The Main Course

Hey guys! So how was everyone's Christmas? What good things did you eat?
I got new pots and pans for Christmas and a hand mixer so I decided to make Christmas dinner.

I made a turkey for the first time. I did not plan on making a turkey, because I would rather have had chicken, but my grandma gave it to me so I figured I would give it a shot.

This is what I wished my turkey looked like....lol 

It didn't exactly come out that pretty. It was good though, I was so nervous that I was going to dry it out I opened the oven every ten minutes to baste it, so the side of the turkey facing the oven door wasn't as golden brown as the other side. For my first try it was pretty good though. Here are some tips I came up with during this process: 

1- You have to do your research, foodnetwork.com has good tips I wish I had looked at it beforehand 

2- Turkeys take a really long time to thaw out, it tells you to thaw in the fridge, but that didn't work for me the turkey was still frozen solid so the best method is to put it in the sink filled with cold water. 

3-Make sure you pay attention to the weight of the turkey, because that's how you will know how long to cook it for, when that little red dot pops up it's not always done. 

4-Lastly you might want to try to brine the turkey, which is soaking it in a salt water solution. My grandma did this and her turkey was very flavorful and juicy. 

 

Here is what I had for Xmas dinner, doesn't that plate look messy? I should have arranged it neater for the blog pic, but I wasn't thinking about that at the time, just ready to eat!! So with my turkey I had baked mac & cheese, stuffing, candied yams, greens, mashed potatoes, and for dessert a pineapple upside down cake. The cake came out really good and pretty but I cut it before I remembered to take a pic!! I got the recipe from the Betty Crocker website check out my Recipe page for the link.

So guys I have some homework for you, I'm in search of a good mac & cheese recipe, I make it different every single time because I'm never really satisfied with how it comes out. So if any of you have a good recipe for me to try please share!

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year

Seasonal Snacks

Hey guys! Two more days until Christmas is everyone ready?? The streets and the stores are packed so I'm assuming a lot of people are last minute shoppers. So what are you snacking on during this holiday season? I'm sure everyone has noticed entire aisles in stores filled with all types of goodies. So this post is dedicated to snacks.

Lets start with the so good bad stuff....

 

My son's class made Christmas trees in school out of waffle cones, vanilla icing, and of course candy! When I was in school we made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and milk cartons, so I guess times have changed...anyway, my son was out sick so he had to miss this fun activity, lucky for me the teacher sent it home! Then we found another problem, the majority of candy she put in the bag to decorate was chocolate and my son doesn't like chocolate (strange right?) so we headed to Target to pick up some more candy for this activity and while we were there I picked up some things for myself. This time of year all of the candies have there holiday editions. I love the M&M packages they are so cute specially the peanut one tangled in the Christmas lights. Ferrero Rocher has their chocolates in a container shaped as a Christmas tree, Starburst and Skittles have little elves on the box, and than they have those candy cane shaped plastic containers filled with different candy, I picked up a Mike n Ike one for this project.

Here he is creating his master piece...

Making a mess right....here's the finished product....

 

So this has become the center piece for my kitchen table ...lol 

What's Christmas without candy canes? When I was a kid I only saw two types of candy canes, the traditional peppermint red and white ones and the fruity rainbow ones. The latter were my favorite. These days they have so many different types. I found these cute Toy Story ones that come with ornaments at Walmart. 

Santa's Cookies...

The cookie packages have also gotten "dressed" for the season. I love these Winter Oreo's with the peppermint creme. These are the cookies we'll be leaving out for Santa, everyone knows Santa loves Oreos. Pepperidge Farms also has a nice selection of holiday cookies out, their Holiday Homestyle box has an assortment that's good for entertaining.  I like to use their Chessman cookies in a banana pudding recipe. Instead of the rooks and knights, they have candy canes and Christmas trees on them.Check out my Recipe page for the link to Paula Deen's "Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding".

  

The not so bad good stuff.....

Here are some snacks that are great and won't send you into a diabetic coma!

Recognize this tin can ?

 

 It's popcorn

The popcorn tin was on the list of favorites for this time of the year. I'm pretty sure most of you have seen one of these at some point in your lives. It comes with three different types of popcorn, butter, white cheddar, and caramel. I always eat all of the caramel and the rest take a while to disappear or end up getting thrown out. 

Mixed nuts are great to have this time of year. They are definitely a favorite and great to put out on the table for company. 

Craisins are available year round, however I tend to see them more in the fall and around the holidays. They pop up in a lot of recipes. They are very good to snack on and you don't have to feel guilty because they are good for you. 

Fruit is a great snack and also makes a great gift. Edible arrangements are always a hit. 

Since we're talking about gifts, here is a look at some nice gift baskets...maybe a good idea for those of you who are still looking. Food is a great gift!!

The food find for this post....

Henry & David's Moose Munch

According to my cousin this is a great gift for teachers. It's caramel and popcorn and chocolate with nuts and it's delicious. Henry & David have great gift baskets and they also have the fruit of the month club. The fruit of the month club is a good gift because it gives year round.  Hopefully you won't this reaction though ...

Holiday Sweets

Sweet Treats

Everyone loves baking cookies this time of the year. It's especially fun to do with the kids, even though that tends to lead to a mess. Sugar cookies and gingerbread are very popular around the holidays. This is likely because they are easy to make, and decorate. There is a place by my house called Gingerbread University, it's a cute little place to take the kids to decorate gingerbread houses and cookies.They also can be booked for parties or groups. Click on the link to visit their site, they also have kits that can be purchased online. I usually get the "Mommy & Me Cookie Kit" which comes with a 7" and 3" gingerbread man and all of the icing and candy to decorate. 

 

Sugar cookies are my favorite for cut outs and decorating. I've included a simple recipe for sugar cookies in the recipe section. If you'd rather take a short cut, Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix will do the trick. The Betty Crocker website has some really good cookie recipes that can be made using their sugar cookie mix. My favorite is the Mint Chocolate Chip cookie. Check out my Recipe page for the link.

American Pie

Warm apple pie with a vanilla ice cream….doesn’t that sound good? Apple and Sweet Potato pie are my favorites this time of the year. A few years ago a family member introduced me to Briermere Farm Stand. This place is right down the road from my house; I probably drove past it a million times and never knew that they had some of the best pies around. During this season the Apple Crisp and Strawberry Rhubarb  are my favorites from Briermere. The pies are kind of pricey, but they are homemade with fresh products and in my opinion worth the money. As for Sweet Potato, my grandma makes that the best and she’s not giving up her recipe! Other favorites this time a year are Coconut Custard, Lemon Meringue, and Pecan. I hear that Entenmanns puts out a good Coconut custard pie with their seasonal line up of pies and cakes. Check out my recipe page for an easy Apple Crumb Pie recipe.

More than Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake....Does anyone really eat this? We always hear about fruit cake during the holidays. It's suppose to be given as a gift, but it's common knowledge that no one actually likes it. So how is it that this cake is still around? That's a mystery to me. I had to include it in this post though because when you see fruit cake appear on the shelves it's definitely a sign that the holidays are here.

Now on to the yummy cakes! Have you guys ever had Jello Cake? Some people call it "Poke Cake". My Aunt Rose normally makes this cake this time of the year. It is so good, it's made by "poking" holes in to the layers of the cake then drizzling them with Jello mix, of course before it's had a chance to get firm. Then you put the layers together and ice, as usual. What makes this cake great is when you cut a slice, you see the pretty design that you made with the Jello, and it taste great.

For all of you chocolate lovers out there I heard from a friend that Death by Chocolate is one of their favorite desserts during this time of the year. I never had it so I looked it up and it does look delicious, I'm still searching for an easy recipe to try, let me know if you have one.

Cheesecake of course is great to have anytime of the year! Who doesn't love cheesecake, my favorite is Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. I also have a thing for the Strawberry Cheesecake made by Just Good Desserts, the cake pictured above is also one of their products. Doesn't it look pretty? It taste great to! 

Red Velvet Obsession

Every where we look now a days we see red velvet cookies, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, and now even milk! It seems that we have fell in love with red velvet, and for good reason because it is sooooo good!! I have to admit I'm a bandwagon fan, I didn't think it was that great at first but now I love it. I've included a recipe for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies on my Recipe page. Here's a Red Velvet Cake from Just Good Desserts.

Let me know if you'd like information on placing orders. 

Look what I found...

The two food finds for this post were inspired by my co workers the first one is.....

Panettone

I asked my coworkers what some of their favorite holiday foods were and when I got this answer, I gave a blank stare, because I had never heard of it! So of course I googled it! When this picture came up I thought "oh that's what it's called!" I've definitely seen and tasted this before. It's an Italian bread that's usually made around Christmas and New Years. It's sweet, and made with lemon and orange zest with raisins and sprinkled with powdered sugar on top.

The second one is .....

Rugelach

I'm sure you've all seen this cookie before. My boss brought some in for us last week and sat it on the file cabinet by my desk, and I think I got up at least five times to go back to the tray. These cookies are so good. They are made all year round but are very popular on Hanukkah. Traditional Rugelach are made like croissants, by rolling a triangle piece of dough around a filling. My favorite is the raspberry raisin. I've included a recipe for Raspberry Raisin Rugelach Cookies on my recipe page don't forget to check it out.

So what are some of your favorite desserts? Please share your recipes or places we can find them.

Seasonal Drinks

Let's Have a Toast....

....of sparkling grape that is! 

Welch's Sparking grape juice is one of my favorites. Not only does it taste so good, it's great to have when entertaining guest that don't drink alcohol for example children or someone who's expecting . It comes in really cute holiday themed bottles, or if you want a more sophisticated look it also comes in your traditional champagne bottle.

Egg Nogg

This seems to be a fan favorite. I have to admit I have never had it but it is on my list of things to try. It comes in a variety of flavors and can be "spiced" up if you like. I've heard that dark liquor such as spiced rum go well with this. Some friends asked via twitter "what liquor goes with egg nogg?" and I thought, Baileys sounds like it would work. So I googled it and found a recipe on their site. See my Recipe page for the link.

 

Hot Chocolate

What's better in this cold weather than a cup of warm cocoa? When I'm on the run, I like to get Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate or white hot chocolate they are both sooo good! At home or in the office I use Swiss Miss packs, they do the trick and you can get a box with 6 packs for $1.00 at Walmart. I love it with marsh mellows and caramel, and don't give me those wimpy miniature marsh mellows they melt to fast I like the big ones!

Warm Apple Cider

Doesn't it look so delicious? I love warm apple cider, they serve it occasionally in the cafeteria at my job around this time of the year. I found a good recipe from food network (my favorite channel by the way) for Hot Apple Cider Toddy. Don't forget to check the Recipe page for the link!

Look What I Found...

The food find for this post is .......

Market Pantry Red Velvet Milk

Cruising through the grocery section at Target I came across this tasty treat. Target's store brand Market Pantry has a line of holiday milk. I'm not sure how many different variety's it comes in, but what was left in the dairy case was Red Velvet and Chocolate Mint. Doesn't this sound like it would go great with some cookies! 

Stay tuned for the next post on desserts

Tis the Season

It's that time of year again!

Tis the season to eat, drink, and be merry!

Holidays are all about friends, family, and FOOD!! This is the time of year when certain items make a special appearance on the grocery store shelves and in our kitchens. With so many good things to try, it's no wonder that shedding a few pounds is such a common resolution for the new year. 

So what are some of your holiday favorites? I asked this question to my friends and we came up with a variety of things. So I decided to break it up into 4 post. Holiday drinks, desserts, snacks, and the main course.

Hey, Hey, It's Me!

Hello out there, thanks for stopping by! I'm new to the world of blogs but I though it would be fun to start one on one of my favorite subjects....FOOD! I'm not a chef, I dont have any formal training, I'm just your average Joe that loves to eat. I'm a mom of two and love finding things that my picky son will eat. I started this blog because I love everything about food and wanted to have a place to share. Since I'm new to this I'm not exactly sure how it's going to be structured, but I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite recipes, cooking tips, places to eat, and products. 

Please comment and share your favorites as well. I'd love to hear from you, because as the banner says...

I "love my food, and yours too!"