Holiday Food Traditions!

[MargeGunderson]

20 hours ago, Quof said:

Go for the Holiday Spice flat white.

Oh, that is good! I didn't realize Starbucks has it again. I love the Carmel brûlée latte. 

@SunnyBeBe, you can order the drinks less sweet if you prefer (although maybe the full sugar is part of the treat!). I get mine with just one pump of whatever syrup is in the drink.  My sweet tooth isn't what it used to be. 

[RealityCheck]

21 hours ago, Quof said:

Go for the Holiday Spice flat white.

On the webpage linked above, it says the Holiday Spice flat white is not available for 2017.

[Quof]

I've had at least 3 this week.  

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, RealityCheck said:

On the webpage linked above, it says the Holiday Spice flat white is not available for 2017.

On Starbucks actual website  it's listed. The above link is just a fansite.

[mansonlamps]

On 11/15/2017 at 11:21 AM, Qoass said:

Every year, my local market has a buy one get one free sale on brie.

Jealous!  If you are going anywhere and taking a dish to feed a crowd, have you tried baked brie en croute?  So simple using either pie crust or canned crescent dough as the "en croute" and spreading either preserves and walnuts or caramelized onions over the brie before baking really elevates the dish and impresses the crowd.

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, mansonlamps said:

Jealous!  If you are going anywhere and taking a dish to feed a crowd, have you tried baked brie en croute?  So simple using either pie crust or canned crescent dough as the "en croute" and spreading either preserves and walnuts or caramelized onions over the brie before baking really elevates the dish and impresses the crowd.

Puff pastry also works well and my friends like it when I do it with the seedless raspberry preserves. Fig is also good. 

[chessiegal]

My Whole Foods sells pastry wrapped brie ready to be baked.

[Mindthinkr]

[RealityCheck]

11 hours ago, Quof said:

I've had at least 3 this week.  

 

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

On Starbucks actual website  it's listed. The above link is just a fansite.

I stand corrected.

[Wings]

Today is the first time I have watched Pioneer Woman. 

She is making Thanksgiving dinner (of course) and doing some things 3 days ahead!   Mashed potatoes with 6 sticks of butter, 3 packs of cream cheese and several cups of cream.  Granted she is cooking for a big crowd but take that down to a reasonable size and it is still too much.  I don't want all that fat in them and gravy on top, too.  Dishes like this is why people lie down on the living room floor after dinner and moan.   She is having cheese cake for dessert!  Jesus.   

I digress, sorry.  I am moving onto Christmas for my food plans, I am sick to death of Thanksgiving now.  

My xmas food is different every year.  Sometimes brunch with a lighter but fabulous meal in the evening or if I make a big meal it is never turkey.  Prime rib usually. 

This year it is just going to be one son and 2 grandchildren.  I am going to make clam fritters to have with cocktails and lobster for dinner.  The kids will have none of that, so I will make what they want.  I am still working on small plate courses centered around vegetables.  

[chessiegal]

Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition is to go out to dinner as we have no family near us. This year for Thanksgiving I made reservations at a waterfront restaurant that we went to a few years ago. They offer a 4 course fixed price menu with several choices for each course. Today they called and asked to confirm our reservation as their policy is to charge per person for cancellations. I confirmed, because we want to go there, but wtf with charging for cancellations? How do they expect to get their money? Small claims court? Life happens - what if there was an emergency?

[ariel]

4 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

 Today they called and asked to confirm our reservation as their policy is to charge per person for cancellations. I confirmed, because we want to go there, but wtf with charging for cancellations? How do they expect to get their money? Small claims court? Life happens - what if there was an emergency?

I've experienced that too.  One place asked for my credit card info when I made my reservation.  I refused to give it to them. They backed down & took my reservation without it.

[chessiegal]

That's what confuses me - I booked through Open Table and was not asked for credit card info. It came across as a threat and I didn't appreciate it. This restaurant has a hit and miss with customer service.

ETA: So why did I book there? Food is good and the menu looked like a good value for the money.

Edited November 19, 2017 by chessiegal

[Qoass]

@mansonlamps, I have definitely had brie en croute and love it although since it's just me, myself and I, I haven't made it. Maybe I should get a can of crescent rolls and make up individual ones!

Speaking of en croute, Trader Joe's has a turkey & stuffing en croute that I'm seriously considering for this weekend (after my Thanksgiving Day sausage pizza),

[JTMacc99]

22 hours ago, wings707 said:

Today is the first time I have watched Pioneer Woman. 

Yes, she makes ridiculously unhealthy food all the time.

She's also enormously popular and sells cookbooks like nobody else for the last few years. So there's that.

I rarely watch her, and I do watch quite a bit of food TV, because she doesn't hit either of the two reasons I would watch a cooking show. I don't care for the unhealthy food, and I'm not particularly interested in her as a TV personality. 

[biakbiak]

Started Thanksgiving prep, made turkey stock, pie crusts and cranberry sauce and cranberry chutney.

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm going to start my prep tonight.  We have two Thanksgiving meals that day.  A big breakfast for the entire family early.  We started that tradition since so many have so many places to go.  We get everyone first thing.  It works great and the breakfast dishes are wonderful.  Then, we have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner later in the day for a smaller group of family and friends.  I have to pace myself. 

I started a new TRADITION yesterday.  On the Monday BEFORE Thanksgiving, I'm going to Starbucks and getting the Egg Nog Latte! OMG, that was delicious.  I'm not a sweet drink drinker, but, that was awesome.  I got it hot with whipped cream too!  Oh, and I took a little extra insulin and my blood sugar never went crazy high.  So, it is doable with a small cup.

[DeLurker]

On 11/13/2017 at 6:48 PM, MargeGunderson said:

What about a Thanksgiving slaw or a shredded Brussels sprouts salad? 

I've developed a cabbage addiction in the last 6 months so Thanksgiving Slaw is going into rotation stat!

[Wings]

23 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

I've developed a cabbage addiction in the last 6 months so Thanksgiving Slaw is going into rotation stat!

Me too!  It is almost an obsession.  I buy the bags of already shredded and have a tub of dressing in the refrigerator.  I have been eating it everyday for months.  Funny to hear of another doing this!  

[DeLurker]

I created a Frankenrecipe for Asian Cole Slaw and the dressing for it.  Since I make it myself in the bass-o-matic, I know exactly what goes in it and now have started to freak out a bit over purchased dressings once I read the ingredients.

I swear I never ate cabbage, with the exception of Napa Cabbage, or ate cole slaw before in my entire life.  Something clicked earlier this year and I am eating it everyday.

Glad I am not alone...

[biakbiak]

My parents and sister and her family are both travelling so this will be the first Christmas at home, so finally planned the menu.

Christmas Eve were are having friends over for apps and drinks:

Sausage rolls with Everything Bagel Spice, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, a gruerye dutch baby, scallops wrapped in bacon, goat cheese endive spoons, brussel sprouts pomegranate salad, and assorted Christmas cookies for dessert. Guests are bringing the cocktails for everyone to try and I am making a super boozy eggnog. 

Christmas is just the two of us and we will have a spicy maple glazed ham, hassleback potato gratin, sweet and sour pearl onions, green bean and mushroom dish, leftover cranberry sauce, homemade rolls and a chocolate bundt cake with a gooey fudgy center. 

[film noire]

@biakbiak - not a single thing on that menu I wouldn't eat. (And eat. And eat again.) 

[chessiegal]

It's just the 2 of us, and I had planned on eating out, as we did last year. I waited too late to make reservations at our preferred restaurant, so will be calling around to see if I can find one with a cancellation, or will be scrambling to get something to make. Note to self - make Christmas reservations after Thanksgiving.

[auntlada]

I don't remember what we're eating. Mom told me, but I can't remember. All I know is what is for dessert because we're bringing it: a salted caramel chocolate pie (which is really more cake-like than pie-like, but not really that either, but it's rich and good); a butter pecan cake that is made from a mix that I'm trying something different with; gingerbread cookies dipped in a sugar icing (basically liquid sugar that has now hardened) and chocolate; and an apple cranberry pie.

The butter pecan cake is in the Nordic Ware wreath bundt pan, and I haven't put any glaze on it yet. I'm thinking of just melting some caramels with a little cream and glazing the cake with that. Someday I'm going to try decorating one of these cakes with icing, outlining the pan decorations. I haven't tried it yet because I'm always in a hurry by that time, and I'm afraid it will look awful because I don't have a very steady hand. I've about decided I'm going to bake at least one cake a month next year to practice decorating so by next Christmas, I can do it good.

The only definite dessert tradition for us -- at any holiday really -- is that there must be at least one chocolate dessert.

[JTMacc99]

Made sugar cookies with red and green sugar decorations with my daughter today. Needed some cookies to leave out for Santa. 

 

Tomorrow will be Hungarian Cream Cheese cookies to bring to my mom and dad. Her mom and then she made these every year (my favorites) until she couldn’t do it anymore about three years ago.  

Edited December 25, 2017 by JTMacc99

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Made sugar cookies with red and green sugar decorations with my daughter today. Needed some cookies to leave out for Santa. 

 

Tomorrow will be Hungarian Cream Cheese cookies to bring to my mom and dad. Her mom and then she made these every year (my favorites) until she couldn’t do it anymore about three years ago.  

They look good. I think I'm going to try them later this week. Thanks for posting the recipe. 

[MargeGunderson]

We do “appetizer dinner” every Christmas Eve. Shrimp cocktail and spinach artichoke dip are always on the menu. This year we added crab stuffed mushrooms, hoisin-glazed meatballs, and devils on horseback. 

[JTMacc99]

11 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

They look good. I think I'm going to try them later this week. Thanks for posting the recipe. 

I would google Hungarian cream cheese cookies first to get a few examples, mostly of the fillings.  In the past I’ve made my own apricot and prune fillings. This year I’m just using store bought. 

[chessiegal]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 9:16 PM, chessiegal said:

It's just the 2 of us, and I had planned on eating out, as we did last year. I waited too late to make reservations at our preferred restaurant, so will be calling around to see if I can find one with a cancellation, or will be scrambling to get something to make. Note to self - make Christmas reservations after Thanksgiving.

I found a reservation at out local Loew's restaurant. It turned out to be a buffet, pleasant enough. Their dessert table was especially good.  Washed down with a glass of Prosecco, it made for  pleasant afternoon meal.

[biakbiak]

Super Bowl time!

Pimemto cheese bites, soft pretzels with pub cheese and assorted mustards, deviled eggs, vegetaran chili, beef chili, sweet and sour chixken wings and a take on a frozen mud pie.

It's supposed to be in the 70s here so drinks will be rose, sparkling wines, beer, and margaritas. 

Edited February 3, 2018 by biakbiak

[chessiegal]

47 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Super Bowl time!

Pimemto cheese bites, soft pretzels with pub cheese and assorted mustards, deviled eggs, vegetaran chili, beef chili, sweet and sour chixken wings and a take on a frozen mud pie.

It's supposed to be in the 70s here so drinks will be rose, sparkling wines, beer, and margaritas. 

Sounds wonderful. What time should I arrive? 

[Bastet]

54 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Super Bowl time!

One of my favorite holidays. :-)

We'll munch on dill dip with assorted raw veggies, parmesan and herb chicken wings (baked), sage sausage balls, spinach balls, shrimp with horseradish cocktail sauce, and an assortment of cheese, crackers and salami.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

Sounds wonderful. What time should I arrive? 

Kick off is 3:30 here, we are running several eps of The Good Place for people who arrive early, so whenever!

Edited February 4, 2018 by biakbiak

[Mountainair]

One of my fave holidays as well! Just wish I had someone to really pull for but since I'm as anti Patriots as they come I'm pulling for the Eagles. 

We don't do much party wise since it's a school night (seriously- can they not move the Super Bowl to Saturday night?) but my parents will come over and my in-laws might stop in depending on the snow-cast. 

My husband will smoke some chicken wings for me tomorrow and I have a spicy glaze and a BBQ glaze to go on them. I've also prepared stuffed mushrooms, Spinach-Bacon dip, they had shrimp on sale at the store so I picked some of those up, I also made a pudding cake thing (Better than Sex cake). My mom is bringing meatballs for sandwiches and cocktail wieners. 

[chessiegal]

We went to a Souper Bowl lunch a local church puts on to support our local Homeless Prevention and Support Center. There is no fee - you just donate. We had small bowls of chicken noodle, baked potato, and chili, green salad, rolls, and sheet cake. I didn't have any rolls, and I tiny piece of cake. Three hours later I'm still full. Turns out all that all the food and supplies were donated by our local Whole Foods. Nice to know 100% of the donations go to the Center.

[PRgal]

On 2/4/2018 at 2:27 PM, forumfish said:

Happy "stuff yourself silly while pretending to be interested in an overhyped sports show" Day, y'all!

(Apologies to those who actually care who wins tonight.)

I know I'm late for this, but yeah, it's all about food for me.  My husband and I get a bunch of snacks and order a pizza and wings.  Our usual pizza place decided to increase their medium pizzas from 10" to 12" (I guess it's because 12" is standard) so we opted to order from another restaurant where we can custom half a pizza one way and the other half another.  So it was half vegetarian (I'm not vegetarian, I just don't want a meat-laden pizza when there's other junk around) and half not.  

[PRgal]

Yesterday was Chinese/Lunar New Year's Eve - traditionally, it's a big family event where people have a huge, festive meal.  However, my husband and I typically celebrate quietly, ordering in from one of our favourite Chinese restaurants.  What we order changes from year to year, but we ALWAYS order steamed dumplings, a small order of noodles and sesame balls for dessert. This weekend, DH and I will have dinner with my parents at a revolving restaurant for our annual Spin of Prosperity meal (a tradition in my family for over 30 years). 

[Mindthinkr]

35 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Yesterday was Chinese/Lunar New Year's Eve - traditionally, it's a big family event where people have a huge, festive meal.  However, my husband and I typically celebrate quietly, ordering in from one of our favourite Chinese restaurants.  What we order changes from year to year, but we ALWAYS order steamed dumplings, a small order of noodles and sesame balls for dessert. This weekend, DH and I will have dinner with my parents at a revolving restaurant for our annual Spin of Prosperity meal (a tradition in my family for over 30 years). 

That sounds like fun although I really don’t have a clue about what a spin of prosperity is. Is it a lazy Susan with food that means something and then you give it a gentle spin to see what’s up in store for you in the coming year? 

[PRgal]

14 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

That sounds like fun although I really don’t have a clue about what a spin of prosperity is. Is it a lazy Susan with food that means something and then you give it a gentle spin to see what’s up in store for you in the coming year? 

It's actually at a revolving restaurant and it's not about seeing what is in store for the year, but to symbolize full prosperity for the year.  Honestly, I don't know ANYONE ELSE who does this.  It's a PRfamily thing.  The revolving restaurant dinner, that is. 

Edited February 16, 2018 by PRgal

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, PRgal said:

It's actually at a revolving restaurant and it's not about seeing what is in store for the year, but to symbolize full prosperity for the year.  Honestly, I don't know ANYONE ELSE who does this.  It's a PRfamily thing.  The revolving restaurant dinner, that is. 

That’s nice that you have family traditions or the New Year. Wishing a happy and prosperous new years to you and your family. Have a wonderful evening out. Save me a steamed dumpling lol! 

[ariel]

 Easter and Passover are fast approaching.  Please share your Holiday menus.  

[DeLurker]

Just got back from shopping for our holiday meal.  I'm making a prime rib and a ham plus fruit & vegetable plate.  We always have holidays with my brother's family and they (mostly his wife) does everything else.  She became a vegetarian about 5? years ago so she makes a ton of sides and I do the meat.  It works out well because it frees up her oven.

[PRgal]

On 3/24/2018 at 9:40 PM, ariel said:

 Easter and Passover are fast approaching.  Please share your Holiday menus.  

I normally cook an Easter meal, but this year, Easter and Passover are over the same long weekend.  We went to my husband's cousin's place for Seder on Friday night and instead of Easter dinner (which we usually do on Saturday instead of Sunday), we are going for Easter brunch on Sunday. 

[auntlada]

Ham, asparagus, potatoes (in butter and spices) and rolls, with chocolate cake for dessert. Except we are waiting until after egg hunting for dessert because we are full. It is cold today, so after the egg hunt, we will have hot chocolate and cake.

I think I need to make a new tradition of inviting people to dinner. There are only three of us. We ate too much and still had lots left over. The ham is in the freezer in small bags. At least one will go into ham and beans later this week to take to my boss, whose wife is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

I also have more raw asparagus in the refrigerator, and I am unsure what to do with it. I only have the one recipe for it (drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees).

Edited April 1, 2018 by auntlada

[Spunkygal]

@auntlada, use your gorgeous asparagus in a frittata! You could also put ham in it! 

[biakbiak]

Asparagus risotto also delicious.

[Mindthinkr]

@auntlada Since it is cold there you might want to make a Cream of Asparagus soup. 

[auntlada]

Oh, well, it's just cold today. It will be in the 70s by the end of the week. Welcome to the Great Plains.

[chessiegal]

I do a WW chicken stir fry recipe that has asparagus and green onions in it. You marinate the cut up chicken in chicken broth, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ginger (I use the stuff in a tube), sesame oil, 1 tsp cornstarch, 2 tsp brown sugar for at least an hour. Cut up the asparagus, saute, add the chicken and keep cooking, add the green parts of the green onions. It's surprisingly good. 

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, auntlada said:

I also have more raw asparagus in the refrigerator, and I am unsure what to do with it. I only have the one recipe for it (drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees).

I frequently make an asparagus salad, with red onion, pecorino cheese, olive oil and either red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.  But I've never had asparagus that has been frozen, so I'm not sure if it would be good raw.

Cooked, asparagus is great in stir fry, pasta dishes, omelettes/scrambles, etc.  You can add some stuff to it when you roast it if you want to just change things up a bit - I usually just drizzle with olive oil and season, but sometimes I like roasting it with garlic and rosemary, or topping it with gremolata.  And asparagus soup is great; the usual cream of asparagus, or a lemon asparagus soup.  And, of course, asparagus wrapped in bacon or prosciutto is delicious.