Lengthen Thanksgiving Dinner With These Ideas

I realize most of you are likely swamped with holiday cooking, baking, entertaining, etc. right now--too busy to read a blog for Pete's sake. But just in case there's anyone out there still in cyberspace, I need to talk. Am I the only mom/grandma that's annoyed with how  quickly this elaborate and laborious (albeit FUN laboriousness) meal is consumed? I spend most of the day getting it on the table and in 25 minutes or so, it's over! Snarf, snarf, wolf, wolf, gulp, gulp (burp, burp)--SEE ya! Off they go to watch football!


Not one to feel sorry for myself too long, I've been working on some ideas to thwart this Thanksgiving Dinner pattern. I've come up with some ideas for stretching the length of Thanksgiving Dinner by stretching the table talk, and thought I'd share them in the off chance some of you have the same complaint. Here are my thoughts:

• We should serve salad first, just like it's done in a nice restaurant. When this course is finished, the rest of the meal is placed on the table and food is passed around the table family-style.
• While enjoying the salad, we could start conversation with the traditional "What are you grateful for this year?", but with a twist that calls for a little more thought and specificity: "What is one thing you experienced this year that drew your attention to how blessed you are?" There are probably several versions of this question--the idea is to couch it so it sparks true conversation.
•  Another conversation starter that would be fun is placing a Thanksgiving history quiz and pencil at each place-setting. While everyone is eating, the questions could be discussed and answered as a group. (Of course, you'd need to have the answers handy. Googling THANKSGIVING quiz will bring up some good choices.)
• 
  
  One mom I know got little blank books at her local dollar store, wrote the names of her dinner guests on them and placed one at each appropriate place setting. She called these books "Gratitude Journals." She encouraged everyone to write 5 things they're grateful for every evening before going to bed. She tells me this has become a nice tradition for their family, and now they all look forward to their new journal each year. She's also mentioned that she's noticed some great improvements in her teenagers' attitudes since starting this. 
  

I don't have a single idea on how to prevent the stampede to the TV for football watching. I guess there are some things in life we just live with. What's important is that those we love are gathered together--what a sweet thing to be thankful for. 

Although by the time most of you read this, our Thanksgiving Dinner will be over and cleaned up, these ideas would also work well for the next holiday dinner coming--Christmas--so let's keep this conversation going: Do YOU have ideas or thoughts on how to get folks to linger longer over the exquisite meals we're serving up? Please do share. We're all in this  together, remember. So until next time, here's to lengthening time spent eating our Thanksgiving feast, and of course, here's to making family dinner hour possible!

 

Lengthen Thanksgiving Dinner With These Ideas

Stretch the Food Budget--Turn Cottage Cheese Into Sour Cream!

How are things going for YOUR upcoming Thanksgiving dinner? I've had the challenge of needing to cut way back on spending, yet still trying to serve our traditional feast. Thinking I may not be alone in this pickle, I've devoted the last few posts to tasty and easy ways to stretch the food budget. Here's another doozy:

Part of our meal calls for sour cream. It's on sale for $1.50 for a one pound container, but since I need to stretch my food budget, I'm going to forgo buying it and put that $1.50 to another part of the meal instead. I can opt out of buying it because I have a container of cottage cheese in my fridge, so guess what? I can make my own sour cream!

Here's how to make your own tasty, healthy, and inexpensive sour cream:

2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice (bottled or fresh, doesn't matter)
1 C creamed cottage cheese
Put ingredients in bowl and mix until smooth and creamy. Can be used in any recipe calling for sour cream. Yield: 1 cup. Recipe doubles nicely. 

I bet YOU have great budget-stretching ideas as well. Please do share with us--we're all in this together, remember. So until next time, here's to cleverly stretching that food budget, getting an amazing Thanksgiving meal on the table, and most especially, to making family dinner hour possible! 

Stretch the Food Budget--Turn Cottage Cheese Into Sour Cream!

Stretch the Food Budget--Make Your Own Crackers!

Don't you just love a good cracker? They’re so versatile and such a great snack. Here’s why I bring the subject up: I like to offer crackers and cheeses, etc. as a part of my appetizer spread for Thanksgiving dinner. But this year we’re on a tighter budget than usual due to my husband’s pending layoff (he’s an electrician and the job he’s been on is coming to a close), so there’s not as much money for this big meal. When you look at the typical Thanksgiving menu, it’s easy to see one thing we could do without is crackers (they are expensive for what you get). But hah hah! I remembered my Aunt Annie used to make her own and so I went looking for her recipe. I found it (hurrah—no giving up the appetizers and the budget survives)! 

As a food-budget-stretcher, you can save $2 or $3 by making your own crackers, leaving you extra $$ to put to other parts of your meal. But expense aside, homemade crackers are more delicious and healthier. Who needs all the chemicals and preservatives that store-bought crackers contain? And nothing beats the bragging rights you get when you tell your guests that you made these delectable morsels yourself. Also, what’s very cool about this is that it doesn’t take long to make a batch (prep time is about  15 minutes, on average), cook time is about 12 min., and you don’t need any razz-ma-tazz ingredients—they call for everyday staples.

Lastly, because they are sturdy and hearty, you can use them with dips, pates, fondues, cheese slices, or just on their own. These are so good, I’m thinking seriously of giving them as gifts to my neighbors for Christmas! Here is the basic recipe my Aunt Annie used back in the 1940’s that I feel really lucky to have, and until next time, here's to stretching the food budget and making family dinner hour possible!

HOMESTEAD CRACKERS (makes 3-4 dozen) 

2 Cups flour 

1 tsp. baking powder 

3/4 tsp. salt 

2/3 C warm water 

1/3 C extra virgin olive oil 

¼ C sesame seeds, toasted

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease two large cookie sheets. Combine all dry ingredients. Add water and oil. Mix until dough is smooth. Divide dough into two large balls and press each ball onto cookie sheet. Using fingers or rolling pin, spread dough as thin as possible. Score dough into even squares (with sharp knife or pizza cutter). Brush lightly with an egg wash (one egg white and 2 Tbsp water) or spray lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle top with toasted sesame seeds (and any other seeds you may have) and perhaps a little sea salt. Bake 10-12 min until crackers are golden and crispy. After baking and cooling, crackers will easy split apart if they haven’t pulled apart during backing. Store in airtight container. If they ever pick up moisture and lose their crispness, just pop them into a 250° oven for a few minutes.

Here’s a recipe I found that is also very good!

“SAY CHEESE!” CRACKERS (makes 5 dozen crackers)

1/3 C milk

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 ¼ C whole wheat flour

¼ tsp soda

½ C wheat germ

½ C butter

½ C sharp cheddar cheese, grated (I only had mild cheddar, and these were terrific anyway)

Combine milk and vinegar and set aside. In mixing bowl, knead rest of ingredients until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk mixture and mix only enough to combine. Turn out on a floured boards and knead briefly. Roll out ¼ “ thick, and cut in 2” pieces. Place on greased cookie sheets and prick crackers with a fork. Bake at 375° for about 15 min (watch closely—you only want them golden).

Stretch the Food Budget--Make Your Own Crackers!

Stretch the Butter, Stretch the Food Budget

I'm a day late and a dollar short--unlike me, I'm guessing most of you have your Thanksgiving shopping done and your menu planned? But just in case there are a few out there (like me) that haven't been able to get to it yet, I want to pass on a little tip that can stretch the budget a smidge (and every little bit helps, right?):

You can find an extra dollar or two by stretching your butter--one pound of butter can be stretched to two pounds without any loss in flavor and a definite loss in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Here's how:
1) Let one pound of butter soften to room temperature.
2) Chill your hand mixer beaters and mixing bowl in the freezer.
3) Place softened butter in chilled bowl. Beat 'til creamy. SLOWLY add 1 1/2 to 2 C of ice water (a tablespoon at a time).

I've done this for years, so trust me. It works. You end up with almost 2 pounds of fluffy butter. You won't be able to use it in baking or cooking--it'll separate (fat from water). And in warm weather, it should be stored in the fridge. BUT, this is fantastic on toast, muffins, rolls, pancakes, etc. 

Now, consider this: Let's say the housebrand butter (Western Family for me) is on sale for $2.29 per pound. Instead of buying two pounds for my Thanksgiving dinner, I can now just buy one pound, and use the saved $2.29 for another part of the meal. Cool, huh? Try this and let me know what you think.

To conclude today's post on butter, how about some honey butter for those yummy rolls you'll be serving? The ratio is one part honey to one part butter. Just beat room temperature butter into your honey. You can jazz it up by adding a favorite flavoring such as vanilla, cinnamon, maple, etc. But of course, it's marvelous plain. I've done this with the "stretched" butter before and it works great. Do YOU have budget-stretching ideas for us? Please share--we're all in this together, remember! So until next time, here's to stretching the food budget by stretching the butter, and of course, to making family dinner hour possible!

Stretch the Butter, Stretch the Food Budget

Holiday Meals Made Easier

Putting a holiday meal together can really be stressful and energy-consuming. So I want to share some tips I've used over the years that've made this process much easier. (You'll notice too, that these ideas translate well to the overall goal of getting the family dinner on each night.)

Let's start with the obvious (which are favorites of time and motion experts):

• Use a menu and check off each item as it is prepared.
• Delegate, delegate, delegate. Nothing new here--many hands do make light work. But I am continually amazed at how many folks don't do this. My motto: It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to be fun and pleasant. So for me, that means letting others help put the production on so I have time and energy to enjoy the day also.
• Do as much as possible prior to the day of the event. For instance, if mashed potatoes are part of the menu, then peel all you'll need and keep them in the fridge, covered in salt water, until time to cook on event day. So many parts of a traditional holiday meal can be prepared early and cooked or baked later: sweet potatoes, dressing, crudities, gravy, veggies for steaming, veggies for salad, pies, cakes, cookies, even rolls. (Go the Rhoades Bake 'n Serve route by mixing your dough, let rise once, form into balls, and freeze. On bake-day, remove from freezer, thaw, let rise once, and bake.) The table can even be set the day before. You get the idea. Pre-event work frees up the kitchen on the day of the event for other tasks, and saves you time and energy that you can devote to guests, etc.
• On prep day(s), designate task centers so folks don't fall over each other and the work flows easily.
• Have a system in place for after-meal clean-up. For instance, provide an extra trash container for scraping dishes. Have a specific spot designated for stacking dirty plates, bowls, silverware, glasses, pots/pans, etc. In fact, fill the sink with hot soapy water for the scraped plates and bowls, etc., to sit in as you load your dishwasher. This will saves a LOT of water--no rinse, rinse, rinse needed. 
• Have a system in place for sharing left-overs. I often hear folks say they love being invited to a holiday meal, but they really miss not having any left-overs in their own fridge, which is part and parcel to cooking for holiday guests. SO, prior to the occasion, stash some restaurant-style take-home containers (restaurants will sell or maybe give them to you). When cleaning up after the meal, you can divvy up the goods amongst yourself and your guests. They'll love you for your thoughtfulness.
  

Now the not-so-obvious:

• Keep files for special day meals: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, Valentines, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, individual birthdays, etc. Each event has its own folder and in it would go:
• The menu for the day
• Copies of tried-and-true recipes you always use.
• Recipes you plan to try.
• Contact information you rely on (the bakery where you get your rolls, the orchard owner that supplies you with fresh apple juice, and etc.).
• Even product labels (that of the very best turkey you've ever had, for instance).
  
• Number of guests and amounts of everything served (10 pounds potatoes, 2 cherry pies, 2 pumpkin pies, etc.).
• Who brought or prepared what.
• A picture of your table decor that you take
• An assessment page (this step is for die-hard entertainers): What went well? What didn't? What would you repeat? What would you do differently? The whole point of these files is to save you time and energy for next year's event. Make it easy on yourself--stop reinventing the wheel each time an occasion rolls around.

If you try just one or two of these tips, I know your work will be lighter and your event will be easier to put on. And of course, you'll find more help in earlier posts on preparing food ahead of time ("gravels"), involving family (kid-friendly kitchen) in the kitchen work and doing what you can to make your kitchen truly user-friendly (fridge organization). Now it's YOUR turn: do you have tips for us on how to get the holiday meal on the table with less muss and less fuss? Please share--we're all in this together, remember. And until next time, here's to gettin' ready for the big one (Thanksgiving), and as always, here's to making family dinner hour possible.

Holiday Meals Made Easier

Serve Up Some FUN Now and Then--Try Pomegranates!

Once in awhile, just for the heck of it, serve something for dinner that's a little out of your ordinary repertoire. This mealtime approach has two advantages: 1) it sparks interest and can be a draw to the table, and 2) it can broaden the palate (a kind thing to do for children today, whose palates are somewhat narrow in scope thanks to the saturation of fast food joints in our communities).

The pomegranate is a good food to start with when it comes to broadening the mealtime repertoire. Besides being pretty, tasty, and fun to eat, they are super healthy for us. And November is Nat'l Pomegranate Month--they're at their peak in flavor and at their best price right now. So I thought it would be fun to see what could be done with this attractive and interesting fruit. The official pomegranate site, pomegranates.org, teaches how to seed and juice it as well as offers some good recipes. 

Here's their pomegranate how-to and a couple recipes I bet your children might like. And if YOU have some fun recipes we ought to try on our families, please share. We're all in this together, remember. So until next time, here's to serving up some FUN and making family dinner hour possible!


HOW TO:



Fresh pomegranates appear in September and last through December. They are picked ripe, so the fruit is ready to enjoy when you take it home. A good pomegranate should have a soft, leathery skin that gives lightly when pressed. Look for heavy pomegranates: weight is an indication of juiciness. Some markings do not affect the flavor, but avoid fruit with shriveled skin. When refrigerated, pomegranates will keep for up to 3 months.

To seed:

Cut off crown; cut into sections.              

Place sections in bowl of water; roll out juice sacs with fingers; discard everything else.

Strain out water; eat succulent juice sacs whole, seeds and all.                            







To juice:  
In blender, place 1-1/2 to 2 cups seeds in a blender; blend until liquefied. Pour through a cheesecloth-lined strainer or sieve. Caution, pomegranate juice stains.

 Pomegranate and Banana Salad (serves 4)
3 bananas 
1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 limes (or 1/4 C freshly squeezed lime juice)

Mix together the juice of the limes and the tablespoon of sugar. Adjust sweet and sour to taste. Score and seed both pomegranates freeing the seeds. Mound the pomegranate seeds in the center of the salad plates and slice the bananas around the perimeter of the seeds. Drizzle with the prepared lime dressing and serve.

Pomegranate Yogurt Dip (makes 2 cups)

1 large pomegranate
2  C chilled plain yogurt
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 C pomegranate juice

1/4 C fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh mint sprigs
Separate seeds from the pomegranate.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, pomegranate juice, scallions, cilantro, and salt. Gently fold in all but 2 tablespoons of the pomegranate seeds. Place in serving bowl and garnish with mint and seeds. Chill for 30 minutes.

 

 

Serve Up Some FUN Now and Then--Try Pomegranates!

Teach Your Kids to Clean as They Cook: Eliminate Kid-Made-Messes FOREVER!

Who doesn't want more help from their kids in the kitchen--more cooking or baking help especially? But at the same time, who DOES want the mess they can leave behind after their culinary contributions? Today I'm sharing how to eliminate the kid-made-messes forever!


Kitchen work is a lot of fun if there's a routine to it, and a "clean as you go" routine is one kids should learn early on--it saves them time in the long run and makes what they're doing pleasant. AND, the clean and tidy kitchen they leave behind is ready for the guy (likely YOU) who needs to work in there next. Good cooks are considerate cooks...


Here are 6 things (the "clean-as-you-go") you want your kids to always do when cooking or baking:
1) Study the recipe. My friend, Shirley J executive chef, Brian Richter, says the most efficient, and less messy way to work is to read the recipe and lay out all needed equipment and ingredients (pre-measured) beforehand. (By the way, this is a good overall life-lesson we can teach our kids: study the professionals and model their methods--no matter what the job!)

2) Trap your trash. Have them tape a trash bag to the counter edge where they'll be working. This will save trips to the kitchen trash container (saving time and energy) and serves to keep the work surface tidy.

3) Spray for safety. Provide them with a plastic spray bottle of highly diluted bleach water and clean dish cloth, for frequent disinfecting of surfaces. Teach them that wiping as you work contributes to health safety, and makes the after-cleanup a breeze.

4) Wash while working. Have them fill the sink with HOT soapy water. As they proceed through their recipe, they should deposit all dirty items (measuring cups and spoons, beaters, bowls, pots and pans, etc.) into the sink. What a time-saver this is--stuff almost washes itself while the cook works. When the recipe is complete, they quickly wash, wipe and put things away. (Yes, they could fill the dishwasher with the dirty items, but doing it this way really is the smarter way to work in the long run. You'll appreciate having more dishwasher space for the after-meal cleanup.)

5) Tidy the tools. Incorporate this House Rule: All appliances/tools used during the work (mixers, stove top, microwave, fridge door, etc.) are to be wiped and shined before leaving the kitchen. This is working considerately (thinking of the next guy to follow in their wake--again, likely YOU) and working responsibly (equipment lasts longer when it's taken good care of). And it makes the next job inviting--who likes to cook or bake with dirty equipment? No one. 

6) Finally, Sweep and empty. The food is prepared, the kitchen is lookin' good--but be sure your kids know to sweep the floor and empty the trash before they exit stage left. Some moms have their kids do this last step after the meal is eaten--doesn't matter. Just be sure your kids know this is part of the "clean-as-you-go" routine.

As you and your children develop the above kitchen work habits (they need you to model the behavior expected of them), you'll save time and energy and cooking and baking will be much more fun. Are there kitchen cleaning tips YOU know of that our kids should learn? If so, please share--we're all in this together, remember. So until next time, here' to eliminating those kid-made-messes forever, and making family dinner hour possible!

Teach Your Kids to Clean as They Cook: Eliminate Kid-Made-Messes FOREVER!