Well, Thanksgiving was yesterday, and today you are undoubtedly faced with mountains of leftovers and dirty dishes. You are also probably still digesting your holiday meal and feeling a bit sluggish. Since most people have today off take it easy, and take advantage of your leftovers.
One of the best parts of having a large family holiday meal is that you have a lot of food leftover. These leftovers can be easily transformed into several very tasty meals. One of the easiest to make leftover creations is the open face turkey sandwich. To make this dish all you have to do is place a piece of crusty or artisan bread on a plate, top it with sliced turkey and smother it in gravy.
Another great leftover meal that you can create is to make a pot pie. The simplest way to make a turkey pot pie is to use a pre-made pie crust. Press this crust into a pie tin or plate. Then add in diced leftover turkey, diced leftover veggies and cover with leftover gravy. Finally, top the pot pie with another crust and crimp the edges to keep the filling inside your pot pie. Then cut slits into the top of the pie for steam venting and brush with a solution of water and egg white. Back at 350 degrees until the pie crust is golden brown and your filling has been heated all the way through. If you want an alternative to the pie crust, you can create a bottomless pot pie by pilling a casserole with turkey, gravy and vegetables and topping it with a biscuit mix.
The above recipe ideas are just examples. You can use your Thanksgiving leftovers to create a number of different Jewish holiday recipes.
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Only one week left until Thanksgiving and there is even less time to figure out what you are going to serve. If you want to avoid the rush of people flocking to the grocery stores then you need to plan your menu and shop for your ingredients this weekend. To make your shopping experience as quick and as painless as possible you need to plan out your shopping ahead of time and organize your shopping list by departments in your grocery store.
Last week we talked about alternative dishes to turkey to serve as the main entrée. This week I’d like to talk about side dishes that you can serve at your Thanksgiving dinner. To start with, plan out a few healthy side dishes. Salads work well for Thanksgiving as they are generally easy to make and they can be created to meet your dietary requirements. Some of the easiest salads to make include a basic iceberg lettuce salad, a mixed green salad and a spinach and tomato salad.
Since this is a holiday, it is okay to prepare a few traditional dishes that are not what we consider “healthy.” These dishes, including the 100 year old Jewish recipes, should be served with a smaller spoon or serving tool to encourage people to sample but not over indulge. Some great side dishes that you can serve include potatoes au gratin, homemade macaroni and cheese and candied yams. Make these special side dishes with the original ingredients like cream, butter and full fat cheese.
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Today is Halloween, and if you have forgotten to prepare for the trick-or-treaters that will be visiting your house, or if you need a quick treat idea for your child’s Halloween party today, or for your office Halloween party scheduled for today then this is the blog for you. There are a lot of things that you can do to throw together Halloween party treats, some involve quick treats that you make at home, while others can be picked up at your local grocery or department store.
Obviously the quickest way to find treats for a Halloween party or for trick or treaters is to simply buy them at a local store. Today you can not only find snack sized versions of the most popular candy bars and candies, but you can also find healthier alternatives like raisins, dried fruit and sugar free candy. For trick-or-treaters that don’t know you pre-packaged is what you want to hand out. However, for the special trick-or-treaters that you know, you can make special homemade treats.
There are several quick treats that you can make in under fifteen minutes. The first is rice crispy squares. For these treats all you need is a bag of mini-marshmellows, a box of rice crispies and a stick of margarine. Start by melting the margarine in a large sauce pan. Then stir in the marshmellows and allow them to melt. When the butter and marshmallow are incorporated you stir in four cups of cripsies and then pour this mixture onto a cookie sheet. Allow the mixture to cool and then cut into bars or use a cookie cutter to cut out crispy Halloween shapes.
For more Halloween and Jewish recipes, visit the Is That My Bureka Blogspot.
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Next week is Halloween, which is one of the sweetest holidays of the year. However, it is also one of the best holidays for families. This is a holiday where you can cook together, decorate together and get dressed up together. If you want to introduce your kids to the joy of cooking then this is a great holiday to get them started.
One easy way to introduce kids to the joys of cooking is to allow them to decorate Halloween cookies and candies. Today there are many pre-packaged decorating tools that you can buy at your local supermarket. There are frosting tubes with decorating tips which makes drawing and decorating cookies very easy to do. Other tools that you will find fun and helpful for this activity are sprinkles, candies and plastic knives.
Another fun cooking activity that you can have your kids do for Halloween is to make chocolate candy molds. For this activity you will need Halloween candy molds, chocolate melting pieces and a double boiler. This cooking activity is better for older kids, however, if you are working with young kids, you can always use the microwave to melt the chocolate pieces instead of the stove. To complete this activity all you need to do is set up your molds, melt the chocolate, pour the chocolate into the molds, let the chocolate set up and pop the candies out of the molds. You can even get molds that will allow you to insert a lollipop stick.
If you are interested in Jewish recipes and culture, then I highly recommend the Leoraw Blog. It discusses the Jewish community in Central New Jersey. This is a great place to find recipes and stories from this community.
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Next week the only holiday scheduled is United Nations Day. While not a red banner holiday, you can use this holiday as an excuse to try recipes from a new culture or country. Experimenting with new recipes not only provides you with the opportunity to make your dinner menu more exciting, but it also gives your family the opportunity to try new flavor combinations and expand their appreciation for the foods of lands that they may not be familiar with.
One of the challenges of cooking recipes from other countries is finding the right ingredients. If you are planning an international menu at the last minute, select recipes from countries that have a presence in your local community. This will usually mean that the ingredients will be represented in local markets and specialty shops. If you are planning ahead for an international menu you can special order in meats, spices and other ingredients.
Another challenge of cooking a recipe from another country is understanding their cooking techniques and instructions. Some cultures cook with modern appliances, while others will require the foods to be cooked in the ground or in an open fire. If you select one of these more authentic recipes, then you will need to modify the cooking instructions so that they make sense for your cooking appliances. For example, recipes that are traditionally cooked in a Dutch oven covered with hot coals can be cooked in your oven using a cast iron kettle with a lid. Just put all your ingredients into the kettle. Add the correct amount of liquid in the kettle, put the lid on and place in a preheated oven.
If you are interested in learning more about baking and cooking, or if you are looking for a few unique recipes, then visit Baking and Books Blog. This blog is a lot of fun.
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