½ cup packed dark brown sugar ½ teaspoon fine sea salt 2 tablespoons spiced rum
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Place the tea bags in a liquid measuring cup and pour in 1 cup boiling water. Let the tea steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing to drain away as much liquid as possible, and discard. Place the chopped dates and baking soda in a blender, then pour in the hot tea. Stir to make sure the dates are completely covered with the tea, then cover the blender and let the dates soak for 10 minutes. When the time is up, blend the dates until completely smooth, at least 30 to 45 seconds.
½ ripe avocado, thinly sliced 4 strips cooked bacon
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Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chile flakes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the spinach, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is just wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer the cooked spinach to a bowl and reserve.
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In a small bowl, whisk 2 eggs until smooth and season with salt. Stir in half the cooked spinach.
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Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Immediately add the egg mixture and spread in an even layer. Let cook, undisturbed, for 15 seconds, then use a soft spatula to gently push the eggs from the edge toward the center of the pan, allowing any uncooked egg to run out and cook to form an even omelet. Shake the pan to ensure the omelet isn’t sticking to the bottom.
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For Kiano Moju, cooking on Christmas Day is a high-stakes affair. She cooks for her entire family, presenting a menu for approval before preparing a feast fit for her relatives’ very particular requests.
“My whole life, we’ve done it this way,” says Moju. “Every holiday meal, we always have two different meats, because if we just have one, someone will feel slighted or upset. It also just seems like a normal day if we have one. And no, chicken doesn’t count.”
Moju lives in West Hollywood and is half Kenyan Maasai and half Nigerian. Her cooking reflects both sides of her heritage, plus where she lives now, in a style of cooking she calls “Afri-Cali.” Nowhere else can you see that in full effect than in her family’s Christmas feast, a blend of East African dishes customized with California ingredients and touched with flavors from West Africa.