You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But…do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? If not, please extricate yourself from the rock you’ve been living under. Everyone knows Rudolph.
From humble beginnings in Robert May’s children’s book in 1939, Rudolph and his glowing red schnoz have spawned an empire. Rounding out his rich mythos are the all too familiar Christmas song and the stop motion TV tale of an elf with dental aspirations, a portly prospector and our lovable, outcast young buck.
Of course, as with most myths and legends, there is some grain of truth hiding somewhere. This Christmas, science tackled the origin of Rudolph and his shiny nose. A research team, led by Can Ince of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, published a study just last week in the British Medical Journal explaining this Christmas mystery.
One of my favorite things in the world is coming home after having a brisket cooking all day long. Really, it’s the same with any savory treat that cooks all day. The smell is amazing and the food’s never ready soon enough. Truly mouth-watering.
