Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Cookie Baking Tips

The holidays without cookies are like peanut butter without jelly.  I always use my mom's favorite cookie baking tip of separating the egg white from the yolk and beating the white until stiff when making chocolate chip cookies, but I found a link to even more cookie baking tips in my e-mail.  Just had to share because it's such a great idea to share secrets of baking better cookies.

Click here to see the top 10 cookie baking secrets from www.myrecipes.com. 



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Playing with your food

I found some fascinating videos on youtube of gentlemen who made musical instruments out of produce.  Just had to share.  See the videos here, here and here.

Seeing the musical instrument videos was a great inspiration to me, encouraging me that food really can be fun in many ways.  You can use it as an instrument, as a decoration and much more.  The uses are only limited by your creativity or ability to copy the culinary creativity of others.




Transporting Holiday Party Foods

Check out this article from Home Made Simple about how to bring your food to your Christmas celebration. Although it is for Thanksgiving, this can easily apply to Christmas Holiday Parties as well.

Click here to view the article about transporting various types of food to your holiday get together.




Food Baskets - Creative and Inexpensive Last Minute Gifts

Have you made your list and checked it twice and still forgotten someone's gift? If so, don't panic. Create a holiday gift basket with your gift recipient's favorite foods inside instead. Even if it's Christmas Eve and the only thing open is your local grocery store, you are still in luck. Many of them will have everything you need for a thoughtful-looking gift that doesn't cost a lot of money to make.

First, you need an idea for inspiration. What type of food does your gift recipient like? Are they a coffee connoisseur or a chocolate junky? Are they a health nut or do they love Mexican Food, Italian Food, French Cuisine, or Maybe Chinese Meals? Are they expecting a baby soon? Having a bit of an idea of your gift recipient's tastes is definitely helpful.

Next, you'll need a basket. It doesn't have to be a wicker one. Maybe you have a pretty metal bucket or a nice flower pot at your house which can be easily decorated to look really nice. Be creative in your selection and make sure it will be a good size for the type of contents you want to use to fill your basket.

Now you need to fill your basket. It is a good idea to have some sort of filler to put between items to give your basket more appeal. You may already have construction or computer paper at your house which can be cut with scissors or put through your straight cut shredder and fan folded (back and forth like you did when you were a kid) to make pretty filler.

Now you are ready to fill your basket with the goodies you have selected. Maybe you will do a variety basket with your recipient's favorite items. Maybe you will do several different types of the same item. Contents are up to you, but try to be creative and choose a wide variety of colors and shapes in your items. If you need tips on arranging your items, the grocery store's florist may be able to assist you if one is available. If not, maybe you have a creative friend or neighbor who can help.

Now it's time to finish up. Maybe you will choose to present your gift unwrapped as is, or maybe you will wrap it in clear cellophane or gift wrap. Presentation is up to you.


Holiday Cookies Top 20 Recipes

The fast-approaching holidays have caused many of my thoughts to center around holiday entertaining. Since I am on a college student's budget this year, I am looking for new and creative ways to save money cooking for the holidays. Earlier this week I wrote about holiday appetizers made easier.  Today, however, I am having a sugar craving, so I went in search of inspiration online.

Betty Crocker's website is where I am going to start for ideas.  They have a great top 20 list of cookie recipes for the holidays on their website.  I hope you find it as helpful as I am.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas Party Holiday Appetizer Recipes

You can find many creative appetizer recipes with instructional videos on www.youtube.com. If you have an idea of what you are searching for, you can simply use the search feature on the youtube home page to find it. If not, try this link. It has some inspirational ideas to get you started.

The southern food channel topic at about.com has some great written recipes for those who prefer a paper copy. Their holiday appetizer recipe ideas are located here.

If you are like me and prefer both video and written recipes, you are in luck.  Pepperidge Farm has several complimentary video and printable recipes at www.puffpastry.com.

Unique party appetizer ideas can be found at the myrecipes website.  Click here to view some classic cheese dips and spreads recipes with creative twists on the old favorites.


Fast Food Alternative - Home Cooked Meals To Go

My husband and I have been very busy this week between last minute preparations for our church's Christmas play this weekend and my college finals fast approaching not to mention our home based business.  In spite of all the craziness, however, we still have to eat.  It is also important for us to keep our blood sugar steady and not compromise healthy eating habits any more than absolutely necessary.  You can only eat so many Subway sandwiches, so I decided to go back to my old friend Google and do some searching for meals that can be eaten in the car when my husband and I are on the run.

Here are a few things I found...

Big Red Kitchen's website has a very interesting series that responds to a busy mom with kids in sports that has to eat on the run.  You can read it here.

Planning Fun Road Trips has great ideas for vacation road trip recipes you can use everyday here.

A blog at Low Carb Friends has several ideas for healthy portable meals to eat on the run here

Eating consciously lists easy, portable and fast healthy vegan meal options to go on their website located here.

You can even find delicious brown bag recipe ideas at the busy cooks section of about.com here.

Who says you can't make your own fast food?  Fast food can be more in your control, healthier, and less expensive with some good meal planning and simple preparation techniques.