Home > Feeding Frenzy > Archives > 2008 > October
October 2008
How early do you start prepping for Thanksgiving?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once Halloween passes, I’m on to the next holiday. The biggie, Thanksgiving.
For years I have hosted celebrations with over 20 people and find that with a bit of planning, it’s not that hard to do. I’ve discovered if I get a head start there’s a lot I can prepare in advance to help the holiday go off without a hitch.
Right about now, I’m starting my to-do and recipe lists, which I’ll add to throughout the month. I also start on my dressing and desserts three to four weeks out.
Since I usually do a bread-based dressing, I’ve been putting leftover odds and ends from various loaves in the freezer all year long. Within the next week, I’ll defrost, cube and measure them and put them in a freezer container (alternatively, if doing a cornbread dressing, bake and prep it now). Since I normally add sausage and veggies, I’ll saute those and freeze them in separate containers so they’ll be ready to go too.
More great make-ahead and freeze items are pie crusts and desserts. I roll out and fit the pie crust into my pie plates, wrap well and set them in the freezer. If I’m doing a cake (gingerbread is often requested) I bake, wrap and freeze that too.
Has the holiday hit your radar yet, or, are you already way ahead of me? What are your best make ahead tips?
RELATED LINKS: Thanksgiving recipes | Atlanta Holiday Entertaining Guide
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Holidays, Home cooking, Shortcuts
What do you do with extra Halloween candy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If your home is like mine, it’s only a matter of days until the cupboards overflow with Halloween candy. In our case, not just from our kid’s trick-or-treating bounty. Our neighborhood runs hot and cold with Halloween traffic, so we often end up overbuying to insure that we have an adequate supply.
Luckily with the exception of the first few days, my kids quickly lose interest in their haul, so we usually have quite a stash left over (even after my husband sneaks a few Snickers into the freezer for himself). We do the typical sorting, tossing obvious discards and putting snack items in a special section to use in lunchboxes. We then store the “keepers” to use for trips to the movies or home movie nights. We generally have enough to last till the next Halloween.
I have heard of families buying back candy from their kids to provide a non-edible reward, but otherwise, there’s not a lot you can do with excess candy. Have you found a way to use your extra treats? How do you limit how much your kids (or you) can consume on a daily basis?
RELATED: Atlanta Halloween Holiday guide | Guilt-free Halloween for kids
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Do you eat ghoulish Halloween treats?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This weekend my son, Alex, turned 14. He decided to have a costume party and invited most of his class, so we knew we were going to have a full house. To get into the mood, he and my husband decorated the house, downloaded music and planned activities while I worked on the menu.
While we opted for pizza for convenience, we wanted some Halloween-oriented items appropriate for teenagers. I made a simple punch, but filled it with gummy worms and ice frozen in gloves to look like hands. I also had seen a recipe that I thought would be great although it was decidedly not for the faint-hearted. It’s a cake decorated to look like a rather “used” litter box. Served in a litter box with a plastic scoop and placed on newspaper for added authenticity, it’s basically crumbled cake (I made both a chocolate and vanilla layer cake but you can choose your favorite) mixed with instant pudding for a soft and mushy consistency. It’s topped with crushed vanilla cookies; some tinted green to look like a layer of kitty litter. The “piece de resistance” is that it’s garnished with softened tootsie rolls shaped to look like….well, let’s leave that unsaid.
I have to admit, we debated about how many kids would want to eat it considering how realistic it was. Luckily one of the “cool girls” went, “Oh wow, a littler box cake!” basically giving it the “official” seal of approval.
Do you get in the Halloween mood with scary food? Would you eat something that purposely was made to look a little unappetizing or would that be enough to dissuade you?
For more halloween ideas, some spooky, some not, check our Halloween recipe photo gallery and a second gallery of reader-created Halloween goodies
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Family foibles
Do your kids’ food favorites ever surprise you?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My husband has been out of town a lot lately, so last night I decided to make his favorite dinner, grilled lamb chops. I also roasted new potatoes until they were crispy brown and on a separate baking sheet tossed Brussels sprouts with olive oil and put them in the oven shortly before the potatoes were done.
Imagine my surprise when the hit of the dinner was the sprouts. My kids, normally averse to any green vegetables, wolfed them down. My husband and I had to fight for the few that were left.
Have your kids or partner every surprised you by eating something you never thought they would? What was the biggest surprise “fan favorite” in your house?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Family foibles
Do you serve wine with dinner?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An AJC article about recipes that go well with local wines by wine writer Gil Kulers made me wonder how many of us make a glass of wine a part of our home dinner ritual. Some of us save the indulgence of a glass or two of wine for nights out on the town. But a lot of people I know routinely have a glass of wine with dinner, especially since recent health studies have shown the benefits of moderate amounts of red wine in a daily diet. Related blog: Do health claims influence your dining decisions?
I think serving a little wine with a nice roast dinner or Italian dish adds to the dining experience. On the other hand, if I am serving quesadillas or chicken nuggets, the juxtaposition just doesn’t work for me.
I know my husband, who enjoys discovering bargain wines, has found some great under $12 options, and for a dinner at home that’s about our limit.
What about you? Do you routinely include wine with dinner? How much are you willing to spend for an “everyday” wine?
RELATED: Article by Gil Kulers | Regional wines compared | Recipes and wine pairings
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Home cooking
How do you resist Halloween candy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I can’t believe it. Halloween is still almost two weeks away and already the desks surrounding mine are filled with bowls of miniature treats beckoning me to just have one little itty-bitty piece.
It seems like every holiday is starting its celebration earlier and earlier before the actual day. It’s not bad enough dealing with all that candy after Halloween. Now, there’s all that temptation weeks before the event.
How do you deal with overflowing candy bowls at this time of year? Can you pass up all those goodies tempting you? Can you limit yourself to just one or two pieces? Or is it chocolate-central for the next month?
RELATED: Visit the AJC’s Halloween Holiday Guide
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Are you turning to supermarket prepared meals?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to a new report from foodservice consultants, Technomic, in a survey of more than 1,500 consumers, over 60 percent of shoppers are buying more supermarket prepared meals than a year ago, instead of opting for fast-food. 86 percent cited convenience as the reason for choosing packaged retailer “meal solutions.”
Not only that:
55 percent think that retailer prepared foods have greatly improved over the past three years, citing taste and freshness as the key factors in their decision making.
Over 80 percent reported buying at least one prepared meal from a retailer in a typical month. 41 percent purchase four or more retailer meals per month.
It does make sense. With recent gas shortages and rising prices, one-stop food and dining shopping has never looked more attractive. I know I have been caught eyeing pre-assembled skewers and meatloaf mixes. They definitely save time and effort.
How do you feel about them? Is your supermarket making it easier for you to get a home cooked meal on the table or does fast-food still win the “get dinner on the table now” battle?
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Home cooking
Should women be served first in restaurants?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A recent article in the New York Times told of a new restaurant in which the owner, a woman, decided to be gender neutral when it came to passing out menus, taking orders and delivering plates. Apparently, at most upscale restaurants there is software that notes both the position at a table to which a dish is going and whether the diner is female, so the wait-staff can present dishes in a gender-conscious sequence.
The response was decidedly negative, with comment cards returned stating, “Serve ladies first!” It seems that chivalry still rules at most upscale restaurants and traditional etiquette matters.
What do you think when you go out to dine? Do you notice who gets served first and does it matter to you? Should there be equality in the restaurant dining rooms of America?
Permalink | Comments (73) | Post your comment | Categories: Dining out
Is your “good china” too good to use?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I recently celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary. Like many soon-to-be brides, part of the excitement of getting married was registering for all those goodies with which we’d start our home together.
For us, that included “good china”, something we’d never be able to afford on our own. After deliberating over patterns, I fell in love with one, and over the first year or two of marital bliss I accumulated about ten table settings.
Regarding them as an “investment”, I took good care of them, putting them in their own cabinet, only to realize a decade later, I NEVER use them. For holidays, I usually have more than ten and for regular entertaining I use my everyday dishwasher-friendly white plates.
Even when I catch a glimpse of them and resolve to use them, by the time I can appropriately incorporate them I have forgotten all about them. As they say, out of sight out of mind.
What about you? Do you save the “good stuff” to the exclusion of actually using them? If they are only “special occasion” worthy, do you think we could convince Hallmark to make a holiday called Good China Day?
Permalink | Comments (22) | Post your comment | Categories: Family foibles
Is Mac and Cheese the ultimate comfort food?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The recent economic news got some of us at Evening Edge talking about comfort food. For me, it starts with either Mac and Cheese or mashed potatoes. We’re looking for your guidance on where to go next in the list.
If you were pulling together a collection of Ten Great Comfort Foods, what would be on the list. Soup? Chili? Country-fried Steak or some other gravy-smothered cholesterol-adding dish? Shepherd’s Pie maybe.
While you’re debating, here are a couple of links to get you hungry:
Triple Cheese Macaroni from OK Cafe
Jeanne Besser’s favorite Mac and Cheese recipe
Please share your nominees (and links if you have them)
And thanks to Jeanne for letting me borrow some space on her blog.
UPDATE: Here’s a photo gallery of some of your suggestions. If you have another good suggestion, we’ll add to the gallery.
Permalink | Comments (46) | Post your comment | Categories: Home cooking
When do you insist on homemade?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many home cooks are willing to take shortcuts here and there to save time. But for a lot of us there are a few items where packaged just doesn’t meet our expectations in terms of quality.
I know I roll my eyes when I read a recipe that insists on homemade mayonnaise for something like tuna salad. That, I can tell you, is not going to happen. But there are times that I do think homemade is better and so much cheaper.
I know this sounds crazy, but for some reason I don’t mind using a cake mix for cupcakes, but for a layer cake, I think from scratch is better. I used to be a homemade tomato sauce fanatic. Although there are now one or two on the market that I like, including Rao and Dave’s Gourmet, their price (some upwards of $7) is enough of a deterrent to encourage me to simply sauté some garlic, add canned diced tomatoes, stir in basil and oregano and voila, a fresh tasting sauce in about 20 minutes.
Another biggie for me is piecrust. To me, the frozen kind in the metal tin is the equivalent of eating a cardboard rock. I’ll use refrigerated, only Pillsbury (I have been disappointed in most store brands, but never at Thanksgiving. Then it has to be homemade.
Is there anything that you insist on making from scratch? Or is the difference too minimal to justify the extra work?
Permalink | Comments (35) | Post your comment | Categories: Home cooking
Where do you dine at home?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know for many house hunters the lure of an eat-in kitchen is a big draw. But the more I thought about it I wondered how many families still eat at a traditional kitchen table.
I began thinking of all the methods my friends use while dining. I have single friends who basically eat standing at the fridge, picking here and there until they are sated. Their rears never touch a chair during meal times.
Then there are those who sit on a barstool and eat off a counter or island. Usually Mom or Dad serves a rotating group of kids between activities and everyone just comes and goes, eating when it’s convenient.
The more traditional table diners have a couple of options. Some eat in the kitchen while others move to the dining room for a more formal dinner atmosphere, forgoing the breakfast nook or kitchen.
And of course, like recently discussed, there are those who just take their plates to the living room and eat while watching TV.
What about you? Where do you eat? Does your family have a specific dining routine?
Permalink | Comments (25) | Post your comment | Categories: Family foibles
Is TV dining a thing of the past?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was cleaning out my laundry room, looking for a more out of the way spot to hide my kid’s growing assortment of sports gear, musical instruments and book bags. Tucked away I found a set of tray tables that we got as a wedding present. They were a nifty convenience when we were doing a family dinner and movie night, an event we haven’t done in ages, now that bed times have moved later leaving us time to dine first.
A recent episode of the 60s-oriented series, Mad Men, a show which captures that time period in exquisite detail, showed a young couple sitting at their tray tables eating dinner while the TV entertained them. I remembered a time during the early days of TV, when the norm was to take dinner plates into the living room and eat while watching the evening news. Then the TV migrated into the kitchen. You followed along to Julia Child when making dinner and ate breakfast with the hosts of your favorite morning show.
I began to wonder if the TV is still a dining companion or are those days obsolete? Do you or your friends eat while watching TV?
Permalink | Comments (22) | Post your comment | Categories: Family foibles
Do you count calories when you snack?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The recent story on 100 calorie dining made me wonder why 100 is such a magical number when it comes to counting calories. I know that the individual snack packs have made eating specifically100 calories the rage, though you pay dearly in added costs for the privilege of eating less. But at least it’s packaged in a nifty, take along pouch
I doubt many people who are not on specific calorie-based diets calculate how many calories they are eating or drinking at each meal, so it seems a little odd that the time to really be specific is for snacks. I mean, you’ve got to figure, things haven’t changed that much. Before the era of alluring packaging, a run-of-the-mill snack was about 100 calories. Just think about it, an apple or other piece of fruit, a couple of cookies, a handful or pretzels or chips, they are all about 100 calories.
Has it gotten so difficult to watch portion size that a snack needs to be specially measured to prevent overeating? Does eating a round number of calories make you feel better or more in control?
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Diet
Services »
