It's at the point now where people are asking me to bring them a slice. It's out of this world. The bonus is that the treat is low-fat and much lighter than more traditional, heavy pies and fruit cakes. The recipe calls for light cream cheese instead of marzipan, which is used to make traditional tiramisu. She found the original recipe in Cooking Light magazine four years ago, and has since embellished it to make it her own.
Some people use the holidays as an opportunity to exercise their taste for the exotic.
Jane Carvalho of South Plymouth serves Lebanese food on Christmas. She always makes tabouli which includes wheat germ, parsley, tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil. Tabouli is particularly festive for Christmas as the tomatoes and parsley make it a bright red and green. She tries to come up with something new and different for every holiday. But this year necessity has taken that concept even further.