Christmas is the most important feast of Christianity after Easter. Throughout the centuries Christmas also has been linked closely to traditional Greek cooking. All sweet shops decorate their windows with mounds of Kourabiedes (Holiday Butter Cookies) and Melomakarona (New Year Cookies). A delectable aroma fills the air of every home kitchen where women make Loukoumades, Kataifi, Baklava, Diples, Christopsomo, the traditional Roast Lamb with Potatoes and the Savory Turkey stuffed with chestnuts and pine nuts.

A few days before the Christmas holidays are over, preparations begin for New Year's Eve. One of the few customs   which is kept just as alive today as in the past in all Greek homes is the cutting of the Vasilopita (New Year's Bread). In the past, despite the fact that people were poorer, the coin in the Vasilopita was always a gold one. Today the gold coin has been replaced by a small, common metal coin. However, each one of us believes in the good fortune that the coin will bring if it happens to be in our slice of Vasilopita. On New Year's Eve, after eating, every housewife sets her table with scrumptious foods -"Kaloudia"-, foods such as Greek pastries, fresh and dried fruits, and a variety of nuts. This is done so that St. Basil (the Greek Santa Claus) will pass by, taste, and bless the food. His blessings will help keep an abundance of food all through the year in the home.