While going through my ragged recipe box looking for holiday favorites, I noticed one that had been cut out of a magazine many years ago. Across the top of this tattered recipe for "Foolproof Dark Chocolate Fudge" was a note scribbled by my then-young daughter. "Mom! Please make for Steph! Don’t throw this away!"

I’m not sure about the foolproof. But this recipe — like many traditional holiday foods — will forever remain in safe keeping. And it made me think about other Christmas favorites:

Eggnog — a blend of milk (or cream), eggs and sugar — may have gotten its name from "noggin" a British term for a carved wooden mug used to serve alcohol, according to some. Or it may have been named for a rum-flavored drink in Colonial days called "egg and grog" which was eventually shortened to "eggnog."

However it got its name, eggnog is very much a social drink, say food historians. They note this review by an Englishman in 1866: "Christmas is not properly observed unless you brew egg nogg for all comers; everybody calls on everybody else; and each call is celebrated by a solemn egg-nogging. … It is made cold and is drunk cold and is to be commended."

Nutritionally, eggnog is a rich blend of milk (or cream), eggs and sugar. One tasty cup contains 225 calories, 10 grams of fat and 20 grams of sugar … which may explain why dietitians are always busy in January.

Fruitcake is a blend of fruit and cake and nuts … dense in nutrients and calories. One small (2 ounce) slice of fruitcake contains about 150 calories, 5 grams of fat and 25 grams of carbohydrates.

Some say fruitcake was a nice (arguably) way to preserve food in the olden days. According to Wikipedia, "if fruitcake contains alcohol, it could remain edible for many years." Case in point, one fruitcake reportedly baked in 1878 was kept as an heirloom by a family in Michigan. A sample of it was eaten by Jay Leno on his television show in 2003…which may explain where we get the term, "nutty as a fruitcake."

Fudge is believed to be an American invention-by-accident. "Fudge" was a term used to describe a blunder or bungle. Some speculate that a batch of caramels made with similar ingredients was "fudged" into this favorite holiday candy…which makes me feel better when my "foolproof" fudge doesn’t turn out perfectly.

Suffice it to say this Christmas week that many traditional Christmas foods have no redeeming nutritional value…except perhaps chestnuts roasting on an open fire. What they represent, however, is important in our world that is not always happy and bright.

This Christmas as I celebrate the birth of Christ with family and friends, I am once again reminded that a Perfect Gift came into our imperfect world with no eggnog or fruitcake. And that’s the foolproof recipe I will never throw away.

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