While there is an understandable reluctance to lump Hanukkah together with Christmas, the two events have one obvious parallel – each presents an annual opportunity to celebrate with family and friends while indulging in a variety of seasonal dishes that have special relevance to the occasion.

As travel expert Rick Steves can tell you, each country the world over has its own special Christmas traditions, which includes what foods you find on the Christmas dinner table. Here in America, many of the holiday mainstays we enjoy were brought over by our ancestors when they emigrated, and standard fare can vary by U.S. region, and even by state. But whether you dine on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, some are universal. Here are the origins of a few of them:

Say the word “fondue,” and most Americans are instantly transported back to an age of leisure suits, pet rocks, and disco. But today, as communal dining has become increasingly popular, it’s only natural that fondue has returned to the restaurant (and party) scene.

You certainly don’t have to be British to like the idea of afternoon tea. What’s not to like about an afternoon snack of finger sandwiches, scones with jam or lemon curd and Devonshire cream, small cakes and cookies, and a pot of freshly brewed tea?

“Grateful for each hand we hold Gathered round this table. From far and near we travel home, Blessed that we are able.”

— “Thanksgiving Song” (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Anyone who has ever prepared or partaken of a Thanksgiving dinner probably has a funny story about the experience – thigh-slapping tales of leaving the plastic bag of innards inside the turkey while it roasted, the family dog stealing the bird from the kitchen counter, the oven catching on fire, a crucial ingredient forgotten, etc. Perhaps you frantically dialed the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line so the dinner could be salvaged, or maybe you avoided the trauma altogether and gratefully decamped to a restaurant to let someone else do the cooking.

“A fair is a veritable schmorgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord” – Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

When it comes to disparate cultures coming together, it’s safe to say that fusion in our country has probably been a thing ever since the first Thanksgiving dinner in Plymouth, when the Wampanoag Indians arrived at the Pilgrims’ inaugural autumn potluck with their regional contributions to the meal.

Malted Custard French Toast at Lincoln Square's JAM restaurant in Chicago

If there was ever a word that could make you forget that Monday morning is lurking right around the corner, it’s brunch. Yes, that convivial, starch-and-protein-laden repast that allows you to sit back, indulge, enjoy the company of friends and family in a cozy atmosphere, and recharge for the week ahead. And just maybe, dull the aftereffects of the night before.

Argentina’s delicious cuisine is as varied as its topography, but it’s safe to say that one food is very much a big part of everyday life: beef, beef, and more beef, cooked on a grill (a method, and a dish, known as asado).

Ask any random tourist to come up with some of Chicago’s most notable attributes, and “brewing” might not be near the top of the list. But perhaps it should be.

This French term (pronounced shar-KOO-tuh-ree), despite its distinctly unappetizing English translation of “cooked flesh,” conjures up the pleasures of an upscale picnic spread, perhaps to be enjoyed with good friends at an outdoor symphony concert under the stars.