Fine Cheese & Charcuterie December 2016

It’s become a tradition with my wife and me to spend Christmas Eve night at a small dinner party at the home of a dear friend. Our friend cooks a prime rib every year along with a few sides and everyone brings something that is their specialty – my wife makes biscuits, I bring wine and cheese – and both the wine and conversation ow generously. It’s a relaxing, grown-up afair that is in stark contrast to the frenzied last- minute Santa duties that marked the years when the children were younger, before they married and began starting their own family traditions. They all still come over Christmas day at some point for brunch and gift-giving, but it’s now more about the little grandchildren for whom Santa now fills stockings (the little rug-rats make out like bandits between their own home and two sets of grandparents in close proximity). Later, when it’s back to the two of us, we pour Champagne and eat a light supper, ending the holiday on a calm note, albeit amid a pile of wrapping paper and ribbon that has definitely shrunk in size over the years. 

But I haven’t always celebrated the holidays in my adult life. Many years spent in retail selling food and housewares – including lots of gifts and gift baskets – dampened my Christmas spirit for sure (Christmas in those days was merely a much needed day off). Inheriting step-children, however, impelled me to participate in the holiday ritual, and the subsequent grandchildren (notice there is no “step” for them), three and counting, have been the bellows to my Christmas ardor. In other words, the long past excitement of childhood Christmases has given way these days to a warm, contemplative feeling. Not being a religious person, the holiday for me is more about friends and family, a major shift in the season (it’s no accident that Christmas coincides with the winter solstice), and, for better or worse, the end of one year and the beginning of another. 

I know that for most of our readers, the holiday time and the fourth quarter in general means busy days and high sales figures, an exhausting time that, hopefully, culminates in a calm after the storm as your own family traditions play out leading up to New Year’s Day. With that in mind, thanks for taking the time to look at our final edition of 2016, and I wish you all peace, prosperity, and the happiest of New Years. I look forward to seeing you in 2017. 

James Mellgren 

Managing Editor, Fine Cheese & Charcuterie 

jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com