holiday – in thriver words

Holiday Party Train

Save energy by getting on the holiday party train! Keeping a few simple items on hand during the holidays will let you throw a party together in minutes.

Everyone I know is stressed from mid-November until after New Years. There are too many people to see, too many details to handle, and too many pageants to attend. And yet, we want to see our family and friends. We look forward to time together.

This fall, I improved my back porch with new stairs, privacy screens, and composite decking. It’s still quite warm most afternoons and I love sitting there. When holiday activity and friends’ curiosity about the porch naturally fell in line, I accidentally happened on easy entertaining.

Well, truthfully, it started before the porch was complete. My evolving strategy began when I brined some green cherry tomatoes from my garden to create tomolives. They were a delicious bite with an olive beginning and surprise citrus finish. I wanted to show some off in martinis. I invited some people over to sit on the porch and drink martinis.

The first event was small and went well. I made a pitcher of martinis and a cheese plate patterned off one in That Cheese Plate Will Change Your Life. Everyone had a wonderful time. In the process, I learned a few things: 1)I didn’t need to worry about making plenty of martinis in advance. They didn’t suffer from being made in bulk. As long as I keep them in the freezer, I can serve them at another party. 2)I had cheese plate items left that could easily expand into another party. 3)With some minor alterations, I could minimize trips back to the kitchen.

I took what I’d learned and ran with it. In the past 2 ½ weeks, I’ve hosted 4 gatherings of various sizes on my new porch and one on someone else’s – all with very little effort. I’ve always said you should have two parties back-to-back. Now I’m thinking it’s a breeze to create a holiday train.

Here’s how to make it easy:

Have one drink that can be made in advance. I like dirty martinis. They’re made to be served ice cold so they can be stored in the freezer and saved for the next party if you make too much. For 8 drinks, I use 2 ½ cups Hendricks gin, ½ cup Dolin dry vermouth, ½ cup tomolive (or olive) brine, and ½ cup water. I freeze this in a beaker style pitcher (make sure it’s freezer safe glass and cover with plastic wrap) and/or a bottle and serve in chilled glasses. Both the beaker and bottle will fit in my vintage ice bucket so once the first round of drinks is poured, the rest sits on ice to minimize my trips inside.

Make more than you need. The second party is easy if the drinks are already made. Make two batches and leave the leftovers in the freezer.

Grab some premixed canned cocktails. Canned cocktails don’t require glasses and can be served out of an ice chest along with bottled water and some mini soft drinks. For the holiday party train, I keep flavored vodka sodas and ginger ale in the refrigerator. I also have a bottle of vodka and some club soda on hand just in case.

Have a bottle of red and bottle of white wine on hand. I don’t open the wine in advance but am happy to if someone doesn’t want a cocktail.

Consider beer. I don’t typically offer beer. In order to enjoy any leftovers, I’d have to serve gluten-free beer. There’s only an occasional beer drinker in my circles so it isn’t usually missed.

On the food front, mix and match from things like:

Cheese: Feta, Manchego, parmesan, fresh mozzarella (balls); Baked brie with raspberry preserves

Meat: Salami, prosciutto

Fresh veggies: Cucumbers, tomatoes

Pickles: Olives, capers, gherkins

Spreads/Dips: Hummus, tzatziki, pimento cheese

Roasted, salted, nuts: Pistachios, cashews

Dried fruit: Dates, figs, cherries

Fresh fruit: peaches, pears, grapes, blackberries

Herbs: Parsley, basil

Crackers/bread: Pita chips, crackers, mini naan

Sweets: Shortbread cookies, dark chocolate, chocolate covered cherries

Holiday related: Party mix, sausage balls

Throw away plates. I like to use real chilled glasses for martinis and I have a ton of serveware, but sometimes it’s nice to throw away the plates and napkins. If you want some classy throw-aways, take a look at Smarty Had a Party.

That’s it. That’s all you need. You’ll be amazed how many parties you can serve by mixing and matching a few of the ingredients above into irresistible platters. Add a martini and light some candles. You can throw a whole party together in a few minutes with very little notice.

Drinks in the freezer and mix and match ingredients let you ride the holiday party train without adding stress to an already stressful time.

Happy Holidays!

https://www.cooking2thrive.com/blog/wintery-celebrations/

Favorite Holiday Dishes and Treats

sausage balls I know you can find favorite holiday dishes listed by state. I’m sure you can find many other favorite lists grouped in many other ways. Today, you get to enjoy a few of my holiday favorites categorized by the order in which they pop into my head.

Peppermint Ice Cream

Many holiday favorites come from family traditions. This one does not. The first time I tasted peppermint ice cream was at a Baskin-Robbins®. I don’t remember the city or the year. I just remember the creaminess of the milk balanced the mintiness of the peppermint in a scrumptiously delicious way. Later I discovered Chik-fil-A® peppermint chocolate chip milkshakes. Those were even richer and more decadent than ice cream.

One year, my son Ben & I bought a half gallon of peppermint ice cream on the way to my hometown for Christmas. We didn’t have a cooler with us. I have no idea what we thought we were going to do with all of that ice cream for three hours in the car, but standing at the counter a single serving each just didn’t seem like enough. We ate all we could stand, then threw away a large amount of melted pink mess.

If you’re like me, you have to review each new holiday offering to make sure it’s compatible with your eating regimen. Be prepared. This reading assignment may startle you. In addition to excessive calorie counts, you’ll find artificial flavors, corn syrup, and gum stabilizers. As long as it’s gluten-free, I don’t mind choosing this kind of treat once a year but it’s not something I want on a regular basis.

Eggnog

I know there are two camps on eggnog. I happen to like it. You don’t even need to spike it with anything as long as there’s nutmeg sprinkled on top. One draw is that we had it at my grandmother’s house on Christmas. The other is similar to that of peppermint ice cream – it’s soooooo rich and sweet.

Biscuits

My family’s traditional Christmas meal was breakfast. My mother served it mid-morning after we opened presents. It was the one time each year she was sure to make a homemade meal. I loved the crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, and even the biscuits although they were an acquired taste. They were consistently so brown and hard my sister called them moonrocks.

Sausage Balls

I never think to make sausage balls until the holidays roll around. That means cooking one recipe is never enough. I always double up. If I have any left I can freeze them. Of course, I never have any left. If we don’t eat them all while the family is together, someone packs up a bunch to go. The few that remain are my breakfast for a day or two. They really are a good grab & eat breakfast.

Party Mix

Much like sausage balls, my family starts eating party mix around Christmas and puts it away just after the Super Bowl. My great aunt Ruth brought party mix to my grandmother’s house every Christmas. I loved the crunch of Brazil nuts and the toasted buttery flavor of the cereal. I would try to eat it slowly so it would last longer. While I was successful at eating small portions, I ate them so often it still didn’t last long.

Harry & David® Pears

My box of Harry & David pears just arrived. A friend gives me one every year as a Christmas/birthday present. I excitedly await the ripening of the first pear. These Royal Riviera Pears are never ordinary. They’re extraordinary!

Hot Chocolate

It seems that Christmas parades these days are during the day. When I was growing up, our parade was at night and it was C-O-L-D. Riding on a float or standing and watching left us chilled and ready for a cup of hot cocoa. We could hardly wait long enough for it to cool before we started gulping.

Chocolate Orange Balls

I like the flavor of orange and chocolate together, but my favorite thing about chocolate orange balls is the instructions – Whack and Unwrap! It’s a pleasure to consume food you don’t have to treat gingerly and anything that helps work out the added frustrations of the holidays is a good thing. Perhaps that’s why Santa always left my dad nuts to crack.

Chocolate Covered Bing Cherries

I love bing cherries! We used to eat them fresh from the tree. I’m not sure it gets any better than that, but since I no longer have access to a tree, I’ll settle for the chocolate covered version.

There were a few more items that crossed my mind, but ultimately didn’t make this list – pumpkin bread, glazed ham, beef & noodles (this makes my all time favorite list, but we had it on multiple occasions throughout the year), and green rice. Fruit cake crossed my mind, but try as I might, I don’t like it.

Your family may have a more traditional holiday dinner that produces favorites like prime rib, green bean casserole, mincemeat pie, latkes, or Christmas pudding. Whatever they are, I wish you the opportunity to enjoy them with those you love this holiday season!

https://www.baskinrobbins.com/content/baskinrobbins/en/products/icecream/flavors/pepperminticecream.html

https://thechickenwire.chick-fil-a.com/Inside-Chick-fil-A/The-Peppermint-Chocolate-Chip-Milkshake-is-Back

https://www.harryanddavid.com/h/fruit-gift/pears

https://www.bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/mhplibrary/parties-and-get-togethers/vintage-betty/retro-recipe-the-original-original-chex-party-mix

https://www.bissingers.com/product/Chocolate-Covered-Cherries/Bissingers-Chocolate-With-fruit

http://www.cooking2thrive.com/blog/gluten-free-bowl-mix/

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Cough Drop Pep Talk for Thanksgiving?

Do I really need a cough drop pep talk for Thanksgiving? Why does my cough drop wrapper say, “A PEP TALK IN EVERY DROP” anyway? If I have fever high enough to think cough drops talk, I need something besides a pep talk. The pesky little ovals don’t stop there. They advise me to “Buckle down and push forth!”; “Power Through!”; and “Seize the day.” Whaaat?
coughdrop
Maybe I’m just in a bad mood because I can’t sleep, my throat hurts, and my ear is full of fluid. Eating green beans, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and oranges may be culinary medicine, but they aren’t doing the trick to kick this virus. Now, I’m out of food and I don’t want to get out in the cold to go to the store.

Should I take the cough drop wrapper’s advice and power through? After all, I just have a cold, not the flu. OMG, I’m rhyming in a blog post – I must be sick. That aside, I don’t like clothes with affirmations on the tags or wrappers that tell me what to do. It’s not that I mind affirmations, I just don’t like them in my clothes. It makes me feel like a walking fortune cookie. And it’s not that I don’t sometimes need to be told to buck up, I just don’t want that advice from something I take when I’m sick. It seems inappropriate.

If the wrapper said, “A delicious complement to hot tea.” or “Stay home and sleep.” or “A warm snuggle for your throat!” or “Take time to heal.”, perhaps I could get behind wrapper advice. But telling me to be unstoppable is really bad advice when I’m ill.

The people following that advice are more likely to go to work, church, and the store, sick. They’re more likely to stay stick longer. They’re more likely to be too tired to do their best at work or be as safe a driver as usual on the road. And no doubt they will contaminate the air on my next flight. So stop encouraging them already!

Most of us have been programmed to keep going when we would get well faster if we went to bed and got some rest. We feel like we can’t miss work or class, a family birthday, or a soccer game. Many bosses are happy to reinforce this belief.

And then there’s all of that holiday cooking to be done! That’s certainly something we shouldn’t be doing when we’re sick. Seriously, preparing food for others when you’re sick can expose them. Most states have food prep guidelines for restaurant employees that include restrictions for those with cold, flu, and bronchitis as well as more serious illnesses.

I know it’s tempting to minimize the risks when we think of beloved holiday traditions, but if someone in your family has a compromised immune system, exposure to the flu could put them at serious risk even if they’ve had the vaccine. Having a medically fragile grandchild has increased my awareness of the need to be mindful about spreading germs. It also means I felt the frustration of missing out when the family welcomed her home from a recent hospitalization.

Perhaps those cough drop pep talks are meant to encourage malingering patients to get back to the business of every day, but they’re most likely to feed the determination of those who won’t stop in the first place. If we want to assist our immune systems, it is important to recognize the value of down time. Resting leaves our bodies with more energy available to fight off bugs and rebuild cells.

So, if you’re sick this holiday season, forget the cough drop pep talk! Eat some soup. Order food. Go to bed. Take time to heal. Not only will you get well faster in the long run, you’ll help contain the spread of viruses and/or bacteria.

Now it’s time for me to follow my own advice and take a healing nap!!!

http://www.moodmaybe.com/2016/05/flax-affirmations.html

https://www.gethalls.com/

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0215-enough-sleep.html

http://www.health.state.mn.us/foodsafety/dwi/eicondguide.pdf

http://www.cooking2thrive.com/blog/easy-gluten-free-thanksgiving-menu/

http://www.cooking2thrive.com/blog/small-crowd-small-bird-cornish-game-hen-thanksgiving/

http://www.cooking2thrive.com/blog/hosting-thanksgiving-easy/

Hosting Thanksgiving is Easy

Hosting Thanksgiving is easy when you set intentions. Are the holidays really right around the corner? They must be because I’m sitting here planning my Thanksgiving menu. It’s been awhile since I’ve done an all out Thanksgiving production and I’m wondering just how big it should be?

I know the point of the holiday is not the food, but I always look forward to a table full of freshly made dishes that I prepare only once a year. There’s no crossover between my Thanksgiving and Christmas menus because we celebrate Christmas with breakfast rather than dinner. Just thinking about that makes me want a steamy hot biscuit with strawberry jelly, but that’s beside the point.

Or maybe it’s not. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that we long for most – my Aunt Opal’s cherry pie, my grandmother’s beef and noodles, my mother’s cinnamon rolls made from canned biscuits. For you it may be the chicken soup your mom fixed when you were under the weather, or the grilled cheese sandwich she grilled with butter and served with tomato soup.

Obviously, it’s cliché to say that food tastes better when it’s made with love, but any dining experience is enhanced when the food is made by someone who cares how we feel; someone who shows up for Thanksgiving with a pie because they like to spend time with us; someone who hopes to bring us comfort. Offering and sharing food is one of the ways we express love beginning the first moment we hold our babies close to feed them.

There’s a scene in the movie “The Blind Side” that shows the Tuohy family focused on football and TV rather than each other on Thanksgiving Day until they realize their house guest Michael Oher is sitting at their dining table by himself. Seeing him there as alone at their table as he is in life, they are moved to gather around and share the meal with him. This sharing enriches the family and the bond they are forming with Michael. It’s a great illustration that we inherently understand breaking bread is an action affirming trust, confidence, comfort, and acceptance within a group.

For the host, a holiday meal, or any family gathering, is a delicate balancing act. If you go all out cooking for days making everything from scratch and no one seems to notice, it can be disheartening. If you go to a restaurant because you’d rather focus on the family than the food, you risk the ridicule of someone who thinks you’re being lazy or don’t care about family traditions. Which brings me back to the decision at hand. How large should I make this Thanksgiving’s production?

No matter what I’m deciding, I like to start by settling on some intentions. I’ve done this enough to recognize that my intentions will automatically reflect my priorities, so setting intentions and determining priorities are a simultaneous process (there’s a time saver right there). Setting intentions rather than goals gives me a path to feel successful even if the soufflé collapses and the pie crust is soggy.

So, what are my intentions for Thanksgiving?

I’m going to start with being kind to myself. That looks like not doing too much. It’s not unusual for me to work so hard to provide for other people that I feel worn out, so I have to be deliberate in my intent to prevent over-doing. Luckily, my sister has offered to bring dessert and rather than ask for pie, I asked for pie and cake. My daughter-in-law’s parents will also be joining us. Her mom offered to bring two vegetables. Instead of trying to make it easier for her by limiting it to one, I happily accepted the offer.

Next, I intend to make a workable timeline so I’m not rushing and flustered at the end. If I’m in a panic to get things done, I’ll be irritable and unable to enjoy my guests. Today I’ll review my menu and determine what can be done in advance and when I will do it. For the past two months, my now 4-month-old grandson has spent two to three days a week with me. When he’s here my work time is limited because he needs lots of tummy tickling. He’ll be here this week and next week, so a timeline is even more critical than in past years.

I intend to scale the menu to fit the time available. If that means there’s no pecan pie or fewer leftovers, then so be it. It won’t be the end of the world, and it won’t cause me to feel as though I’ve let anyone down.

I intend to tailor the menu to my guests’ dietary needs. There are only 8 of us this year, so I’ve had a chance to poll everyone to make sure each person will have plenty of options on the table. I have a friend who keeps a set of index cards noting the dietary restrictions and food dislikes of her close friends and family. As her guest, this makes a gathering easy to enjoy and I appreciate the thoughtfulness.

I intend to make everything from scratch. I am not suggesting that you should do this. For me, it means the food is more delicious and automatically free of preservatives, coloring, stabilizers, and artificial flavors. It also means I can control the amount of sodium and fat and be confident that everything is gluten-free.
table
I intend to make the table-setting beautiful, but simple. Using my grandmother’s tablecloth, real china, and beautiful serving pieces means candles or a simple bouquet will be all I need to add. Even though I can’t put china in the dishwasher, I like to use it for holidays plus I intend to let my kids wash the dishes. On years when I’ve had 25 guests, I’ve been known to sit the china atop folding tables covered in brown kraft paper scattered with crayons. Hey, I like weird juxtaposition and I have a lot of china.

I intend to be present in the moment once the guests arrive. Enjoying the company is more important than the food, the table, or the mess I just left in the kitchen. My dining room is separate from the kitchen so no one has to look at cluttered countertops while we’re eating.

I intend to make time for yoga and rest on Friday before driving to share leftovers with extended family.

I intend to make a list of things for which I’m grateful. It’s been a difficult and emotionally exhausting year. Remembering that even such a year has brought many things for which I’m thankful is a great way to refocus my energy on the positive.

With these intentions, I feel confident I’ll have a great Thanksgiving. My food may not be perfect. My front porch may not get swept. There may be a drop of dough on top of the stove or flour on the floor. None of that will matter. I will be able to let it go and focus on gratitude.

If you’re feeling dread or pressure about hosting Thanksgiving, consider setting intentions to make it easier. I can tell you from experience, it makes a huge difference for me.