The gifts are wonderful, the snow is beautiful, the family traditions are fantastic, but as I get older, one of my favorite aspects of the holiday season has become the delicious food.

I have set my sights on the delicious Christmas meals that will be prepared in the coming week. This year, we plan to feature lamb in at least a couple of holiday meals. We raise Horned Dorset sheep and enjoy eating lamb throughout the year, but it can be especially good for those looking for something a little different around the holidays.

As evidenced by countless posts from food bloggers and segments in cooking shows on television, the demand for lamb is exploding as chefs rediscover this delicious and versatile meat. Ohio is the leading producer of lamb east of the Mississippi but still does not produce enough to meet the spiking demand.

Amy Forrest has seen firsthand the growing popularity of lamb in her Champaign County-based In Good Taste Catering Company. Forrest raises many of the ingredients for her food on her own small farm including organic vegetables and produce, brown eggs, pork, and beef. Forrest had never done much with lamb until she entered and won the first Ohio Lamb Jam cooking contest this summer.

“We didn’t do a lot of cooking with lamb, but since the Lamb Jam, we feel a little more comfortable about providing it on the menu,” Forrest said. “We have always offered a lamb appetizer, and now we’re doing a loin chop as an entrée. I was surprised how many people have wanted to try it.”

The featured entrée on Forrest’s menu is the same recipe that beat out other top chefs in central Ohio vying for the top spot in the competition.

“It is a very simple oil-based marinade with lots of fresh herbs for the pan seared loin chop,” she said. “We add fresh thyme and ginger with an apple or peach chutney that goes with it.”

Along with her success in the contest last summer, Forrest has also been encouraged to offer more lamb due to the related buzz in food industry circles.

“There are some really great ideas for lamb online,” she said. “Our whole philosophy with food is to let it speak for itself. We want to have good enough quality farm products that they can speak for themselves. Lamb is kind of entering into its prime. It is getting more exposure and there are more people willing to try it. When they try it, they discover that if it is prepared correctly, that it is really good. There are so many easy recipes that are easy to use.”

Forrest’s winning recipe is:

4 medium peaches (about 1 pound), peeled, pitted and chopped

One 2–3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut in 4 even pieces

1 large shallot, chopped fine

3 tsp granulated sugar

1 large sprig fresh thyme

1 large sprig fresh rosemary

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

¾ cup flour

4 lamb loin chops

Combine peaches, ginger, shallot, sugar, thyme sprig, rosemary sprig, pinch of salt, pinch of pepper, and 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peaches have broken down and juices are released, about 20 minutes. Remove thyme and rosemary sprigs and ginger pieces. Cover and set aside. Combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and a quarter teaspoon of pepper in wide, shallow dish and stir to combine. Season the lamb chops on both sides, then dredge chops in flour mixture, shake off excess and transfer to plate. Heat oil in large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, add chops in single layer and cook, turning once until golden brown on all sides and cooked to 145 degrees, for medium rare to medium. Mash the peach chutney with a potato masher until slightly chunky. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer lamb chops to platter and top with chutney.

This season, we will be using some new delicious lamb recipes in the Reese house, because I have found that holidays are always happier when they include a delicious meal. Happy dining and holidays to all of you.

For more great lamb recipes visit http://ohiosheep.org/ and click on “recipes.” For more recipes from Forrest, visit ingoodtastecateringco.com.

It was three days until Christmas. And, though I had no gift for her yet, my wife had dropped less-than-subtle hints that she wanted a new pair of boots for Christmas.

I have always steered clear of clothing purchases for several reasons. First, I never have any idea what my wife likes. In fact, if I pick the ugliest thing in the store, that is typically what she likes best (it is usually also the most expensive thing in the store). In addition, I never know what size she wears and I hate going to stores.

I was prepared last year, because I asked my sister about my wife’s foot size and I was told it was 7. So, I went to a store just down the street from my office. I walked in and quickly identified ugliest pair of boots. It was the last pair, so they must have been very popular. I cringed as I turned over the price tag, but this pair of boots got even better --“CLEARANCE SALE $29.99.” I was out of the store in no time flat.

I had even impressed myself this time. Ugly boots (hideous in fact) that looked really expensive. My wife would love it and would have no idea what a bargain I had gotten.

I could hardly contain my excitement Christmas morning when my wife opened her gift. She opened the box and her eyes got wide.

“Hmmmmmm…”

This was not the exuberant response I was expecting.

My wife did like the style, but apparently her foot had grown substantially in the last couple of weeks because she informed me that she wore a size 9, not a 7. In addition, this was a Girl’s Size 7, not a Woman’s Size 7 (I was unaware there was a difference). And, to top it all off, this was a pair of slippers, not boots.

To make up for my multi-pronged ineptitude regarding ladies footwear, I promised I would go shopping with my wife to find a pair of boots that she liked and that fit. This resulted in an unending afternoon in multiple lady shoe stores, a price tag more than three times my original purchase and a trip back to the original store to return the wrong size, wrong category, wrong kind of footwear purchase I had made.

With this experience fresh I my mind from last year, I have vowed to resume my tradition of not buying my wife anything she can wear this year.

It is a time of year that oozes tradition – gifts, carols, charity, goodwill, and, at the center of it all, stands the beautiful Christmas tree representing the birth of a very special baby boy more than 2,000 years ago. The Christmas tree tradition has been around for 500 years and still cherished by families today. In northeast Ohio, many of those families go to the spectacular Pine Tree Barn in the rolling countryside of Wayne County.

“I enjoy being able to see those trees growing in the spring and summer and then getting them to a family that is really excited about it. I really enjoy growing the trees, but also the chance to meet the customers and make it a better Christmas for them,” said Roger Dush, owner of the Pine Tree Barn. “We have found that when you start doing things to make the lives of others richer, it makes your own life richer.”

The Pine Tree Barn also features a restaurant and an expansive gift shop that is open all year with a focus on designer furniture. Christmas trees have been growing on the farm since Dush’s father started planting them in 1952. Now the farm sells around 7,000 trees annually, mostly Frasier and Canaan Fir.

“We want our customers to experience nature in a family setting. We encourage people to come out, ride the wagons, cut a tree together, watch it be baled, loaded on the car and take it home. That is a nice experience for people,” Dush said. “All farmers are competing against artificial trees and we need to give the customers a reason to get a real tree. There is really no tradition to a plastic tree.”

Dush is right. You can’t pack up 500 years of tradition into a box and put it in the attic at the end of the season. Like a pair of girls’ slippers for a lady that wants boots, a plastic tree is simply not the real thing.

To find a Christmas tree farm in your area, visit ohiochristmastree.com.