Since I released my food blog a few weeks ago, I have added four new recipes that I think are nice to have around the holidays and they are easy to prepare. They include: Chicken yakitori (about the bird), green bean casserole (vegies and spuds), Shepard’s pie (meat lovers) and pecan pumpkin pie (sweet things).
The holidays can be fun to cook for, but they can also be challenging. There is no doubt that Thanksgiving is a little easier than Christmas. Both necessitate a special family meal, but Christmas adds on decorating the home and gifts under the tree. I think the best advice is to prepare a menu as soon as you can so that you can gather ingredients in a slow fashion a few weeks out instead all at the last moment.
But that begs the question, what are the best dishes for the holidays? I think that depends on your ethnic and cultural background, let alone your family favorites over the years. Dave and I had very different Christmas holidays as he was raised in eastern Oregon and I was raised in Germany. His family Christmas was traditional in the American sense with turkey, dressing and his mother’s homemade desserts. My family spent Christmas with other American families skiing in northern Italy. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, that was very affordable.
I guess that’s why I like having German food for this holiday. My go to is usually a veal dish though this year it will be chicken cordon bleu, broccoli salad, cranberry relish, hasslebeck roasted potatoes and finishing off with black forest cherry chocolate cupcakes. I am a big fan of the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) and I love her rule that you don’t have to make everything from scratch. My Broccoli salad and cranberry relish will be from Honey Baked Ham as they taste great and seem homemade. But the other dishes I will make myself and plan to include those recipes in my blog next month.
I hope your holidays are special, delicious and that you have a happy new year!