Thank You Pillsbury!

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One of my favorite hor dourves to make is a Veggie Pizza. It calls for Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough which you always had to lay out flat and take some time to pinch all the edges together so that it made one sheet of dough instead of eight separate rolls like it was made for.

I decided to make a batch for nibbling on when my friend Tishia comes over on New Year’s Day - and look what I found at the store!

It’s new, Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations. It’s the same yummy Crescent Roll dough - but no scored seams - it’s one solid sheet of dough. It’s perfect for Veggie Pizza

Thanks Pillsbury. I know it’s a small thing but I really appreciate being able to save a step

A Holiday Cake that Everyone will Love

Pumpkin pie is great, but sometimes we want to step outside the box and figure out another way to serve pumpkin for dessert. Never fear, I have just the recipe! (Stolen, with permission, from my mom.)

I can almost guarantee that 99% of the people you serve this to will love it. (There’s always that 1% that we hate inviting over for a meal because they’ll find a reason to not like anything.) Read the story »

Treat Yourself to Shrimp and Pasta

Okay so it’s the holiday season and shrimp and pasta aren’t normal holiday fare.

If you want my opinion, though–and I never run out of opinions–I think anything that tastes really good can be classified as holiday fare. The holidays are about celebrating, and we like to celebrate with delicious food. Therefore, in the spirit of the holiday season, I’m offering this recipe. It’s one of my favorites. Read the story »

Salad with a Kick

My friend Michelle is one of those people who does everything beautifully, from making crafts to cooking. She has a whimsical sense of style in her crafts and a finely-tuned sense of what goes together to make a delicious dish.

And I can’t even hate her because she’s too nice. Go figure.

Below is one of her salad recipes. This has a great little kick to it, and I have never been able to not go back for seconds! Read the story »

Soup with a Holiday Spirit

When it comes to serving soup for the holidays, it just doesn’t get any more authentic than pumpkin soup. At first thought this may sound kind of weird to people. Pumpkin pie is how we’re usually used to eating this large member of the squash family. Sometimes we get a little fancy and have pumpkin milkshakes, pumpkin lattes, or pumpkin bread. But pumpkin soup?

Actually, it’s an elegant and delicious lead-in to a nice Christmas dinner. Seriously, you’ll impress the heck out of people with this. Read the story »

The Hors d’oeuvre You can’t stop Eating

When I open the menu at a restaurant I immediately look for the hors d’oeuvres. I am a huge fan of finger foods and “little” foods, and I’ll mix anything together on one plate. When it comes to hors d’oeuvres I have no sense of propriety. Mini tacos will sit happily next to won tons, and deep fried mushrooms have no qualms about sharing space with barbecued polish sausage chunks.

There is one hors d’oeuvre that my sister makes on special occasions that I have no problem calling a meal. Trust me when I say this is delicious. Read the story »

Mom’s Christmas Goodies

I could find out the exact recipe for a Christmas confection created by the top chef to the Queen of England and stay up all night painstakingly following every step to the letter, and it still wouldn’t turn out as good as anything my mom makes at Christmas.

I’m sure it’s psychological and has to do with pleasant memories of childhood Christmases, but there we are. Mom’s goodies are the best. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I get to eat them. Read the story »

So Pretty it’s almost a Shame to Eat it…Almost

It’s always fun to make goodies around the holidays that really look holiday-ish. Most likely more sugar cookies are baked around Christmas time than any other time of the year, simply because they’re so easy to decorate.

I like to think beyond cookies, though. Since I’ve never made candy in my life and my attempts a cake-baking never seem to turn out right, I turn to something that is fairly foolproof. And this baking-challenged fool needs all the help she can get.

This is decadent, but let’s pretend it has no calories. That’s a standard rule during the holidays. Read the story »

Oh My Gosh, All My Guests Are RSVP Positive

How often does that happen? Everyone is coming, and now some of the single guests have called and want to bring a friend. Usually, several to sometimes a third of the invitees cannot attend due to scheduling conflicts. Holiday entertaining can be difficult when you invite both friends and family at the same time. This means providing a larger roast, more vegetables, more gravy, more appetizers, more drinks. More everything!

Moving a Large Roast.

Large holiday party roasts are difficult to move from pan to serving plate. The easy way to avoid burnt fingers and bent forks is to purchase a roasting rack and a set of turkey or roast lifters. Roasting racks are flat or V-shape. Lifters have multiple prongs. Lifters insert deep inside the roast and others go underneath from both sides to help move the roast to the serving plate. We purchased both a rack and lifter set to help prevent dropping a heavy roast.

Keep Beverages Hot.

Cold beverages are easy to place in coolers with ice, but what about hot beverages? There will not be room to keep them heated in large pots on the kitchen range. Insulated pots or carafes are an ideal way to serve hot cider, coffee or tea you can make in advance and stay hot. Create labels and lightly tape on the front for instant recognition of contents. These beverage keepers come in a wide variety to suit your needs. Choose from vacuum pots that pump a beverage or simple ones that only need the lid flipped open.

The next party will be either friends or family, but not both at once. What was I thinking?