Happy Christmas! and a better New Year!

[J. Wilhelm]

....
It was not meant as a etymology challenge! There will be alternative spelling given that Arizona used to be part of México.

But since you touch on the subject, Pozole is not Mexican nor Spanish. It's Aztec (Nahua to use their proper name), more specifically; the original name in Nahuatl written in the Latin alphabet is Pozoll (Nahuatl is unique in that the Nahua were the first to learn to write their language in Latin Alphabet after contact with the Spanish. There are entire books written in Nahua and translated to Spanish in the 1500s).

 Throttle down, Admiral...sub-light speed.    I wasn't challenging anything...just saying that I'd seen it spelled both ways.
So chilll... in fact, go have some chilled Champagne or punch or even sparkling water.

I myself will imbibe a glass of white wine. Champagne will give me a splitting headache within exactly 14 minutes, and it won't let up for several hours.
So no champagne (of any kind/brand) for me.   

And I shall imbibe a cheap domestic bubbly in less than an hour, because that's all I could get. This was an absolutely brutal work day. I arrived at 8:00 pm from work. I left at 6 am and spent most of 10 hours of the shift shivering inside the building. On the 9th hour I wanted to just get up and leave the job. Hopefully I won't get sick.

I did get to cook the pork chops in strawberry vinaigrette at 9 pm. Very good, actually. The sauce is better described as a strawberry chutney with garlic and rosemary. I had so much of it I actually baked some of my bread and ate the rest with it, like a type of sweet and sour jam. My roommate took some photos of the dish in process, but because my two phones are out of battery, it shall have to wait till the morning to post them here

https://skinnyms.com/pork-chops-with-balsamic-strawberry-sauce/

Highly recommend it, the only thing is that as far as salt, pepper and rosemary the recipe under-seasons the meat so make sure to double the amount of the rub, or marinate the meat first. The finished sauce is excellent, though.

[von Corax]

Hope we are all having an acceptably merry time and the supplies of festive treats are holding out and I trust you are having a successful Christmas today, Con Corax.

(I never doubted your culinary skills for an instant  SeVeNeVeS)

Thank you, Cora, it was both successful and tasty. Cornish game hens with stuffing and cranberry chutney, mashed potatoes, mashed rutabaga, caramelized Brussels sprouts and Aunt Olive's Cherry Dessert.

So now I need to know what Aunt Olive’s Cherry Dessert is? On account of how we drove out to the cherry farms on Christmas Eve and some nut went big on buying cherries. Which is fine, except this nut now has to figure out what to do with a 5 kilo box of ‘seconds’...

Ask and you shall receive.

1-1/2 cup pie cherries
1 cup juice from cherries (add water to make up volume, if necessary)
1/2 pkg miniature marshmallows, or 12 large marshmallows cut up
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
Graham wafer crumbs

Melt marshmallows in cherry juice. Add cherries and let cool. Fold in whipped cream.

Sprinkle Graham wafer crumbs in bottom of a 9x9" baking pan. Pile in the mixture. Sprinkle crumbs on top.

Refrigerate 12 hours.

The story is thus: My Great Aunt Olive S— found the recipe in one of the women's magazines. It called for pineapple, which she though seemed extravagant, so she made it with sour pie cherries, which she had on hand. The result has been served at von Corax Christmas dinner for as long as I've been alive.

It can be made with sweet cherries and is verry good, but it is excellent with sour pie cherries.

[Deimos]

Making Fantasy Fudge (aka microwave fudge)....comes out flawless every time, and no bothering with cooking on the stove and the candy thermometer.

That sounds good.  Any chance of the recipe?  Unless it's a family secret, guarded down the generations from time immemorial, passed from parent to child with dire warnings of the consequences of revealing the ... oh, wait ... microwave ... right ho ... back to the mince-pie gin for me then ...

Funny you should ask about it with reference to it being a family secret, etc.
There are not a few family tales on the web that circulate every Christmas season about the "Secret Recipe" for the the "famous no-fail" fudge.
"My grandmother/great-aunt/sister's M-i-L [insert relative of your choice, including males] makes the best fudge and won't tell anyone the recipe."

Until you notice that the recipe is on the jar of marshmallow fluff.
 
Yep, microwave fudge uses marshmallow fluff, evaporated milk (not the sweetened condensed stuff), semi-sweet chocolate, sugar, butter and vanilla.
Follow the directions exactly  and you have perfect fudge in no time at all.  
I guess the original recipe was made on the stove in pre-microwave days. But the M-fluff company (over here it's Kraft) updated the recipe when M/W ovens became ubiquitous.  

OK...belay that order, Mr. Sulu...

So, the recipe (above) that I have extolled is NOT, in fact on the jar of M-fluff.  The only recipe on the jar is the traditional one that is made on the stove-top.
THat one does come out great (a friend makes it that way, and I just had some), but you have to stand at the stove watching it.
 The M/W version is on the web --all over the web, actually--uses the same ingredients (imperial measurements... you metric typed will need to find the metric version or do a conversion).

But the simple recipe I really wanted to mention (that my great-aunts--- all now dead and buried for years---used for years beginning when M/W ovens first became popular)only uses three ingredients and can be made in 20 minutes (minimal cleanup--uses only one bowl and a spatula) and comes out perfect every time.

So here it is , and I just made some and it was easy and came out .... perfect.
(Imperial measurements again...sorry)

12-18 oz of semi-sweet choc chips (12 oz minimum...more, up to 18 oz, if you want the fudge more "chocolate-y")

14 oz  can of SWEETENED condensed milk....yes, you absolutely have to use the sweetened stuff.  It contains the all important butter and sugar. If you use the plain condensed milk the fudge will not come out as fudge,... don't know exactly what it will be , but it won't be fudge, not no way, not no how.

7 oz jar of Marshmallow fluff.

Dump all three ingredients into a LARGE M/W safe bowl and mix together, so it's all just blended...do this for a minute or  two...you just want the ingredients blended so they are not one on top of the other.

Microwave on high (assuming your M/W power is 900-1100 watts)  for about 45 seconds  (maybe 60 seconds if your M/W is lower power).

Remove from M/W and stir until really smooth,  scraping down the sides (I spent about 3 minutes stirring).

Return bowl to M/W and heat again at full power for 45 seconds.

Remove and stir again  still making sure it's all smooth

Note: at this point I stir in an [optional] 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla, mixing it well.

Also optional at this point 1 cup of chopped nuts...walnuts or pecans or almonds or hazelnuts or any combo thereof.... I prefer my fudge w/o nuts, tho'...   

Return bowl to M/W for another 30 seconds

Pour (or rather scrape)  fudge into a "prepared" 9" x 13" pan  (Prepared can be: buttered, or sprayed with the anti-stick stuff, or lined with parchment paper.  P-Paper  works great because once the fudge is cooled you can lift it out as as a slab and cut it into squares.)

Place in refrigerator for about 4 hours before cutting. 
 

[Synistor 303]

Thank you Von Corax!

Our Christmas Day tradition is to start the day with croissants for breakfast then late morning mangoes in bubbly, followed by prawns... This started in the 1970s and we have it every year.

[morozow]

We, in my small family, have a tradition of buying duck and baking it.

But sometimes, we buy and it fades. Because she can't get her hands on it.

Now another duck is lying on the balcony, waiting for its fate. In the oven or a flour bucket.