What stays, what goes, and what gets reinvented with style and taste? In this episode of Family Tree Food & Stories, your award-winning hosts Nancy May and Sylvia Lovely take on the post-holiday refrigerator—one container at a time, with how-to ideas and a recipe that will turn your holiday leftovers into a fancy homespun “gotta have.”

This episode isn’t just about food—it’s a look at what leftovers say about the way we live, how they reflect culture (in the US and elsewhere), resourcefulness, and a way to embrace tradition and move forward. From stuffing and cranberry sauce to black-eyed peas, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and bacon gravy, and even what to do with leftover champagne, Nancy and Sylvia share old and new strategies for recreating new foods from “old”after the holiday glitter is packed up and put away.

In this episode of Family Tree Food and Stories, you’ll also get practical ideas for how to save food, stretch your grocery budget, and reuse ingredients in ways that still taste good on day five. Providing they’re not fuzzy.

If you're aiming to start the new year with less waste, smarter meals, and better habits in the kitchen, then dig in and enjoy the show!

🔑 Key Takeaways:

1. Most families throw out 30–40% of holiday food: learn what to do with leftovers that make them taste even better than the first time around.
2. What’s in your fridge can help with New Year's financial management: Did you know that the price of groceries has increased nearly 28% over the last five years? This episode shares tips and ideas that even your mom would be proud to serve.
3. Leftovers have global traditions too: From Kentucky Bergue to Italian Arancini Balls and even French Toast, every culture has creative and delicious tips and tricks for making your holiday leftovers extra special and even more delicious.

Additional Links ❤️

1. Recipe for How to Make Champagne Vinaigrette made with leftover Champagne
2. Book: My Family Tree, Food & Stories Journal Awarded #1 New Release on Amazon

What do people in other countries leave for Santa on Christmas Eve, and why have those foods become part of the holiday?

In this episode of Family Tree Food & Stories, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph step in for Nancy May and Sylvia Lovely to examine the origins of Christmas treats and food traditions around the world. How have history, economics, and cultural storytelling shaped what we now consider “traditional” holiday foods? Mrs. Claus and Rudolph share their stories and examples of such treats as milk and cookies in the United States, fried chicken and strawberry cake in Japan, buñuelos in Mexico, rice cakes in the Philippines, and oat-based Haggis cookies in Scotland.

Rather than just recipes, you'll learn at the forces behind some of the best Christmas traditions—wartime scarcity, post-war rebuilding, marketing influence, and the role of myth in preserving rituals across generations. These two also share how meals and simple food customs help families mark time, reinforce memory, and maintain continuity during the holidays across the generations.

This episode offers historical context, global perspective, and practical insight into why food traditions persist—and how understanding their origins changes the way we experience them today.

Join us:

If this episode of Family Tree Food & Stories made you think differently about the food on your holiday table, share it with someone who values tradition, history, or a good story.

Subscribe to Family Tree Food & Stories on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform, and leave a review—it helps these stories reach new listeners.

And if you want a place to record the meals and memories that matter in your own family, explore My Family Tree Food & Stories, available on Amazon.

Because food isn’t just what we eat—it’s how we remember.

Additional Links ❤️

1. Recipe for Santa's Secret Flying Sauce (and story)
2. Book: My Family Tree, Food & Stories Journal Awarded #1 New Release on Amazon

What makes a Christmas food gift unforgettable? In this episode of Family Tree Food & Stories, Nancy and Sylvia explore the best Christmas food gifts, sharing true stories behind fruitcake traditions, Hickory Farms boxes, homemade holiday drinks, and regional favorites that turn simple food into lasting memories.

What regional holiday traditions, family favorites, and even strange corporate food gifts have become long-running stories? Have you ever heard of Traveling Jack? Or received a food gift so simple—like a can of soup or an orange in a stocking—that you never forgot it (nor did anyone else)? These are often the gifts that become legends and stay with us year after year.

This episode also explains why food gifts matter more than other presents. They are personal and often connected to family history or a story. Whether it’s a homemade holiday drink, a box of sausage and cheese that arrives every year, or a shared dessert at the table, food gifts connect us to culture, memory, and each other.

If you’re looking for Christmas food gift ideas, want to understand holiday traditions, or enjoy stories about food and family, this episode shows why the best gifts are thoughtful, simple, and meant to be shared.

1. Food Gifts Always Tell a Story: Whether it’s fruitcake, soup, wine, a cheese box, or homemade cookies, they often last longer than that sweater you got and will only wear once.
2. Traditions Are Hidden in Holiday Food Treats: From the Feast of the Seven Fishes to Southern Hoppin’ John and German stollen, where you’re from often what foods you gift—and why.
3. Funny Food Gifts Become Great Stories: Giant chocolate boxes, traveling wine containers, and accidental potatoes prove to be the stories you'll likely never forget.
4. Homemade Gifts Feel (And Taste) Extra Special: Recipes like homemade holiday drinks or baked goods add a personal touch that store-bought gifts just can't replicate.
5. Simple Can Be Powerful: Did you ever get an orange in a stocking or a loaf of bread? It reminds us that thoughtful food gifts don’t need to be fancy to be special.

If you’re searching for Christmas food gift ideas, love holiday traditions, or love sharing stories that mix humor with heart, listen in and share Family Tree Food & Stories on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Facebook, or wherever you get your podcasts—and don't forget to share it with someone with your friends and family.

Because every meal has a story… and every story deserves a feast. (TM)

Additional Links ❤️

• Recipe for Santa's Secret Flying Sauce (and story)
• Book: