Ladies of Hive Community Contest #62 - Fusion of Food and Travel during Holiday Season

Only a few people celebrate Christmas in Gujarat, of which I am also one and as always, this time I am very happy and excited. And now there is only a day left for Christmas. Although we celebrate Christmas every time in our own way at our home, this time we are thinking of celebrating somewhere outside so that we can get a little change.

In this week's contest, I am going to answer both questions because I feel both the questions are related to me. So first is-

Do you like to travel during the holidays, or stay close to home? For either answer, please tell us why!

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” — Anthony Bourdain

By the way, I personally like to travel during holidays and I have visited a lot of places in India and also this was made possible because of my dad because he was in the army. He used to get transferred after every 6 years or so. So because of his transfers, we got a chance to visit many places in India, like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and many others. But my dad has retired from the service in 2014 and when we came to Gujarat, it took a lot of time to settle down and we didn't get much chance to explore the places here. I have explored some places here but there are still many places left for me to see.

It is fun to celebrate holidays with family as you can spend more time with your family members and both the understanding and bond between you and your family gets stronger. You just enjoy the days together, eating food, listening to good music, forgetting all your small and big problems in the world. And this is what I like best about traveling with my family.

Going out on holiday means giving myself a fresh start. All I need is a car, as I would love to go places with my whole family, and some snacks to eat while traveling would make the trip much more enjoyable, and also some good Punjabi songs playing at full volume.😇

I feel that traveling on holidays makes you feel positive both mentally and physically and you feel relaxed. And this is the best way for me to relax.

What is your favorite holiday food, and why?

There are many Christmas dishes that we make at home. There are some sweets which I like very much and these sweets are made all over Gujarat not only on Christmas but also at other festivals. These sweets have made a special place in festive celebrations. From kids to older people, everybody loves these sweets and we also share these sweets with our neighbors and relatives to show our gratitude.

My first favorite holiday food is Shrikhand -

This is a very rich and delicious dessert made specially in Gujarat by the locals. Shrikhand is one such dessert of our Gujarat which everybody likes to eat anytime. We eat this dessert mostly in summer because of its cooling effect on the body, but what harm can it do so we have it in winters too.

^{Source: How to make Indian Shrikhand- Recipe}

This sweet dessert is made from curd, sugar, and fruits and it is has a thick consistency. It comes in many flavors like Mango, Orange, Mixed Fruit, Dry fruit, Kesar, Sapota, and there are other flavors too. By just mentioning these flavors my mouth is watering. My favorite flavor is Mango which is tastier in my opinion and creamier than others. Shrikhand is that part of Gujarati cuisine which no one can refuse to eat.

My second favorite holiday food/sweet would be Mohanthal -

This is a rhombus-shaped barfi(sweet) that is made in almost every household here in Gujarat. Whether it is an event or a festival, we Gujaratis enjoy Mohanthal and we would fight over the last piece if there are other people at the table and a few pieces left.

^{Source: Mohanthal Recipe}

To make this sweet, sugar syrup is to be made, which is a little difficult due to the need for a specific consistency in the syrup. This can break or make the recipe really good. Its main ingredients are gram flour, khoa/mawa, cardamom, milk, sugar, and ghee (clarified butter). And the topping is done with dry fruits, which makes it tastier. We mainly use pistachio, almonds, cashew, and walnut pieces.

My third favorite festival food is Chikki -

This is one such thing that I like to eat very much in winter. Earlier it used to be made of peanuts only but now people keep experimenting, therefore we get a lot of variety in this too. Chikki is made from jaggery, peanuts, dry fruits, and a little bit of cardamom for enhancing the taste.

^{Source: Homemade Chikki}

^{Source: Homemade Chikki}

We make this at our home many times without any occasion or without any festival, as today we have tried to make it from different things. Today we have made peanut chikki but together we have made sesame chikki, coconut chikki, and pistachio chikki. All of these are good for health and taste really good. We like to eat this food in winter, but I think this food does not need a specific time of year to be eaten.

My fourth and last favorite food to eat during the festival is Cake -

Everybody likes cake, even if it is available in any flavor. On seeing the cake, our inner child comes out because the cake is the only thing for which no one can mind whether they are old or children. The cake I like the most has its main ingredients as sponge cake base, fruit juice or liqueur, ricotta, candied citrus peel, marzipan, and some icing.

^{Source: Cassata Cake}

This cake is really tasty and I order this cake for my birthday every year and this time we might make this cake at Christmas also.

And now I'd like to invite my sister to @LadiesofHive - @jyotigujju

^{P.S.: Except Chikki images, I do not own any other images uploaded on this post. The original authors reserve all the rights. I have shown them for graphical entertainment and knowledge purposes only.}

Thank you for reading my post.😇