Christmas celebrations this year. Food consumption on Christmas RANKS THIRD 1ST 2ND (ЗRD for the year behind Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday. The average Christmas meal contains 3,000 CALORIES (not including other food eaten on Christmas Day). The average American eats 5.1 POUNDS of turkey each holiday season. 46 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving, and 22 million are eaten for Christmas dinner. Americans drink ..and eat 122 19 million pounds of eggnog annually... million chocolate Santas. HEALTHIER HOLIDAY COOKING IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO LIGHTEN UP YOUR HOLIDAY MEALS, TRY A FEW OF THESE HEALTHY TIPS: Refrigerate your gravy and skim the hardened fat off the top. This will save you a whopping 56 grams of fat per cup! Enjoy your turkey roasted without skin and save 11 grams of saturated fat per 3 oz serving. Instead of whole milk and butter, try mashed potatoes with skim ilk, chicken broth, garlic, and parmesan cheese. When making dessert, try substituting two egg whites for each whole egg. You can also replace heavy cream with evaporated skim milk for cheesecake and cream pies, or top cakes with fresh fruit and a sprinkle of powdered sugar instead of frosting. CHRISTMAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY Pie was consistently voted the most popular holiday dessert in all regions of the country. Cookies came in second, except for in the South where cakes took the prize. The Midwest is the only region that prefers ham or turkey for holiday meals, though many Southerners serve both. UNIQUE HOLIDAY DISHES BY REGION: SALMON LOBSTER, CLAM CHOWDER, MINCEMEAT PIE GREEN CHILIES, BLUE CORN MUFFINS, AND ROMERITOS LEFSE, STOLLEN, LUTEFISK, LASAGNA, POLISH SAUSAGE 13% Pacific Northwest Northeast of Southwesterners admit they'd like to receive a fruitcake as a gift. O Southwest O Midwest FAVORITE CHRISTMAS COOKIES BY STATE: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Iced Pumpkin Cookies Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Easy Lemon Cookies Old-Fashioned Persimmon Tea Cakes Cookies Chip Cookies Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Chocolate Chip Italian Cookies Pizzelles Mexican Wedding Fruitcake Cookies Cookies Cookies Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana lowa No Bake Cookies Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cream Cheese Peanut Clusters Shortbread Kolacky Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Cranberry and Orange Cookies Peanut Clusters Bourbon Balls Pecan Pralines Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies ..... Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti Italian Anisette Spriz Cookies Russian Tea Butter Cookies Cookies Cakes Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Marbled Almond Cherry Mash Bars Molasses Cookies Pignoli Cookies Roca New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Biscochitos Rainbow Cookies Peanut Butter Rosettes Buckeye Cookies Balls Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Cookie Mix Marbled Almond Pizzelles Prune and Raisin Pecan Chewies in a Jar Roca Filled Cookies South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Peanut Blossoms Mexican Wedding Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Ultimate Maple Seven Layer Bars Cookies Snickerdoodles Chip Cookies Wisconsin Virginia Saltine Toffee Wyoming Candy Cane Cookies Washington West Virginia Marbled Almond Pecan Sandies Chocolate Toffee Cookies Roca Crunchies SOURCES fixed. www.eatturkey.com/why-turkey/history www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/21/christmas-dinner-by-the-numbers-how-much-did-the-price-of-the-fl www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/statistics-about-holiday-food by ASSURANT www.pewforum.org/2013/12/18/celebrating-christmas-and-the-holidays-then-and-now/ allrecipes.com/howto/christmas-across-americal ASSURANT Solutions www.cstoredecisions.com/2012/12/21/mintel-celebrates-the-holidays-with-statistics/#_ www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113036302/us-adults-christmas-holiday-food-indulgence-diet-plans-obesity-diabetes-122913/ www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/how-many-cookies-does-santa-eat infographicsmania.com/what-brings-holiday-happiness/?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=ZAKKAS&utm_campaign=SNAP www.cpmc.org/aboutle-health/11-05%20healthy-holidays.html www.rd.com/home/the-50-favorite-cookies-by-state-last-christmas/ ||