N. Saavedra
Supper Time! The holidays are drawing near, gracing us with an opportunity to showcase our mastery of culinary art. Having the right ingredients is simply not enough, being able to use them to your advantage is where the battle awakens itself. With the help of these few recipes ranging from classic to risqué, your kitchen agenda for Christmas and Turkey Day will be sure to please.
We begin with the star of the dining room, a king gleaming gold with his crown of herbs and adornment of flavors. The grand bird of Thanksgiving reigns supreme in a classic meal. It is the centerpiece of the occasion and so it should be prepared with utmost care. From the countless number of recipes to choose from, I've seemingly diverted to the traditional butter-herb roasted style as a foundation for further modification of the recipe.
As the standard companion to the turkey dish, bread stiffing is more than a simple combination. An ill prepared stuffing could essentially bring your bird down with it and distract from the meal itself. However, most stuffing recipes sprinkling the pages of cookbooks and internet webpages are relatively abundant and dependable.
An absolute necessity to any holiday feast, red mashed potatoes with a hint of garlic pairs nicely with the classic Thanksgiving stuffed bird.
For holiday comfort food, the warm flakiness of buttermilk biscuits never fail to attract to attention of the entire family near the dinner table. Butter biscuits are great additions to a Thanksgiving meal.
After the turkey's done its job, the spotlight shifts to our queen of deserts. Despite the aching groans of full stomachs, no one could resist the allurement of a slice of delectably sweet pumpkin pie.
If you want to try something new or add an interesting desert to the table, an old style buttermilk pie would fi the bill snugly, either taking centerpiece as the main dessert or stationing itself appealingly next to your pumpkin pie.
Venturing off into the land of Christmas lights and endless cheer, we have a baked honey glazed ham. The time it takes to cook and prepare this dish is undeniably worth it once the evening meal is ready to be served. Ingredients are simple and directions clear cut.
With all of the peppermint bark to choose from, I've specifically selected this recipe because of its dual-chocolate layers and fine sprinkling of candy cane as opposed to an entirely white chocolate based bark with big chunks of peppermint candy rounds. This bark is easier to consume due to the smaller grains of crushed candy cane and brings with it a delicious balance of both white and dark chocolate flavors.
A timeless treat enjoyed by individuals of all ages nationwide, gingerbread cookies have been a Christmas tradition for an outstanding amount of time. Making these cookies are just as fun as eating them, and baking will surely be a moment of nostalgic sentiment, either shared or done so by yourself. Revel in the spirit of Christmas with warm invitations of gingerbread.
On a personal note, eggnog has never been my favorite, and quite frankly, I don't think I'll ever be able to say that it would top my preferences any time soon. However, eggnog has grown to become the staple drink in many households during Christmas time, and certainly holds its place high on the beverage list. Elton Brown's recipe calls for some bourbon or rum to go with the frothy drink, but a kid-friendly option is also possible with the exclusion of alcohol.
What's winter without the ever nostalgic essence of hot chocolate? Make the holidays as daring as the weather and add your own twists and tricks to customize your cup of cocoa!
Being quite the controversial holiday tradition, the fruitcake has certainly earned its merit to stand amongst the big leagues. Newer modifications to the original fruitcake recipe of yore have made this notorious treat (somewhat) desirable once more.
Here is Elton Brown's rendition of the fruitcake. Brown's method differs from that of the above cake, but the overall concept remains unchanged.
