Tag: ideas fun
Fall is my favorite time of year. It’s all about the heartwarming food, the cool crisp air, the vibrant colors, and of course… Football!
Football has been a part of my life since I was a small girl. My first football memories are watching the Pittsburgh Steelers games with my dad and nibbling throughout the day on the “football food” that my mom would prepare (a “make your own taco bar” was a personal favorite!). Over the years dad started to dabble in the kitchen and would prepare our game day fare — elaborate veggie platters with dip (each vegetable was cut into perfectly sized pieces), shrimp cocktails, mini bagel dogs, chicken wings, pickled herring, and guacamole with pretzels. This unusual assortment of goodies was just to whet our appetite for the main game day attraction – Dad’s Ribs. These legendary ribs are eagerly anticipated throughout our family and friends. The process starts the night before by soaking hickory chips in water — this will ensure that the chips will not burn when they are placed around the charcoal. To prep the meat before smoking, my Dad removes the rib membrane (skin covering the back) – his secret to ensure that the hickory penetrates the meat and rib bone. The ribs are then smoked for 2 hours in a kettle grill over indirect heat. After coming off the grill, they are basted with a tangy barbecue sauce that makes these ribs irresistible.
And now that I’ve hosted a few of these game days myself, I would like to pass along to you my winning game day picks.
PreGame – Guests Arriving
- Chips and salsa (I usually serve two types of salsa TSG Black Bean and Corn and a homemade version)
- Hummus and pita chips
- Crudité platter with assorted olives, cheeses, and flatbreads
End of 1st Quarter
Half Time
- Assorted Mini Sandwiches
- Thin Crust Pizzas
End of 3rd Quarter
And don’t forget to offer assorted frosty beverages – Go Team!!
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October 14, 2010
In the afterglow of Thanksgiving dinner, we began to be ready to think about Christmas (a little late if you ask most retailers). We saw a special on how they decorate Disneyworld for Christmas – and had the bug. While it had all the usual stories about trees and lights( over 1000 65 foot trees) for us, the story that resonated most was about food of a sorts – gingerbread houses!
Everyone Can Decorate a Gingerbread House
At Disney, they even make a complete store out of gingerbread, a huge display at a monorail station. We have seen the White House constructed in gingerbread too. It can be a real art – or a great party.
Since the children were little, we have made gingerbread houses every year – some elaborate, some in a hurry, some very original. It started in England where my very talented friend Jeanne, brought the three familes with six kids together for a wonderful two day exercise. Jeanne lovingly handcrafted the gingerbread pieces, taught us how to make royal icing that worked better than superglue, and laid out a spread of candy and other items to decorate with that would leave the children full of sugar for days. Camille lovingly donated her house for what is a sticky adventure on its best days, and we all settled in to learn how to turn shredded wheat into roof tops and clear mints into reflecting pools.
As the children grew older, and we moved away from our friends, the tradition remained. We went through a phase of great creativity where Scott made gingerbread submarines and air craft carriers, and our imaginative Laura decorated everything just so with a pretty story.
In college, when trips were shorter, we migrated on to pre-made kits, with extra candy for décor. Grandma learned how – even though the dog stole it off the kitchen table. Guests away from home had to take part too. The good news is, if you live in a dry climate, you can even store these masterpieces in a bag in the attic for a couple of years.
How to Make a Gingerbread House or Christmas Ornament.
Gingerbread for houses is not your run of the mill gingerbread – it has to be stiff for good walls! There are some great recipes and patterns available, or to cut down on prep time, most grocery stores will have a kit with pre made pieces. You can make ornaments too! Just use your favorite cookie cutter and make sure you pike a hole at the top so it will hang. If you are really pressed for time – you can use graham crackers for structural pieces.
When you are ready to assemble – be prepared for icing glue.
Putting on the roof with a home made pastry bag
It goes everywhere!! And it sticks like glue, so cover your tables or counters. We have always found it works best with extra sugar and cream of tartar for extra sticking powder. And powdered egg whites work too – you really aren’t going to eat too much of it! Make twice as much as you think you will need – extra always helps, and if you want a snow covered scene, you will go through a lot. When you put the roof on, leave it for a few minutes to set so it doesn’t go sliding down to the ground.
If you’ve never used a pastry bag for icing – this is not the time to panic. Think of it as an easy way to squeeze in tight places. Grab yourself a plastic sandwich bag and fill with the icing. Cut a tiny diagonal corner off the bottom and squeeze out through the hole. If you’ve ever had whipped cream, icing or cheese in a can, you know what to do! The best part is, it’s disposable – no washing up.
The next most important thing are your decorating options. Kits come with some candy for decoration and a picture for suggestion, but let your imagination run wild. We have found the most useful things are small frosted wheat cereal biscuits, red licorice whips for paths and roofs, striped candy canes and peppermint, gumballs and red hots – but go wild!
When you are satisified with the results, or your children run out of concentration put them on display for the family, friends and neighbors. Some towns have a contest between Scout troops or children and display the results in the store windows. But take a picture first, while they can last for a couple of years cared for, accidents happen – including the one the dog took from the kitchen table, or the building that fell down when it was cleaned and you want a record forever!
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December 15, 2009
I’m cruising through the blogosphere looking for inspiration (my favorite hobby) and came across a blog with a title and claim I can relate to called, Working Girl’s Kitchen . The description went on to read, “a corporate girl finds balance and fulfillment through her culinary journeys.” I know what she’s talking about!
The Working Girl posted an article, “10 Things Cooking Taught Me About Life” by Kim O’Donnell that not only touched her, but resonates with the cook in all of us. BSVCZRN9VZA6
What Cooking Means to Me:
It made me reflect on what cooking means to me.
1. I find it therapeutic. If I’m cranky I will chop a little harder. If I’m moping around I can conjure up smells that take me to the happiest of times – a fresh apple pie to remember apple picking afternoons filled with smiling faces.
2. Cooking connects me with the cycles of nature. Think about the day-long pot of spaghetti sauce project necessary to soak up that whole case of tomatoes from the farmer’s market (what was I thinking!). The trip to the Farmer’s Market was a delight – a warm sunny Saturday, pouring over fresh produce, seeing friends and neighbors, and knowing that the piles of tomatoes will bring summer memories during a cold evening.
3. Cooking gives me time to step out of my daily routine and think. When I get to cook on one of these leisurely sessions, I turn on classical music and contemplate the more important things in life. I’m frequently thinking about the kids visiting for a holiday, when I can see my Mom 2,500 miles away and how lucky I am to have family who loves spending time together.
4. Cooking let’s me show I care. To me and to many, cooking is a universal display of love and concern. Sometimes words just aren’t enought. There’s always the “cheer you up from the lost game” dinner or a “friend hurt your feelings, so here’s comfort food” dinner. One of my favorites is “let me fix your favorite meal to bribe you to come home” dinner. The fact that they come and are cheered up are my greatest rewards.
What have you learned about life through cooking? Or describe whose life you have touched with your cooking. After all, cooking is all about bringing friends and family together!
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December 1, 2009
Family Thoughts on Thanksgiving and Food Thoughts on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner is the one time no one in the family will ask me “What’s for dinner?” Like families all over the country, we have a ritual dinner. Every year I am tantalized by all the great and interesting recipes in the food magazines that find their way into my mailbox, but I am NEVER allowed to indulge in them. The only time I get to vary the menu is when we open our doors and include traveling waifs who can’t go “home” for Thanksgiving. We want everyone at our table to have something that reminds them of home, so I get to expand.
Thanksgiving may be officially the fourth Thursday of November, but in our house, and I believe many houses, it’s really at least a four day affair. This year, we will be having Thanksgiving at the beach, which sometimes means that all the Edwards gather and we have a large and noisy bunch. That’s when I get to try different things, we have multiples of everything, turkeys, stuffing , potatoes, pies – you name it.
Origins of Thanksgiving Dishes and Wishes
This year will be a smaller, quieter retreat. The older the family gets, the more connections we have to other families, and the more we share the people, the customs and the time. Traditionally, most Thanksgiving foods are those native to American soil. Turkey is ubiquitous – over 91% eat turkey on Thanksgiving. They say if you look at your Thanksgiving table you can tell where your family originates within the U.S.
Click on the foods for some great ideas:
Sweet Potatoes – from the South
Corn Bread Stuffing – The South and New England
Creamed Corn – Pennsylvania
Dungeness Crab or Shrimp – The West Coast
Mole and Roasted Corn, - Hispanic Americans of Mexican heritage
Lefse and Green Beans – Midwesterners of Scandinavian heritage (lefse is Norwegian potato flatbread)
On our Table for Thanksgiving – In addition to the Cornucopia!
- Shrimp Cocktail and Fresh Hot Rolls
- Black Olives – lots!
- Fresh whole Cranberry Sauce (is your family whole berry or strained?)
- Turkey (don’t forget the Butterball Hotline!) link to other post.
- Aunt Ida’s Sage and Sausage Stuffing (not sure who Aunt Ida was)
- Giblet Gravy ( we had to wait till they were a little older for the giblets)
- Mashed Potatoes
- Pumpkin and Minced Pie
My Thanksgiving Wishes
What I love about Thanksgiving is that it is the most American of all holidays – everyone within our shores is invited to the table to celebrate. It’s a day of peace and promise as we gather to be thankful for the blessings we have. It’s a little island of calm before the holiday rush. Food is one of the most fundamental ways of connecting. I know at our table we will be thankful for family and friends (including those we don’t know yet). We wish the same for you at this time and hope you will share the season…
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November 24, 2009
Ok, I give up. My carefully laid plans ran aground again. We all had different schedules–my son had an afternoon crew practice, my daughter an evening ballet class and I had a late, late meeting. Thankfully, my husband was home to feed the dogs! Let’s face it, on a night like this it’s impossible to sit down together for dinner.
But there’s an easy solution! Make it a “scoop and nuke night.” What’s that?…. Here’s the easy recipe:
- An easy, no fuss, semi–nutritious meal. It’s so quick that I had time to prepare it before the after school frenzy.
- One pan cooking. After all, no matter what time I get home that pan will be waiting for me in the sink.
- Make a lot. I always planned on leftovers, but never got any.
- A meal that everyone will eat!
My family isn’t picky too about food, but like everyone their appetite depends on the day. My daughter couldn’t eat a heavy meal before dance, but my son was famished. My husband still thinks he plays college varsity soccer and I require just one dish–fast.
Ideas for What to Put on the Dining Room Table:
- Soup with fresh bread – Make a pot of whatever is left in the refrigerator from the weekend – add broth.
- Chicken stroganoff. A little heavy for the dancer, but one of her favorites and she could have some before and after class.
- Spaghetti. If I boil the noodles and mix with sauce before leaving for my meeting (one pan remember?)
- Tacos. Smorgasbord of cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, except for the meat with sauce which can be “nuked” as needed.
Or ask friends! Our all time family favorite is an Indonesian spicy rice dish called Nasi Goreng (fried rice). You might think we picked this up when we lived in Asia, but no, we never do anything the easy way.
We first heard about this lifesaver on a ski trip with our best friends, who are Dutch. Apparently, Dutch cooking is replete with Indonesian and Malaysian influences, as they were a global trading power in the 1600’s. In fact, the rijstafel (rice table) is a frequent Malaysian occurrence – an assortment of Asian dishes, largely including or served over rice and named by the Dutch.
Anyways, we stayed in a rental apartment and everyone was tired from skiing all day. Yvette, my friend, was graciously in charge of feeding the troops that night. The pot filled with Nasi Goreng must have been as big as one of the best lobster pots, but 30 minutes later it was empty.
Nasi Goreng Recipe: Try it with your family!
- Spice mix. I found the Dutch store and bought the Nasi Goreng by Conimex packets. For added interest you can also purchase Ketcap Manis (something like sweet soy sauce), to be truly authentic.
- Cook rice. Mix with spice, add onion and chicken (optional). Then it’s ready to go!
- Or you can make it from scratch (but not on a scoop and nuke night!)
Low and behold, a few years later my family was transferred to Asia. The first day there, my son saw Nasi Goreng on the menu and was thrilled to see something he both recognized and loved!
Well, let me tell you – the original native is not what comes out of the bag. After the first bite, and many tears of disappointment, I had to find the closest Dutch store and revert to our mix. We still horde it in our cupboards!
Share your scoop and nuke meals–and how they save your family!
Want some history on the Dutch East India Company? Makes for interesting dinner table conversation!
Nasi Goreng Ready to Go!
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November 3, 2009
This is a great way to inaugurate a blog on a fun food day. I love my job, I get to cook, eat, learn fun facts and talk all about food. Plus, when food is involved there’s always something to celebrate.
Who doesn’t love Halloween and pumpkins? It gives us adults an excuse to pretend and have fun!
Scary Carved Pumpkins
What my Family Did for Halloween:
When my children were little, this season was all about the family trip to the pumpkin patch and finding that perfect Halloween costume.
As the kids became “too cool” for Trick or Treating, they turned their attention to scaring the neighborhood kids with our haunted hallway. The whole family got in on the fun. When the doorbell rang, the spooky music started, the hallway was foggy from a cauldron of dry ice and strobe lights flashed to complete the eerie feel. The children still got to dress up to hand out the goodies!
Then as the children grew even older and time more scarce, we planned one night together to carve an elaborate jack-o-lantern. Soon our pumpkins became the talk of the neighborhood.
Ideas to Celebrate Halloween and National Pumpkin Day:
- Printable pumpkin carving stencils:Stencils help those of us who cannot really draw a scary face. We love black cats.For scary printable pumpkin carving stencils click here .
- Child Friendly Pumpkin Decorating:For little ones, who you don’t want to arm with a knife or other carving implement –there’s an equally fun alternative. One of my favorite home movie moments is of my daughter, Laura, age 4, decorating the pumpkins, armed with toothpicks and a farmer’s market full of vegetables. With spinach hair, radish eyes, cucumber ears, a carrot nose and black olive teeth she learned about vegetables, ate and laughed for about an hour. Then that pumpkin was ready to turn heads! Show off their proud creation right on your front doorstep. These were done at a local fall fair.
Kid Friendly Pumpkin Decorations
3. Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:For a pre or post Trick or Treat pick–me–up, you can make some delicious pumpkin muffins. Check out how to make our great pumpkin muffin recipe from TSG Apple cake.
4. Pumpkin Roll Recipe:For those feeling more creative, prepare a delicious pumpkin roll
5.Heat up some cider laced with cinnamon and have a warm October evening full of memories that will be sure to give you goose bumps!
One of my favorite sources for quirky facts and the history of food is the Nibble, an online magazine, where I found today’s cause for celebration–National Pumpkin Day!
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October 26, 2009
Anyone Can Cook – if they want
Ok, well that’s not really me, but it was my Mom when she was first married. I honestly think that between us, we would have made one great housewife – I cook and she cleans. My father-in-law would have shriveled up without a microwave, and some surprisingly astute business women I know claim kitchen disability as well. But I think the truth is that they don’t want to cook – not that they can’t.
Now I confess that learning to cook can have it’s ups and downs. (We will not talk about the inedible disasters that have graced my garbage can.) I know for a fact that my son learned how to cook before he left home, but the first time he prepared dinner in his college room, he turned the burner on high, threw in the chicken breast, and set off the fire alarm – then he didn’t try again for a year.
Dinner Disaster
Worst case, anyone can boil some water in the microwave, add instant rice and slice pre-cooked chicken on top, open a jar of apple sauce for a side – and voila!. Just don’t try to get me to eat it. That might count as instant dorm food, but not dinner.
How to Bake Like a Pro
Right out of the starting gate you can impress everyone by baking – dare I say with a little TSG beer bread (just add beverage). You can even go to the website and download one sheet with over 15 variations, and you’ll be a master chef right away. Branch out –steam some fresh vegetables and spring with Tearless Onion and Chives – then you can add the precooked chicken breast – and you’ve come a long way in one day.
Learn How to Cook
To learn to cook, I recommend you find a friend who knows you well and start simple – like spaghetti
1. For entertainment as well as ideas you can go to You tube and watch “how to co
ok for men” videos on a step by step to make ramen spaghetti
2. A drier series from Howcookingworks.com - competent but not entertainment
3. You can also bone up on you skills from online sites so you look like like a pro when your mother-in-law arrives.
4. There are lots of food shows on TV that can help, like Semi Home Made with Sandra Lee. This is sort of an updated Campbell’s soup approach mixing some cooking with already prepared foods for a polished look that will help you gain confidence .
Personally, I’d go buy a book, – but sooner or later you just have to take the plunge and start !
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October 26, 2009
Most nights I think we all secretly wish that someone would come take over the kitchen detail for us. And then when it happens, I think we are all a little sorry, because…….
My husband loves to cook, and fortunately, he’s very good at it. He does have some specialties though – anything that can be cooked on top of a barbeque (yes, even in the winter). In the 30+years we’ve been married, I can probably count on two hands the number of times I have had to cook on a weekend. Not bad, you say, but it does come with some caveats:
- It’s most frequently some form of beef and potatoes (although in the last few years with the advent of planks, we have a lot of fish too!)
- Someone has to go to the store for some ingredient.
- All dishes are in the sink at the end of the meal.
- There’s a lot of crispy crust involved.
All in all, this isn’t a bad list of details, it’s just the result of what happens when someone enters what is typically “MY” domain, the kitchen. I am, after all, a creature of habit – mine not his.
1. Husbands can learn how to grill fish with planks.
Grilling Planked Salmon
Barbequing with a plank is a great way to tackle more delicate foods and add flavor. At almost any grocery store, or store that sells barbeque equipment will have them. Just soak the plank in water for a couple of hours, and place the fish (usually) on the plank to add flavor while it cooks. The fish won’t have to be touched until done – meaning it will stay in one piece. Here are some easy steps to follow. (more…)
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October 26, 2009
It’s time for parent’s weekend at my daughter, Laura’s campus, which also happens to be my husband, Rick’s, alma mater. It will be a fun filled weekend of school spirit, orange and blue spirit that is, and overall collegiate good cheer.
When Rick attended this beautiful campus, the football team’s record was something to brag about. Although, the stats have changed–win or lose the tailgating begins!
Our annual tradition kicks off Saturday with friends, sun, fall foliage and plenty of noise. I’m looking forward to a reunion with family friends whose children also attend Laura’s school. I love seeing both generations enjoying each other more than ever. It really is a made for TV moment.
Tailgating without Cooking – Easy Meal Ideas
This year we have to pack light because we are flying into Pennsylvania. Our usual tailgating gear definitely won’t be fitting into our little rental car. Despite this minor setback, I’m ready to go!
(more…)
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October 23, 2009
Fall is my favorite time of year. It’s all about the heartwarming food, the cool crisp air, the vibrant colors, and of course… Football!
