cdkitchen > feeddaily blog
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A friend of mine says that the best holiday gifts she receives are those that can be worn or eaten. And preferably the latter. At 84, she claims she has enough knickknacks to dust; but she and her husband have to eat three times day, so bring on the chow. Real chow. While she is happy to get cookies, cakes, and candies, there is nothing like a good meal to make her holiday merry and bright. She has a good point. Some of the best holiday gifts I have ever received were food gifts such as homemade soups, stews, meatloaves, and chilis which were already frozen and packaged...
by
Baking cookies at the holidays holds many fond family memories for me. And it certainly is that cookie baking time of the year. From when I first remember watching my mom drop the teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet, to cutting and sprinkling sand tarts with colored sugar, it's been many years of good eating - but it's those fun times together that really mean the most. While we had our old stand-bys and favorites (iced chocolate drops, jubilee jumbles and sand-tarts), we always tried one or two new recipes each year (Lepp cookies, French lace rolls). And while sometimes they turned out...
by
I got an e-mail from a good friend today, a Christmas survey in which you fill out all of your favorite Christmas traditions and forward it on to others. The questions included such things as most loved holiday treat, all time favorite gifts, and your most vivid Christmas memory. Normally I don't really respond to or forward chain e-mails, but this one got me thinking: What is it that is so wonderful about all of those beloved Christmas and holiday traditions? It could be how each person has a slightly different spin on what makes the holidays unique and memorable to them...
by
We were just puzzling over the family holiday plans, and came to a little stumbling block. With a couple of different outings scheduled for Christmas Eve, the seven fish dinner we usually like to enjoy may be a little difficult to pull off. The Feast of the Seven (or more) Fishes is an Italian Christmas tradition that commemorates the vigil ~ the wait for the midnight birth of baby Jesus. Believe it or not, it s actually considered a fast, during which no meat should be served. Tradition factors strongly in most people's holiday celebrations, and mine is no
by
Cooking a fast, healthy, and pleasing dinner for the family during the holidays can be a challenge, and Christmas Eve is no exception. Like the other nights in December, there is a good chance that dinner is competing with holiday parties, Nutcracker performances, and last minute shopping trips. Christmas Eve gets the added complications of church, early present opening, and perhaps conflicting family celebrations. As daunting as it may seem, sitting down for a proper dinner, even if it is a quick one, is one way to keep the kids from a candy cane induced sugar rush and keep parents...
by
With the holiday entertaining season in full swing, it's time to dig out some old favorite recipes and share them with friends and family. But the very thought of hosting a holiday dinner and planning a menu that will be sure to please a wide variety of palates when so many other things are going on can throw even the most experienced cook into paralysis. To make this task a little more enjoyable the next time you entertain, consider hosting a progressive dinner party, a theme where your guests can share in the creative process of putting together a meal that everyone...
by
Christmas is most certainly my favorite holiday of the year. More than the presents, turkey dinner, or Christmas Eve feast, I think it is Christmas morning that I most look forward to. It is the time of the day on the one day of the year that is reserved for untainted and unrestrained joy. It's a delight as those closest to you uncover the treasures of the tree and unload the bounty of the stockings, over hot coffee and cocoa. As family and friends we put aside our bickering, for a few hours at least. And we celebrate each other and all our differences with little gifts from the...
by
A mere four weeks after preparing what is usually the biggest meal of the year, Thanksgiving dinner, we are expected to do it all over again. Fortunately for most Americans, Christmas tends to be a smaller gathering and the expectations for the food that will be served vary widely. For some, Christmas day is the big meal and the spread might include a standing rib roast or it might veer more in the direction of a Thanksgiving redux with a turkey or ham. For others it is Christmas Eve that offers the biggest meal of the holiday whether it is with a lavish French Reveille or the...
by
Gingerbread baking is as seasonal as wrapping gifts and singing carols. Gum drop bedecked houses and candy-eyed men are among the classic incarnations of this sweet, yet sometimes savory, dough. Each year in early December, I bake more than 200 gingerbread cookies for my annual holiday gathering. Christmas trees, snowmen, stars and dreidels are among my favorite cut-out shapes. I frost them, and then cover them in sugar crystals and tiny chocolate candies. They are an annual must and this year is no exception!
by
Christmas gifts have begun to arrive at our home. Many of them are live plants including poinsettias and miniature evergreen trees. Other gifts, such as loaves of homemade bread, cookies, candy, and Christmas cakes are wrapped in cellophane and decorated with sprigs of live holly, boxwood, or mistletoe. And, lovely as they are, all the plants and any decorative plant material promptly go on a high bench in the garage! Although it may seem that I'm ungrateful for all the greenery, I'm really just being very careful about who has access to it. Holiday plants are beautiful...
by
Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is in full swing. When I have people over this time of year, it is often done spontaneously. That means you can't spend days preparing; what you serve needs to be as quick to put together as the plans were. This might simply mean a waltz down the grocery aisle or shopping in your own pantry to assemble a tasty spread for a few friends. I actually prefer the shopping in my own house. By taking things you have on hand (for the most part), you can ensure an eclectic offering and save yourself a trip to the market. I realize...
by
As we gather together with friends and family each year at holiday time to celebrate the season, we honor family traditions that have been passed down for years. After all the busyness of the season, all the bustling, planning and preparation, things calm down and we hope to relax and make a few precious memories with our loved ones, many of them involving food. Christmas Day is no time to rush. Whatever tradition you follow, whether your meal is an elegant formal menu, or dinner from the local Chinese restaurant, or a midnight snack following another busy workday, it's a...
by
I was watching a re-run of Modern Family this week, the one where the family decides to celebrate "Express Christmas" on December 16th, and it got me thinking about the lengths we sometimes go to in order to be with family at the holidays. In the episode the extended, lovably dysfunctional family realizes they actually won't all be together on Christmas Day, so they rush to put together a traditional holiday gathering, complete with turkey, in just four hours on December 16th. Now, I haven't heard of anyone in real life trying to assemble a holiday feast in such...
by
Okay, I'll admit it: We love leftovers. And while some of the most popular leftovers center around the Thanksgiving feast, leftovers are a daily part and parcel of any household where each meal's food isn't consumed in entirety. After all, does it really make sense to relegate food that has been lovingly prepared - and just not eaten the first time around - to the trash heap? Perhaps it's just had more time to fully develop its flavors, its nuances? And yet leftover food is more often than not treated like trash. What the heck, it is trash. Did you...
by
You can't please everyone, as the old saying goes. But as any good host or hostess knows, you strive for exactly the opposite when having a party. You work the room refilling glasses, refreshing trays of appetizers, straightening stacks of cocktail napkins so they swirl just so, all in the hopes that the next morning each one of your guests will wake up and say, "That was a great party." Depending on the scope of the guest list, attempting to satisfy everyone's food and beverage needs is more or less reasonable. You might not offer six different vegan options on the...
by
It all started with a goose. Some years ago while I was living in New York, my parents called from California about five days before Christmas asking if it was possible to procure a goose for the holiday meal. Apparently my younger brother had been reading too much Dickens. In a bout of nostalgia for something he had never experienced, he was insisting that to have a proper Christmas dinner at some point we needed to make a goose. Surprisingly, we all agreed. Five days before Christmas was too late to find a goose that year, it turned out, so the next...
From The Editors At CDKitchen: Feed Daily
by
A friend of mine says that the best holiday gifts she receives are those that can be worn or eaten. And preferably the latter. At 84, she claims she has enough knickknacks to dust; but she and her husband have to eat three times day, so bring on the chow. Real chow. While she is happy to get cookies, cakes, and candies, there is nothing like a good meal to make her holiday merry and bright. She has a good point. Some of the best holiday gifts I have ever received were food gifts such as homemade soups, stews, meatloaves, and chilis which were already frozen and packaged...
by
Baking cookies at the holidays holds many fond family memories for me. And it certainly is that cookie baking time of the year. From when I first remember watching my mom drop the teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet, to cutting and sprinkling sand tarts with colored sugar, it's been many years of good eating - but it's those fun times together that really mean the most. While we had our old stand-bys and favorites (iced chocolate drops, jubilee jumbles and sand-tarts), we always tried one or two new recipes each year (Lepp cookies, French lace rolls). And while sometimes they turned out...
by
I got an e-mail from a good friend today, a Christmas survey in which you fill out all of your favorite Christmas traditions and forward it on to others. The questions included such things as most loved holiday treat, all time favorite gifts, and your most vivid Christmas memory. Normally I don't really respond to or forward chain e-mails, but this one got me thinking: What is it that is so wonderful about all of those beloved Christmas and holiday traditions? It could be how each person has a slightly different spin on what makes the holidays unique and memorable to them...
by
We were just puzzling over the family holiday plans, and came to a little stumbling block. With a couple of different outings scheduled for Christmas Eve, the seven fish dinner we usually like to enjoy may be a little difficult to pull off. The Feast of the Seven (or more) Fishes is an Italian Christmas tradition that commemorates the vigil ~ the wait for the midnight birth of baby Jesus. Believe it or not, it s actually considered a fast, during which no meat should be served. Tradition factors strongly in most people's holiday celebrations, and mine is no
by
Cooking a fast, healthy, and pleasing dinner for the family during the holidays can be a challenge, and Christmas Eve is no exception. Like the other nights in December, there is a good chance that dinner is competing with holiday parties, Nutcracker performances, and last minute shopping trips. Christmas Eve gets the added complications of church, early present opening, and perhaps conflicting family celebrations. As daunting as it may seem, sitting down for a proper dinner, even if it is a quick one, is one way to keep the kids from a candy cane induced sugar rush and keep parents...
by
With the holiday entertaining season in full swing, it's time to dig out some old favorite recipes and share them with friends and family. But the very thought of hosting a holiday dinner and planning a menu that will be sure to please a wide variety of palates when so many other things are going on can throw even the most experienced cook into paralysis. To make this task a little more enjoyable the next time you entertain, consider hosting a progressive dinner party, a theme where your guests can share in the creative process of putting together a meal that everyone...
by
Christmas is most certainly my favorite holiday of the year. More than the presents, turkey dinner, or Christmas Eve feast, I think it is Christmas morning that I most look forward to. It is the time of the day on the one day of the year that is reserved for untainted and unrestrained joy. It's a delight as those closest to you uncover the treasures of the tree and unload the bounty of the stockings, over hot coffee and cocoa. As family and friends we put aside our bickering, for a few hours at least. And we celebrate each other and all our differences with little gifts from the...
by
A mere four weeks after preparing what is usually the biggest meal of the year, Thanksgiving dinner, we are expected to do it all over again. Fortunately for most Americans, Christmas tends to be a smaller gathering and the expectations for the food that will be served vary widely. For some, Christmas day is the big meal and the spread might include a standing rib roast or it might veer more in the direction of a Thanksgiving redux with a turkey or ham. For others it is Christmas Eve that offers the biggest meal of the holiday whether it is with a lavish French Reveille or the...
by
Gingerbread baking is as seasonal as wrapping gifts and singing carols. Gum drop bedecked houses and candy-eyed men are among the classic incarnations of this sweet, yet sometimes savory, dough. Each year in early December, I bake more than 200 gingerbread cookies for my annual holiday gathering. Christmas trees, snowmen, stars and dreidels are among my favorite cut-out shapes. I frost them, and then cover them in sugar crystals and tiny chocolate candies. They are an annual must and this year is no exception!
by
Christmas gifts have begun to arrive at our home. Many of them are live plants including poinsettias and miniature evergreen trees. Other gifts, such as loaves of homemade bread, cookies, candy, and Christmas cakes are wrapped in cellophane and decorated with sprigs of live holly, boxwood, or mistletoe. And, lovely as they are, all the plants and any decorative plant material promptly go on a high bench in the garage! Although it may seem that I'm ungrateful for all the greenery, I'm really just being very careful about who has access to it. Holiday plants are beautiful...
by
Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is in full swing. When I have people over this time of year, it is often done spontaneously. That means you can't spend days preparing; what you serve needs to be as quick to put together as the plans were. This might simply mean a waltz down the grocery aisle or shopping in your own pantry to assemble a tasty spread for a few friends. I actually prefer the shopping in my own house. By taking things you have on hand (for the most part), you can ensure an eclectic offering and save yourself a trip to the market. I realize...
by
As we gather together with friends and family each year at holiday time to celebrate the season, we honor family traditions that have been passed down for years. After all the busyness of the season, all the bustling, planning and preparation, things calm down and we hope to relax and make a few precious memories with our loved ones, many of them involving food. Christmas Day is no time to rush. Whatever tradition you follow, whether your meal is an elegant formal menu, or dinner from the local Chinese restaurant, or a midnight snack following another busy workday, it's a...
by
I was watching a re-run of Modern Family this week, the one where the family decides to celebrate "Express Christmas" on December 16th, and it got me thinking about the lengths we sometimes go to in order to be with family at the holidays. In the episode the extended, lovably dysfunctional family realizes they actually won't all be together on Christmas Day, so they rush to put together a traditional holiday gathering, complete with turkey, in just four hours on December 16th. Now, I haven't heard of anyone in real life trying to assemble a holiday feast in such...
by
Okay, I'll admit it: We love leftovers. And while some of the most popular leftovers center around the Thanksgiving feast, leftovers are a daily part and parcel of any household where each meal's food isn't consumed in entirety. After all, does it really make sense to relegate food that has been lovingly prepared - and just not eaten the first time around - to the trash heap? Perhaps it's just had more time to fully develop its flavors, its nuances? And yet leftover food is more often than not treated like trash. What the heck, it is trash. Did you...
by
You can't please everyone, as the old saying goes. But as any good host or hostess knows, you strive for exactly the opposite when having a party. You work the room refilling glasses, refreshing trays of appetizers, straightening stacks of cocktail napkins so they swirl just so, all in the hopes that the next morning each one of your guests will wake up and say, "That was a great party." Depending on the scope of the guest list, attempting to satisfy everyone's food and beverage needs is more or less reasonable. You might not offer six different vegan options on the...
by
It all started with a goose. Some years ago while I was living in New York, my parents called from California about five days before Christmas asking if it was possible to procure a goose for the holiday meal. Apparently my younger brother had been reading too much Dickens. In a bout of nostalgia for something he had never experienced, he was insisting that to have a proper Christmas dinner at some point we needed to make a goose. Surprisingly, we all agreed. Five days before Christmas was too late to find a goose that year, it turned out, so the next...