Drink Review – Snowy Days means Mulled Wine

For a while now I have been wanting to try mulled wine. Yesterday, while relaxing I saw that the Barefoot Contessa made a mulled wine with ingredients that I had on hand! So after I ran my errands and the snow was falling down on the Northeast I decided to make this wonderful warm wine drink.

I am not one for dry wine but because of the apple cider and honey this was a lovely drink that was not too sweet and just delicious! The cloves and cinnamon give the drink a lovely warmth and the aroma was wonderful. I am a big fan of cloves and cinnamon and the smell that they create to me is just the smell of home.

So for me this drink was a home run, and a great way to use red wine and apple cider! This is a great drink to make on Thanksgiving or during the winter months. I tend to have a gallon of apple cider in my fridge and I sometimes am given a dry red wine that is needed for this drink.

For me it used items in the house that I had in stock (cinnamon sticks, cloves and I used all spice instead of star anise).

Happy Holidays! And enjoy your cocktails!

Thanksgiving count down..

It is that time of year, it is getting cool out, christmas is knocking on our door and you have giving out halloween candy to the little munchkins or zombies as the cause was this year. Since I have moved into my house, thanksgiving has been the one holiday where I didn’t have to travel and I was able to cook for my family and friends.

Now I know you might be thinking.. but you do cook for your family and friends. BBQs and birthday parties are a completely different beast than a thanksgiving feast. Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks and this year, I feel that I have a lot to be thankful for.

During the past few weeks an email has been sent out to the invites. They have picked what they would like to see at thanksgiving and what they are going to bring. This is very helpful to the host because then you don’t have to make everything. What is going to be at my thanksgiving?

Apps

Veggie Tray
Fruit Tray
Bread Bowl
Cheese platter

Drinks

Mulled Cider (with the option of cinnamon schnaps)
Coffee
Tea
Cranberry Lemon/Lime Soda
Red Wine
White Wine

Dinner

Turkey
Ham
Oyster Dressing
Two kinds of Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes with garlic, rosemary and sour cream
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Broccoli Casserole
Cranberry Sauce whole and jellied
Gravy
Rolls

Dessert

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

It might seem like a lot and it probably is, but I like thanksgiving to be an all day affair that can start at noon and go until six (or more) that night. I love the house full of friends/family, the smell of cooking turkey and laughter.  But how can a host not feel the pressure of thanksgiving? Time management and delegation!

The delegation process has been started and it is four days until thanksgiving. Today, I purchased a turkey that is big enough to feed my people and to have leftovers. That will be hanging out in the fridge until thursday morning.

Monday and Tuesday – I will start cleaning the house so that I don’t have to stress about it too much on Thursday.

Wednesday, I will go shopping for the items I need (I would love to go shopping earlier but pay checks are important for that) and I will make the cranberry sauce. I would also make the pies that night, but this year the pies are in the hands of another.

Thursday.. I will not wake up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in. This is one of the reasons why I like to eat later in the day. Then I will start getting the apps ready the only thing I will need to cook is the spinach dip I am going to have for the bread bowl. After that it is just prep until I pull out the turkey and load the oven full of the sides.

Something I have learned to help me through the day.. wear sneakers while I am cooking. With my back I have found that it really helps me last longer and not crumple onto the couch after dinner wanting to die.

As the days move towards Thanksgiving I will share some of the recipes that I will be working on. Happy Holidays!

What are you grateful for this year?

Party Planning

I love to entertain. I don’t know what it is about it but I do love to throw a party, and I hope that everyone enjoys the parties I have. I do believe they do because they always ask when the next one is going to be.

If you have been reading my blog you will have guessed by now that I love to cook, so it will be of no shock to you that I get emails from Allrecipes.com. As happens most times I am on the net I started to follow links and stumbled upon this one http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Party-Planning-Checklist/Detail.aspx?src=lp3976_l1
Before I schedule a party I always figure out what kind of party I want to have. In the past I have had a bar christening party (because the ex built a bar from scratch), super bowl parties, tea parties etc. Last party was on memorial day weekend. I have been asked to have another party and it will be scheduled in August. What kind of party will it be you ask? Just a BBQ (and if we have more rain) maybe a fire and some marshmallows.

Then once I have the type of party (BBQ), who I want to be there, and the schedule I start to think of food. I am blessed to have friends who love to cook as well, so it is always interesting to see what they want to bring to the party. Between the food I make and the food and drinks we bring no one ever goes home hungry.

The week of the party I start to clean my house, this gives me a full week to skip days or only do little tasks here and there. That way by the time the party arrives I don’t have to worry about the house, I just have to worry about the food.

The day before the party I will try and prep any food that I can, usually I will cook potatoes if I am going to be making potato salad and let that marinade over night so the only thing I need to do is add the bacon and mayo. And I will cook my eggs ahead of time because everyone always wants my deviled eggs (which I will share with you soon).

On the day of the party I will do any last minute clean up and start finishing up the cooking. IF I plan it right I give myself about an hour before people arrive to shower and get dressed. But one thing that I never thought of doing before I showered was to eat something light (which is what the above article suggested). I think this is a great idea because I know for me, there are times when once the party starts I worry about everyone but myself. And a cranky host is a bad host!

Happy Party Planning everyone!

 

Thanksgiving.. and cooking for those you love

I am getting ready for Thanksgiving! I am making my grocery list, checking out recipes for things I would like to make and adjusting our menu. I really do love cooking for friends and family. As much as I stress about having a clean house and making sure there are enough food and drinks for everyone I love having parties or gatherings at our house.

I am also working out the schedule so I can try and be a little less stress free and have everything hot on the table at the same time. Here is what I am working on:

Tuesday- we are getting the turkey. While two days behind schedule for the food network people sometimes you just have to do what you gotta do.

Wednesday – Grocery shopping. Picking up the house (did a major clean on Saturday). Making three pies with homemade pie crust: pumpkin, apple and cherry. I am also going to make homemade cranberry sauce this night so that it is cooled and if I want to get fancy I can pour into a mold.

Thursday – Phew! Thank goodness Sir takes care of the turkey. But I am going to try and toss in some fresh thyme and rosemary from the garden along with the butter and spices he uses.

Appetizers – A rye bread bowl. Still tossing the idea of doing the veggie dip with artichokes or just a plain onion dip.

Drinks – Mulled Apple Cider and various sodas. I would love to have a few wine choices but that is not in our budget this year.

Sides – Oyster Stuffing (something only me and my mom will eat but I have to have it!). Garlic, Rosemary Red Potatoes mashed with butter and sour cream. Stuffing (my bf ellen is making it this year) but we don’t eat stuffing and want to have stove top too! Peas and onions, rolls, green been casserole, acorn squash and gravy.

What we have had in the past: Last year we did roasted brussel sprouts which we love but not many people ate because they don’t like brussel sprouts so this year we decided to not have those.  Creamed Corn – while this is something I grew up with not many people will eat it so while I like it, it doesn’t break my heart not to have it. Candied Yams – This is another thanksgiving staple that I grew up with but I have found that not many care for this either.