The Holiday Kitchen: Thanksgiving dishes: old faithful's and something new

 I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. Let's be honest, Thanksgiving is the biggest food holiday. So much goes into the preparation of this one meal. Some people taking days to plan and make all of the food. 

Are you a purest who likes to make all of the normal thanksgiving foods or do you like to change it up? Add new spices into regular dishes or make something different? 

This year for Thanksgiving at my friends I made 2 dishes. An old faithful and something new, and a twist on something my mom used to make. 

The old faithful dish: Green Bean Casserole. My secret to this dish is I mix half of the fried onions into the bean mixture. 

This year I used a different ration of beans to mushroom soup mix. I used a ratio this year of 4:1. I added half of the fried onions to the mixture and stirred until incorporated. Once baked, I add the rest of the fried onions to the top. 

The twist on a dish: Cranberry Pretzel Salad. My mom used to make the strawberry pretzel salad so this is a twist on a dish my mom would make. 

The Ingredients:

2.5 C crushed pretzels

2 tsp vanilla

2/3 C brown sugar

2 TBSP flour

3/4 C butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and lightly grease a 13x9 pan. In medium bowl, add crushed pretzels, vanilla, brown sugar, and flour, and stir. Melt butter and add to pretzel mixture and stir until combined. Spread into baking dish in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes and remove and cool completely. 

12 oz fresh cranberries

1/4 C sugar

1/4 C brown sugar

1 TBSP orange zest

1/4 C orange juice

2 tsp cornstarch

In medium saucepan, over medium heat, add cranberries, sugar, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and cornstarch. Stir and bring to a boil and cook until the cranberries burst and thicken up. Remove from heat and let cool. I used my immersion blender to smooth the texture out more. 

8 oz. cream cheese

1 C powdered sugar

8 oz cool whip

In a bowl or stand mixer, beat cream cheese 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy, then add powdered sugar. Beat until well combined and fold in cool whip until combined.  

Once the crust has cooled, spread cream cheese mixture over the crust. Top with the cranberry orange filling and spread evenly. 

The Holiday Kitchen: Oven Roasted Chestnuts

Everyone has heard The Christmas song, and it's famous line...chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I have never tried them. While at the store I found some chestnuts so I got a few and thought I'd try it. 

You have to score each chestnut with an x. If you don't or don't score deep enough they will explode in the oven. I learned that the hard way. You then have to soak them for 1 hour in a bowl of water.

Drain then place in a single layer on a baking sheet a bake for 20-30 minutes in 425 degree oven. 

Once done place in a paper bag or a towel to steam. This will allow you to be able to peel them easily. Crack the chestnuts then peel.

To be honest...I was not a huge fan. But I am particular with nuts. I'm glad I tried them but will probably keep to singing the song instead. You should try them yourself though. You may prefer them. 

 

The Holiday Kitchen: Cookie Memories

One of my favorite activities at Christmas was helping my mom make her Christmas cookies, which were my grandmother's recipe. They were special and tasted amazing. I still can't get them just right. Mom would make these special rolled sugar cookies often and anytime we asked for them. But, on the occasion when she didn't have time for them, she always made chocolate chip cookies which I always associate with her even though they are just the Nestle Tollhouse recipe.  Cookies always bring back warm memories of happy times with family at the holidays.

Now that Mom is no longer with us, baking cookies now remind me of her and all the love she put into it. Just because we liked them. Now the next generation are continuing to make her cookies. Maybe not as well but with just as much heart and care. And now, my nieces and nephews get to be the ones to help make the cookies. I hope years from now, they will take the torch and keep the memories alive through baking. Food is sustenance but it can also bring back memories and feelings as well.

This holiday season, I hope you and your family take the time to bake together. Baking is so much fun to do with those you love. Grab the little ones and show them how to bake, let them cut out the cookies or decorate, or tell them stories while you bake the cookies, and they eat them! Make this season a time for family and friends. You can even bake some cookies and take them to your neighbors if you don't want all of the sweets in your house or give them as gifts to your mail man, garbage man, and UPS driver (For all those packages you will have ordered this season). It's a great way to say thanks. If you don't have family close by, get your friends together for a baking night.

A great idea I've heard of to get to sample different cookies is to have a get together where everyone brings a different type of cookie to share. Then you have a fun night of cookies and games or some fun activity and at the end of the night you divvy up any leftovers. 

The Holiday Kitchen: The cooks kitchen gift guide

Whether it be for Christmas, birthdays, or just because, if you are looking for a gift for the cook in your life stay tuned! I am going to give you some fun and functional gift ideas that your cook will love. I am going to do my best to include budget friendly and some more extravagant gift ideas.

1. KitchenAid Stand Mixer

    No holiday list is complete without the KitchenAid stand mixer. There are different price points for this but it is a more extravagant gift. These mixers not only come in either tilt head or bowl lift styles but also come in all sorts of colors. My favorite is the pistachio. If I didn't already have one this would totally be on my list! This one comes with a price point of $450 on Amazon. 

2. A great cookbook

Cookbooks have somewhat gone by the wayside with the invention of Pinterest. However, there are those of us that love a good beautifully put together cookbook. Any of the Half Baked Harvest cookbooks are beautiful and have lots of good recipes to try. Another favorite of mine are the Magnolia Table cookbooks (I have them all). Most cookbooks will run you from $10-40. This would be a good budget friendly gift idea. I suggest knowing your cook though. Do they like cookbooks or prefer looking up recipes online. Or are they like me and do both. 

3. A good set of knives

This can be both budget friendly and extravagant depending on brand. These Cuisinart knives are not only beautiful but they are relatively budget friendly. This set on Amazon runs about $30. I have similar knives from Pampered Chef that included a few more types of knives but mine were about $100 at regular price. 

4. Spices! 

             

New and sustainable spices are a great gift idea. My favorite spice company Burlap and Barrel offers a couple ways to give spices as a gift. They sell collections like this fundamentals box set. They come in 6, 9, or 12 set boxes. And the price ranges from $53-107. These spices come in glass jars, they are single source spices, and a lot of their spices are spices that are hard to find at the grocery store like my favorite spice Black Lime. The other gift option they have is a spice club. You can buy in a regular subscription for $45 or you can gift a 1-year subscription for $180. Keep in mind the regular subscription is a automatic payment quarterly. Each regular shipment includes 4 full sized jars of spices and new harvests of favorite spices. They also include new collaboration products, plus recipe and spice stories. The annual gift subscription includes 4 seasonal shipments with the above-mentioned products. Most of the time, these new spices come out to the club members before they are available online for purchase. This is something I would love to get as a gift personally. Their spices are amazing, and I use them all the time. 

5. Aerogarden

If you like having fresh herbs and produce all year long the Aerogarden is for you! Plants grow 5x faster in water instead of soil. Grow lights mimic natural light. Comes with plant food and 6 plant herb pod kit. This is a midrange cost at $50 and up. There are all types and sizes and even comes in a few colors.

6. Dutch Oven

A cast iron Dutch oven is a popular cooking dish. You can cook on the stove or in the oven. They come in various colors and sizes. It's a great dish for those one pot meals. This has a midrange price point depending on the size and brand. This 3 qt Cuisinart one runs about $43 on Amazon.

7. Pots and pans

This gift will depend on the brand and if you buy a whole set. A real nice set can be in the hundreds or you can get a midrange set like the Ninja foodie nonstick set for a couple hundred dollars. Or you can buy a single pot or pan and it is much more budget friendly. These KitchenAid pots and pans are between $20-50 per pan. 

8. Local food basket

Something like this could be a unique gift. Especially if you know certain items your person would love. You can make it as big or small as you want and you can spend as little or much as you want. You can do a theme basket like: wine, cheese, chocolate, baking, vinegars and oils, etc. This would involve a little more thought and work into putting it together but could be a big hit. You could even do a snack basket for the kids!

9. Kitchen utensils and gadgets

This is another thing you can buy sets of or find some really unique utensils like this fish spatula found on Amazon for under $10. Or, you can find some fun kitchen gadgets like this cute egg separator also under $10 on Amazon. This popular meat chopper can be found on Amazon for under $10 as well. 

10. Coffee cups

This is another gift where the price can vary depending on the brand and size. There are so many varieties as well. You can even make these into a basket by adding some things like gourmet coffee or hot cocoa bombs for the mugs. 

The Holiday Kitchen: Fourth of July

 

It's a time of remembrance, being grateful, honoring our military, and remembering how and why patriots so long ago made the sacrifice to start a new nation. 

And in my house...of cats hiding from the fireworks. 

It's a time of gathering with friends and loved ones to celebrate this great nation. Whether it be for a BBQ, a brunch, a pool party, or to set off or watch the fireworks light up the sky. 

And of course, whenever we gather together, we also share some food whether is be a whole meal, a snack, or just dessert. Whether we go to a restaurant or make food at home. Food is always part of celebration. 

For today I made Red, White, and Blue Danishes. It was relatively easy to make and pretty tasty!

Ingredients:

1 can blueberry pie filling

1 can apple pie filling

1 can cherry pie filling

1 egg

2 boxes of puff pastry sheets cut into 4 squares per sheet

1 8oz cream cheese

1 C powdered sugar

2 TBSP butter

1/4 tsp vanilla

Recipe:

Preheat over to 400 F.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper

Cut the puff pastry sheet into 4th's. 

Place 1-2 tsp of the pie filling on each square diagonally.

In a small bowl add egg and splash of water and mix for an egg wash.

Fold over one corner and brush with egg.

Take opposite corner and fold over filling and press down to seal.  

Brush the whole thing with egg wash.

Continue with all pieces and pie filling. 

Bake at 16-18 minutes at 400F until golden brown and left cool slightly.

Make cream cheese icing:

Add cream cheese and butter to microwave safe dish and cream together.

Add in powdered sugar and vanilla.

Should be thick but pourable and drizzle over the danishes and serve. 

I have not perfected the art of drizzling prettily. But they tasted great!

The Holiday Kitchen: Passover Dinner with friends

Every year my best friend hosts a Passover Dinner as a way for us to celebrate Easter. It has become a beloved tradition and is filled with good friends and great food. Yesterday, I got to help her put together parts of the dinner. We then had a great time as we enjoyed the meal. 

My favorite part of the meal is the Matzah Ball Soup! It is an Ashkenazi Jewish soup dumplings made with a mixture of matzah meal, beaten eggs, water, and oil. The balls are mixed together and formed and cooked in a chicken soup and is a staple during Passover. 

This was found in a region of Central and Eastern Europe with extensive history and cultural significance in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Israel, and the Jewish diaspora. It is a simple recipe if you want to make it from scratch but there are also matzah ball mixes that you can use and this is how we tend to make our matzah ball soup. Matzah is made of unleavened flatbread. Matzah is integral in the Passover festival, where leavened bread is forbidden. This soup is also referred to as Jewish Penicillin. It is comfort food at its best and is great to eat when feeling under the weather. 

                        

Another favorite Passover dish is the Haroset. It is a sweet, dark colored relish made with apples and walnuts and is meant to recall mortar which the Israelites used when enslaved in Egypt. This dish originated in Israel. It's main ingredients are apples, chopped finely, walnuts, crushed, grape juice, honey, and cinnamon. 

The Haroset is part of the seder plate which is used during the seder ceremony. During the seder it is served with matzah crackers and with horseradish. Personally, I love the mix of the horseradish with the haroset. It gives it a lot of flavor but more importantly it is very symbolic of the Israelites life in Egypt and the sweeting of their burden of bitterness and suffering while in slavery. 

                            

The main dish in the Passover meal can be fish, chicken, or beef. Pork and shellfish are forbidden as well as rabbit and certain types of fish without fins or scales We always have brisket. My friend always make it and it is fantastic. She uses a recipe that features both Pomegranate juice and Thyme. The flavor is so good a little sweet and a little salty. The meat is slow roasted. This is not the exact recipe we used but it is a pomegranate brisket with all the same ingredients. 

The side dishes are really up to your own taste. There is a great dish called Tzimmes but I am the only one that likes it so we don't make this one much anymore. It has carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, orange juice, grape juice, and brown sugar. 

You can use any kind of fruit, and any vegetable (except corn, peas, green beans, dried beans) for your side dishes. We make a couple potato based dishes. One is a mix of potatoes, red onion, carrots, and cabbage. The other is a mix of potatoes, red onion, red pepper flakes, and thyme if you have it. We tend to use red potatoes. You can add any other of the veggies you want unless mentioned in the exepts above. We don't have a recipe for this but you can season however you like.