I’m grinning like crazy right now. The little group of international blow-ins that I (unintentionally) named is KIBIS really taking off. It consists of me, from the US; a Canadian, an Italian, and our newest member is Japanese.
Our KIBIS group today decided to have a ‘KIBIS Christmas Gala Dinner’ on the 14th Dec. I suggested we make and bring food from our respective countries. This is going to be an interesting meal!
Italy: either sage stuffed roast chicken with walnut bread, or lasagne. (I’m hoping for lasagne, I haven’t had it in years.)
Canada: sweet potatoes with cranberries and maple syrup (Wow! I think I’m salivating just typing that.)
Japan: a variety of sushi (Okay, I’m a newbie at sushi. Hope I don’t make an ass of myself.)
USA: cornbread and DethNog.
Since the last two are obviously mine, I have more than a parenthetical comment to offer.
I’ve never made cornbread, unless you count Jiffy Mix. I don’t know if I can even get cornmeal here! I might end up going with my second option, buttermilk biscuits.
Proper southern recipes for either one are now being taken. I don’t have a clue…
The eggnog, however, is a classic family concoction. I have my dad’s instructions for this brew, and it is POTENT! Our tradition is to write on the jug ‘death nog’, because one morning mom put it in her coffee instead of milk. Wheee! Work today is so much more fun than usual!
I usually draw a skull n crossbones in a Santa hat on the jug, to keep it coffee-safe. Last year I had two, one was a cat and one a dog.
Hmm, it seems I left the ‘deth’ part off last year.
Anyhow, if I could be bothered to dig it out, and had my dad’s permission, I’d give you the recipe. But I can’t, and I don’t. Maybe if someone asks nicely I will. Tomorrow, when I’m less giddy.
heretherebespiders 
I don’t have a clue what those nogs are and google didn’t help much 😦
This dinner sounds like so much fun! I envy you in a good way. I haven’t eaten sushi for a long time. You might like it. Do you like fish? Do you know if she’s going to make sushi or rolls?
OMG, I’d better stop, it’s the middle of the night here and suddenly I’m getting really hungry thinking about that dinner of yours 😀
Ha! Yes, eggnog is very American I think.
She said sushi – I will have to be brave. I dont know much about sushi. I like fish, but not really fishy-fish. More like mild flavor. They have smoked salmon here, but to me it is raw fish with a little smoky flavor and I don’t like the texture. But I will try, raw or not! I was in bed too when you sent this 🙂
Sushi is usually pretty mild tasting fish – tuna ‘steak’, yellowtail?.. the nigiri style is probably the easiest to make, since it is a rectangle of rice with a slice of fish on top. I think a dab of wasabi is used as glue.
Around here you can get a fine ground cornmeal all over, but in health food stores a coarser stone ground version that makes a good ‘rustic’ cornbread.
What a fantastic idea for a dinner! Sounds like tons of fun. Cornbread is very easy to make from scratch – the recipe is on the cornbread meal box. I don’t particularly care for egg nog, but I’d be willing to try yours if it could help me escape for just an hour or so!
I don’t know if they have cornmeal here! I might be in trouble. No one makes cornbread here, my hubby has never had it. Not every one likes eggnog, but mine is so strong they drink it anyway 🙂
I love the labels. It definitely gets the point across! When I was little, we had a Persian kitty named Tum-Tum who got at the eggnog and became quite inebriated. Tum-Tum was fine, once the effects wore off.
Have fun with your international dinner. It sounds yummy!
Oh my, I’ve never seen a drunken cat! That had to be strange.
Sadly, I was too young to actually remember it. I don’t think it’s something I will see again!
Try this: when I make cornbread, I substitute sour cream for the milk. Or do 1/2 milk, 1/2 sour cream. The final product tends to be less dry that way. Made my own cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving. added shelled pistachios…of course, they’d have to be shelled, you Polock Mike!…dried cranberries and pears to the mix, among other things. Came out very well. Say, did I ever mention to you that I was a chef for almost 20 years before I broke into TV writing? Lost my chops in that arena but I could probably get ’em back with practice. Good LUck with your dinner!
Thanks for the tips! That stuffing does sound good.
Wow, I’ve never used sour cream before. I use buttermilk and lots of it! My uncle used to make the best southern buttermilk corn bread you’ve ever eaten, and when he died he took his recipe with him- or so he thought. It took YEARS, but I FINALLY figured out his secret.
I love the fact that it’s easier to get local eggs here where we live now so I can actually make REAL egg nog. I was always afraid to with store-bought eggs.
Now as for those sweet potatoes with cranberries…. I gotta try that.
Wow, that sounds good, too. If you’d like to share secretly, email me? I promise not to give it to any Americans 🙂
Oh yes, I make it fresh. I was worried at first because Irish eggs disagree with me unless they are cooked to death, but the massive amount of booze I put in kills any bacteria or whatever it is that makes my guts unhappy.
If you enjoy fish, You will like sushi.
I love sushi.
Kwix makes a fantastic cornbread. Bakes it in one of our cast iron skillets. Might be better if the man bothered to write down how he makes it!!
I can’t stand sushi… or any fish. Although I found ONE I like. Smoked salmon bellies. It’s a part almost everyone tosses out. I was so stunned to find some I didn’t hate that I kept eating it in confusion!
Socks’ Bear has a recipe too; I’ve been promised it… I think 🙂