Cook ingredients that you are used to cooking by other techniques, such as fish, chicken, or hamburgers. In other words be comfortable with the ingredients you are using.
--Bobby Flay
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Please watch this area for important information like updates, food recalls, polls, contests, coupons, and freebies.- [March 19, 2020] - Effective Mar 17, this blog will no longer accept advertising. The reason is very simple. If I like a product, I will promote it without compensation. If I don't like a product, I will have no problem saying so.
- [March 17, 2020] - A return to blogging! Stay tuned for new tips, resources and all things food related.
- [February 1, 2016] - An interesting report on why you should always choose organic tea verses non-organic: Toxic Tea (pdf format)
- Sticky Post - Warning: 4ever Recap reusable canning lids. The reports are growing daily of these lids losing their seal during storage. Some have lost their entire season's worth of canning to these seal failures! [Update: 4ever Recap appears to be out of business.]
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Tomorrow is Christmas and while we will not have our big Christmas dinner until the 26th, the menu has been set and preparations are in full gear. I am not a huge menu planner on a regular basis because I am very much a cooking from the pantry style cook. When it comes to special occasions and holidays, I do menu planning. In this case, menu planning helps to keep me organized so I can make sure I have everything on hand for the dishes I will be preparing, do pre-prep as needed and make things streamlined so the meals go smoothly.
We know we will have two of our kids with grandkid overnight on the 25th staying through the 26th but not overnight. Then two of our kids with two grandkids will be arriving around noon on the 26th and staying until noon on the 28th. That means I have to plan for three hot breakfasts, four snacks, one lunch, two dinners plus the main meal along with all the snacks and appetizers during the day. Menu planning in this case works quite nicely for me.
Here's a few menu planning tips:
- keep it simple - This is the number one rule in menu planning, KISS. For example, bacon and eggs with toast and hashbrowns is simple enough for breakfast but a breakfast casserole is simpler.
- number of meals - Simply figure out how many breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners you need for that time period then decide upon a main dish for each meal and work from there.
- TNT - Stay with tried and true (tested) dishes. This isn't the time to fuss with a dish you've never made before.
- attention to detail - What really makes holiday meals is the extras like homemade condiments and garnishes. Chives, parsley, rosemary and citrus are easy garnishes so be sure to add them to your shopping list if necessary. Don't forget to add beverage specific garnishes (eg. pickle spears, olives, pineapple)
- beverages - Make sure you have plenty of mix and non-alcoholic beverages.
- snacks - Keep the snack trays to easy to prepare finger foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts.
- appetizers - As a guideline, plan on 3 to 4 appetizers per person unless the gathering is appetizers only then double that.
- shopping list - Create your shopping list from your menu plan. Buy only what is needed for that holiday menu plan plus $5 - $10 extra to restock the pantry.
From our kitchen to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Our traditional Christmas Day foods include kibbeh, crab meat dip, crudites, a variety of Christmas nuts, trays of cookies and a bowl of clementines. Our dinner menu is usually turkey with stuffing and gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, Swedish potatoes, whole kernel corn and sweet potatoes followed by lemon meringue and apple pies. As our family grew with more at the table for the Christmas feast we added prime rib roast. This year our Christmas dinner menu has taken a new direction as there will only be four of us the entire day. Our big Christmas gathering is being held in January. We will have various snacks throughout the day along with bowl of clementine oranges gracing the table. There is a story behind the oranges from my early childhood so they have been a must have in our home every holiday season. This year we are adding hickory smoked ham, port wine jelly, and cheesecake to our traditional menu.
Tomorrow is Christmas and while we will not have our big Christmas dinner until the 26th, the menu has been set and preparations are in full gear. I am not a huge menu planner on a regular basis because I am very much a cooking from the pantry style cook. When it comes to special occasions and holidays, I do menu planning. In this case, menu planning helps to keep me organized so I can make sure I have everything on hand for the dishes I will be preparing, do pre-prep as needed and make things streamlined so the meals go smoothly.