Christmas Dinner Ideas

It’s nearly December and very soon it will be Christmas!  If there is one thing I love about Christmas, apart from celebrating Christ’s birth, it’s my childhood stocking that withstood the test of time.  I still remember my surprise and delight when on Christmas morning I found Kisses and a 5-dollar bill in it.

However, my fondest memory of Christmas isn’t really the chocolates or dollar bills, instead it’s the sumptuous Christmas dinners my Mom painstakingly prepared for the whole family.

Mom always made sure that her Christmas dinner was the year’s crème de la crème.  As I watched her prepare the family’s Christmas dinners for over the past 24 years, before I moved out and started my own family, I realized that my Mom had no special recipe, but each Christmas dinner turned out special because she mixed her love into it.

My Mom’s Christmas Dinners:

Poultry.  There’s no cooking etiquette against serving Turkey twice in a year’s time, is there?  Thanksgiving turkey is different from a Christmas turkey, although they can taste the same.  Mom always insisted on a turkey because of the size of our family however, if your own family objects, chicken or duck can make a tasty substitute.  You can try some garlic hot sauce with it.

Quick Tip:  To cook meat faster, use meat tenderizing marinade.

Bread and Pastries.  Cookies, cakes, and all those yummy treats that children love were on Mom’s table and should be on your Christmas dinner table, too.

Ham.  Cooked or sweet ham is an ideal Christmas dinner treat; in fact, Christmas is never complete without it.

Fruit.  Mom is half-Asian, and as most Asians believe, fruit on the dinner table during Christmas, especially on New Year’s Eve, ushers in good luck.  We never challenged her beliefs because fruit and salads are perfect for any occasion anyway.

Christmas Dishes From Around the World

For countries celebrating Christmas, Christmas dinners are never complete without a dish or two of the following:

Australia = roast turkey, grilled chicken in barbeque salsa, ham; cake, pudding, gingerbread, salads

Canada = roast turkey, fruitcake, gingerbread, candy canes

Finland = ham, mustard, casserole (vegetables, liver)

France = smoked salmon, oysters, roasted chicken

Germany = potato salad, ham (smoked or corned), sausages, baked apples

Hungary = roast goose, roast duck or turkey, stuffed cabbage

Jamaica = ham, chicken, goat in curry sauce, fruit cake, rice, peas

Philippines = roasted pig or chicken, pasta, fruits, salads

UK = roasted turkey, potatoes, brussel sprouts, pudding pie.

Italy = preferably fish (Most Italians abstain from eating red meat on Christmas).

So what will be on your table this Christmas?  Regardless of the menu you’ll whip up, just make sure you have enough love and food to go around. Happy Holidays.

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Vegan Candy Corn for Halloween

Halloween.  A holiday clearly marked by candy, treats, and sugary sweets.  But if you are a Vegan you no doubt find that indulging in Halloween candy has its limitation as most of the “good stuff” tends to contain animal products.  Have no fear, this recipe adapted from The Urban Housewife proves that a vegan Halloween can be just as sweet with organic and 100% vegan candy corn, a favorite Halloween classic!

 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup of corn syrup

2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1 cup of white, refined sugar

Pinch of rock salt

5-6 tablespoons of vegan margarine

Vial of red and yellow food coloring

1/3 cup of powdered soy milk

1teaspoon of vanilla extracts

Also, prepare a saucepan or frying pan, mixing bowl and disposable plastic gloves.

Instructions:

  1. First things first, set aside all ingredients except for the corn syrup, sugar, and vegan margarine. Prepare a large frying pan or saucepan and heat for about 5 minutes over low heat. Gradually drop the corn syrup, sugar and vegan margarine into the saucepan to melt. Stir slowly with a cooking spatula and gradually add vanilla and bring to a boil.
  2. Turn the heat up a notch and continue stirring. Give it another 5 minutes under this temperature before removing.
  3. Next, set aside the following ingredients: powdered sugar, powdered soy milk and salt. Sift these three ingredients in a dry bowl. Mix the contents of the bowl before adding into the saucepan along with the ingredients melted earlier.
  4. Stir well then let it stand for about 20 minutes.
  5. Once cool, you may divide the mixture into 3 pieces, one piece for every color of the candy corn.
  6. Now here comes the fun part: adding color to the dough. Take the two bottles of food coloring, red and yellow as well as two cut pieces of the dough.
  7. First, you need to make an orange mixture out of the red and yellow food coloring. On a small container, mix a few drops of red food coloring with the yellow food coloring until you get the an orange hue.
  8. Once you have your orange food coloring mixture prepared, take one cut piece of the dough and add a few drops of orange color to it. After doing so, spend the next 15 to 20 minutes kneading the dough.
  9. Afterwards, move on to the second cut piece of the dough a little color. You may do this by adding drops of yellow food coloring into the dough and kneading it for the next 15-20 minutes.
  10. Take note that there are only three colors on classic candy corn: orange, white and yellow. Therefore, you need not add color to the third cut piece.
  11. Now, take all the pieces of the kneaded dough and roll each cut into a long rope. Make sure that all pieces are the same length and width.
  12. Now, take all three colored ropes and merge them into a rectangle. This may be done with the help of a rolling pin.
  13. 13. Once flattened, take a sharp knife and cut the long ropes into small triangles. One technique to do this faster is to cut the rope in a criss-cross manner.
  14. Place the candy corn in Halloween-themed containers or in a Halloween pumpkin container.
  15. Finally, don’t forget to share and these delicious vegan treats with trick n’ treaters!

Happy Halloween!

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Treats to Make this Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner and know what that means—CANDY and SWEETS! Loads of them.

Preparing delicious Halloween-inspired treats for this holiday has become as traditional as wearing outrageous costumes trick-or-treating. If you haven’t thought about what treats to prepare this Halloween, here’s a cupcake idea you may like to try over the weekend and a new smoothie recipe your family and visitors will surely enjoy.

Halloween Brain Cupcakes

This recipe is extremely easy to do and is really just a twist on your average cupcake. If you want to provide a fun activity for the family, ask your kids to help you design these brain cupcakes.

First, bake chocolate or vanilla cupcakes using any recipe you are familiar with.

Next mix together some yellow and pink food coloring to create a festive light-orange hue. Pour this concoction into a bowl of butter cream frosting. Keep on stirring until the light-orange hue has blended well into the butter cream frosting. Make sure you have enough icing for 12 to 20 cupcakes.

Take a pastry bag  and choose a number 10 round tip. Fill the pastry bag with the icing concoction.

This is where the fun part begins. Position the tip of the pastry bag right above the cupcake and draw line directly up the middle. Lastly, move in a zig-zag motion on each side of the center line to create some creepy, freaky, and tasty brains kids and kids at heart will love!

Halloween Pumpkin Smoothie

To complete your Halloween menu, try this delicious and classic selection, a Halloween Pumpkin Smoothie.

You will need the following:

For the smoothie:

  • 1/2 cup of pumpkin shreds or canned pumpkin cuts
  • 3/4 cup of vanilla yogurt (alternative: milk)
  • 2 teaspoons of refined brown sugar

For garnish:

  • 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg, and
  • 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Yield: 4 Smoothies

Instructions

In a blender, mix all the smoothie ingredients and blend until the texture is rich and non-sticky.

Pour the finished product into a pitcher or 4 separate glasses. Before serving, make sure to garnish each glass with a dash of nutmeg and a pinch of cinnamon. Mix well and serve. You may add orange sprinkles and whipped toppings for a more dramatic twist.

Happy Halloween!

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