Just a few days ago, I noted my love for highly specific food traditions, tied to holidays and celebrations -- hoppin' john on New Year's Day, king cake on Mardi Gras, mint juleps on Derby Day. So, it seemed foolhardy not to avail myself of a Moravian Love Feast bun when I had the chance, seeing as how I was in North Carolina, and my in-laws have been attending the Christmas Eve Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church's Love Feast since back when Rudolph was a fawn. I'm not, by habit, a churchgoing gal, but was assured that all (even long-lapsed Catholic school girls like me) are welcome to share in the ritual.

What the heck is a Love Feast, you ask? Well, according to North Carolina and Old Salem Cookery (1955):

No church service is more distinctive than a Moravian love feast. Love feasts are held in connection with holidays such as Christmas, New Year's, Easter and on days of special significance to the church such as church anniversaries and a day set aside to honor missionaries.

During the love feast, each person in the church receives a large, flat yeast bun and a mug of coffee containing cream and sugar.

The love feast is symbolic of the fellowship of the church. The idea behind the simple meal is that those who break bread together are united in the fellowship the way a family is.

While there are regional variations in the components of the feast -- some congregations subbing in warm cider or hot Russian tea for the coffee, or embossing an "M" on the bun tops, rather than the Moravian star seen in the image above -- the recipe invariably calls for the inclusion of mashed potatoes. As a choir or orchestra performs, the buns are passed in baskets throughout the congregation, followed by cups of the hot beverage. After these have been collected, beeswax candles -- decorated with red paper frills to catch dripping -- are distributed to the assembled, lit from wick to wick, and carried in procession out of the church.

Two bun recipes after the jump.

Last year, I mentioned Magical Reindeer Food, a simple mixture of sugar, oats and glitter that is sprinkled on the lawn to give very little kids the sense that they are doing something to help Santa's reindeer find their way to the house on Christmas Eve. It's a cute idea, but not appetizing unless you happen to be Rudolph or one of his buddies. Crate & Barrel sells a decidedly more appetizing type of Reindeer Food and this one is meant for human consumption.

It is sweet-salty kettle corn packed in an adorable stitched felt bag that ties shut at the top and bears the label "reindeer food." It seems like it would make a great stocking stuffer for a little kid ("Look! The reindeer brought you something, too.") and would also be a good treat to munch on before bedtime on Christmas Eve.

I'm considering picking up a bag for myself when I stop into the store for last minute goodies this week. There's no harm in being a big kid around the holidays.

Cookies and milk left out for Santa is Christmas Eve tradition that I like to follow in the event that Santa stops by and wants a snack as he travels the world delivering presents. I even set aside a few of the prettier cookies I decorated a day or two before to make sure I have some to leave out. Of course, he doesn't usually seem too interested in the cookies and I end up eating them myself on Christmas morning. Cookies left out overnight can, in my opinion, be deemed "leftovers" and, thus, are appropriate breakfast food.  USA Today says that 48% of people who leave snacks for Santa leave both cookies and milk. I am among the 29% that only leaves cookies, not because I believe Santa is lactose intolerant, as the makers of Lactaid would have me believe, but because milk left out overnight is not very appetising in the morning. If he didn't eat the cookies, Santa probably wasn't very thirsty anyway.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]