Everyone knows to leave Santa Claus some milk and cookies on Christmas Eve. It’s a snack to help the jolly elf on his worldwide journey. Leaving cookies for Santa has been a common custom in the United States for nearly 100 years, rooted in Depression-era lessons from parents that children should share with those in need and show gratitude for gifts received in a time of privation, according to History.com.

He calls it “French Toast.” But that doesn’t even begin to describe the mélange of flavors from the version Chef Luke Joseph serves during weekend brunch at Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Birmingham. Brioche baked in-house is coated in a custardy glaze and pan-cooked. It’s soaked in a sauce of burnt butter and reduced orange juice that’s infused with flame-kissed orange peel. Golden raisins, chopped pecans, and a healthy dollop of slightly tangy cultured cream complete the dish ($16).

Hey Day Market, a new food hall planned for the Loveliest Village on the Plains, will enhance Auburn University’s food and hospitality degree programs while expanding culinary options in the city itself, developers say. The university and Ithaka Hospitality Partners, the Auburn-based consulting and management company that will operate Hey Day Market, announced the project earlier this month. The on-campus food hall, slated to open in fall 2022, is part of the new Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center complex, which will become the crown jewel in Auburn University’s Hospitality Management Program.

Roasted ham is a holiday crowd-pleaser. Coated with a glaze of sticky dark-brown sugar and studded with whole cloves that perfume the pink meat, ham dresses up Christmas feasts or provides a delicious morsel for Yuletide parties. We’re not talking in this case about old-school country ham, the salt-cured cousin to Italian prosciutto and Spanish jamon Iberico that is preserved by hanging for a period to air-dry. For Christmas you want a wet-cured ham, soaked in a sweet and saline brine or injected with it. Often the meat is hot-smoked over hickory or other hardwood.

Ask Southern food lovers to name an Alabama-made smoked sausage, and most will mention the Conecuh brand. It’s sold in most major groceries in Alabama and is regularly name-checked by chefs and home cooks alike on menus and in published recipes. Conecuh Sausage even has a Facebook fan club. But a few other meat houses in the southern part of the state produce sausages that more than hold their own with their better-known counterpart. These links come from an 80-mile stretch that we’ll call the Lower Alabama Smoked Sausage Trail. Start in the town of Beatrice at Monroe Sausage, cut south to U.S. 84 and head east toward Conecuh in Evergreen, Snowden’s in Andalusia, and finally Kelley’s just off the highway in Elba.

As the weather grows colder and the holidays call for great cheer, brewers release winter warmers and their special Christmas beer. Usually, these brews are made strong enough to chase an evening’s chill. They’re often as dark as the prolonged nights that lead into the winter solstice. Sometimes they’re spiced, like holiday baked goodies. But they’re always meant to be festive.

A hopper drops small circles of dough into sizzling-hot oil at Sons Donuts in Birmingham. Gears in the fryer steadily nudge the floating rounds down the line, a metal plate flipping them at the midpoint. The cooked bite-sized doughnuts emerge at the end, ready to be dipped in flavored sugar, slathered with glaze, squirted with pastry cream, or topped with a house-made vanilla marshmallow.

Charcuterie boards are perfect for holiday celebrations. They are versatile, providing a nosh for cocktails and conversation or serving as the evening’s culinary centerpiece. They are adaptable to the gathering’s theme and guest list. And, they’re downright trendy right now.

Everyone has at least one food lover on their gift list, someone who loves cooking, dines at all the right restaurants, or takes pride in supporting Alabama farmers and craft producers. Here are some ideas for food-related Alabama-made holiday presents, from locally-roasted coffee, fresh-picked produce, and old-fashioned grits to custom pottery for serving them:

The national recreational-vehicle dealer Camping World, Baumhower’s Victory Grill, and the University of Alabama’s basketball program are teaming up for a full-court press against food insecurity. They plan to feed 5,000 people in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham in the last half of 2021 as part of the Plating Change Initiative, which was launched a year ago by Camping World founder Marcus Lemonis.

From now until 2021 ends, it’s prime time for pies. Holiday gatherings are the perfect excuse to serve a variety of seasonal favorites, from custardy pumpkin and rich pecan pies, to densely sweet chocolate and pleasantly tart lemon baked treats. Here’s a list of some of our favorite pies to enjoy from Thanksgiving until the new year, and some of the better places around the state to get them.

To cook or not to cook? That is the Thanksgiving question. Some of us are gluttons for the opportunity to prepare a glorious meal. Some families or friend groups have this pot-luck thing down. But for those who can’t or won’t—for whatever reason—here are some restaurants and caterers in the southern half of Alabama that sell Thanksgiving takeout. (We also list options for the Birmingham area and the northern half of the state.)

Why spend days cooking Thanksgiving dinner when you can order up a full feast for your family or friends? If you need or want a break this year, here are some places across the northern half of Alabama with holiday takeout that will satisfy any taste. (We also share takeout ideas for the Birmingham area and the southern half of the state.)

Here are some places in greater Birmingham where you can order up a fried or roasted turkey, enough fixings to feed your crowd, and all the pies and treats you’ll need to satisfy any sweet tooth. (We also have Thanksgiving pickup options in both the northern and southern halves of Alabama.)

If you’re a vegetarian—or dine with someone who is—options for meat-free eating can be bleak in many restaurants. It’s even harder to eat out if you’re a vegan who avoids cheese, dairy, eggs, and other animal-based ingredients. It’s not necessarily that there’s nothing on the menu—although in some places, you’re confined to potatoes and salads. Too often the options—or sometimes the single option—are limited to whatever sides the restaurant uses for its meat entrees (“the set,” chefs call them), or simply pasta with tomato sauce.

It’s a daunting task for Pete McKenny, stepping into the kitchen clogs of the seven-time James Beard Award semifinalist who brought SpringHouse Restaurant (near Alexander City) to national attention. Staying true to signature dishes introduced during the decade-long tenure of Chef Rob McDaniel while SpringHouse’s new executive chef slowly whisks in his own culinary style is like emulsifying a vinaigrette—do it right, and it won’t break.

Beer fans are blessed with roughly a dozen brewery taprooms and brew pubs in the Huntsville-Madison area. But if you’re trying to put together a multi-stop brewery trail for a night out with friends, two areas in the Rocket City are your best bets. Clinton Avenue West offers an easily walkable beer crawl. The area includes the Campus No. 805 multi-use venue that hosts both Straight to Ale and Yellowhammer breweries. A couple blocks away are InnerSpace Brewing Co. and Salty Nut Brewery.

At Drexell & Honeybee’s restaurant in Brewton, the scratch-cooked food it serves does not carry a price tag. No bill is presented at the end. You pay what you can in cash (the restaurant doesn’t have a card reader either). Or pay nothing at all. Nobody knows, because the tin contribution box is behind a curtain, and it’s padded to even muffle any sound coins might make.

A new non-profit created to promote Birmingham as a beer tourism destination will crown the “Toast of Birmingham” in an invitational brewing competition involving city, state, and regional breweries, and hold the inaugural Brewzapalooza, a two-day festival celebrating music and beer.

When Debbie Deese wanted to buy an abandoned one-room schoolhouse located off a remote county highway to turn into a restaurant and catering operation, her father suggested she sell furniture there instead. Who’s going to drive that far out into the country—five miles outside of unincorporated Grady and at least 25 miles from the nearest cities, Montgomery and Troy—simply for a meal?

For most, the pandemic baking craze has long since worn off. The industrial-sized bags of flour have been shoved to the backs of pantries and the lingering smell of fresh-baked bread is just a distant memory.  Like many, Pelham resident George Gilliam found himself cooking more during the start of the pandemic. But unlike most, Gilliam’s increased time in the kitchen stuck. He tried lots of different recipes but when he started experimenting with pizza, something clicked.