Quick and Easy Christmas Ideas

It’s Christmas Eve, and perhaps you are feeling a little rushed to get everything ready for the big day? Here are some quick and easy ideas for Christmas Day that will help you put on the festive spirit. Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Eggnog Pancakes

Peanut Butter Fudge

Minced Fruit Pie

Eggnog Pound Cake

Hot Cranberry Apple Cider

Tom and Jerry

White Sangria

Getting my red wine-loving husband to drink white wine is like trying to get a kid to eat spinach, so he was not exactly thrilled when I told him I was making white sangria. I talked it up, trying to get him interested in tasting something new, but he’s just not a white wine kind of guy.

I, on the other hand, enjoy white wine and felt excited about the white sangria and the chunks of delicious fruit. This recipe uses fresh plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, oranges, and orange and lemon juice, then tops it all off with Amaretto and sparkling water, and I knew I had a winner when Michael went back for a second glass commenting on how good it tasted.

This refreshing sangria goes well with seafood or light tapas. You can mix it up 12 hours ahead, and I love how the fruity flavors mingle with the wine when it’s had some resting time, but remember to hold the sparkling water until just before serving to preserve the bubbles.

Reminder: There’s still time to enter the Spain and the World Table cookbook give away! Visit the original post and tell us about your favorite Spanish food or a Spanish food you want to try. The contest ends at 8 pm May 31! Read more

He Said Beer, She Said Wine and a Give Away

What do you get when you put together a highly regarded sommelier and a craft brewer? You get a very entertaining evening of good food and beverages as well as good-natured banter about the attributes of the wine and beer and how well each pairs with particular foods. Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, and Marnie Old, award-winning sommelier and wine educator, put their talents and impressive knowledge of wine and beer together to create an accessible and informative book about pairing beer and wine with food.

The book, recently released by DK Publishing, is a spin off from the “competitive dinners” that Old and Calagione started in 2003 at his brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Each evening offers a five course meal, and each course comes with both a beer and a wine pairing. Using anonymous ballots, the diners vote for the best pairing for each course, and though both Marnie and Sam thought there would be a clear winner, that has never been the case. The margins have been slim, and the number of wins for either side has been pretty even, strong evidence that beer and wine both pair well with a variety of foods. Read more

Comfort Foods for the Tax-Stressed Soul

The tax man cometh. It’s been a stressful few weeks trying to figure everything out for taxes, there are piles of paperwork laying around our office, and of course it just couldn’t be easy this year due to moving around and selling and buying homes. I need some serious relaxation time after this is all over!

Since I can’t possibly keep up with posting recipes for the next few days, I’ll offer some of my favorite soothing, easy recipes from the archives…comfort food for a stressed soul.

Lavender Mint Tea (photo above)

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Slow Cooker Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice

Lavender Mint Tea

Yesterday was one of those days when trying to fix myself anything to eat or drink was an exercise in futility. I set out lavender buds to make myself some lavender mint tea, only it didn’t get made until this morning. I put bulgur wheat in a bowl to soak and planned to chop parsley so that I could have tabbouleh for lunch. The bulgur wheat soaked for longer than the usual 30 minutes before I got back to it, and my beloved tabbouleh turned into a midnight snack as I didn’t even get to chop the parsley until 11:30 pm.

Yes, the boys keep me busy, especially with making the commute to take them to preschool in the afternoons. I spend over two hours on the road every day driving them back and forth to school, most of the time with music playing and my oldest singing with great enthusiasm at the top of his lungs. Tackling anything other than cleaning up dishes after meals happens after everyone goes to bed at night, and I’m often up very late, which isn’t so fun since I’m not a night person. My mother used to do the same thing when I was growing up, and I seem to be traveling the same path. Read more

Coffee Concentrate for Iced Coffee

This is a late addition to my July Summer Beverages round-up, but when I saw the post on the Food Network food blog Feeding Frenzy, I had to give it a shot (or two, or three…). Unfortunately their article didn’t give any specific instructions or measurements, so off I went on Google searching for anything I could find on the subject. The New York Times Magazine yielded what I was looking for.

In short, you brew the coffee in cold water over a 12 hour period, and the resulting concentrated coffee can then be used to make iced coffee or add coffee flavor in baked goods. (Mocha brownies, anyone?). Apparently this method has been used for years in the New Orleans area. There is even a gadget by Toddy Products to help make the process easier (of course there is). The company claims that cold-brewed coffee has 67% less acid, making for a much smoother taste. Read more

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