Short Cut Or Real Deal

As we embark on this holiday cooking trek , the question we have to ask ourselves is do we take the short cut route or make the real deal? Which is easier for us? Something from a box or tube or a recipe made from scratch.

The thought of making an entire holiday meal can cause a major panic attack in a few home chefs.There's a fear of either giving the family food poisoning or screwing up a beloved passed down through the generations dish. If that's the case,then think about already made or easy to prepare recipes. Many cooks are flummoxed by stuffings. What bread to use? Do you add sausage? Or chestnuts? If it's that confusing then stick to that old culinary chestnut, Stove Top Stuffing.It's an easy make,using only butter and water and cooked on what else  -  a stove top. They have a traditional sage dressing along with a cornbread one that's sure to please the crowds. A  homemade stuffing is relatively easy to create but labor intensive.Think of it as a savory bread pudding but without the eggs to bind it. Experiment with a few recipes before the big day. Decide which works the best for you and go with it. Another nail biter is gravy. This is a temperamental dish, where it could come out satiny and smooth or chock full of lumps. It's a simple recipe of just pan drippings, giblets, water and flour .Rosemary is added for more flavor and complexity along with salt and pepper. It;s just a matter of keeping the lumps at bay with constant stirring. The easier route would be buying a couple of jars of Heinz turkey gravy and just heating it upon the stove  top or even in  the microwave.,

Cranberries are another bone of cooking contention. A side made with fresh cranberries is always welcomed. Yet preparing them for cooking can be exhausting. You have to first wash and clean them, and then remove any stem, leaves and soft berries. The actual cooking only takes ten minutes on the stove top. Of course there is the classic Ocean Spray cranberry sauce. Open the can and just plop it on a fancy dish and you're done. One of the most agonizing holiday food choices is scratch  cookies verses slice and bakes.Of course nothing taste better than a homemade sugar cookie. Keep in mind that you can do a lot with a scratch cookie, Cinnamon and nutmeg can be added. Vary the recipe to make it gluten free and safe to eat for everyone. Of course the slice and bakes are soooo easy to make. You just need a sharp knife and a cookie sheet.These can be decorated too, with either homemade or bought frosting. One of the best things about slice and bakes is that they make excellent sandwich cookies, thanks to their uniform shapes. What you could do is bake the store bought  dough and make the fillings with different flavorings  from chocolate to peppermint.

It's up to you - as the chief home chef  how easy or complicated you want to go with your holiday cooking and baking. Go one way or the other. Or do a combination that works best for you. It's your choice  and your choice only.

Over Spicing Outselves

October is known for its’ fall harvest - namely pumpkins. Every store and fast food joint along with coffee shop features some kind of homage to this seasonal gourd. The problem is are we overdosing on it?Or more specifically the spices that go into making a pumpkin pie

No offense. I like pumpkin - preferably in soup.It's also good for you., rich in beta carotenes as well with vitamins. However when everyone from Dunkin Donuts to Starbucks features a pumpkin something, It's not thegourd though. It's the many spices that go into it, namely nutmeg, allspice ginger and cinnamon. Each one is fragrant and flavorful on its' own in a drink, Combined together and its just becomes too much - a sort of liquid gingerbread complete with addition of a mound of whipped cream and caramel drizzlings. There's nothing wrong with just cinnamon dusting the top of a foamy cappuccino, Add more and and the average coffee becomes an Indian spicy chai.

The same is true of some baked goods this season as well,.There's nothing wrong with an old fashioned spice cake. Yet some companies feel it's the season to make everything pumpkin-y and super spicy. That means loading up cookies and cakes along with doughnuts and muffins with those same spices along with a bright orange tint for to emphasize the gourd-y goodness of  it all.Cinnamon along with allspice , ginger and nutmeg can be excellent if used moderately even blended together. However some places over saturate their doughs with it,creating a slightly overpowering treat.If they want to stick with the fall theme, then maybe try either a cinnamon or nutmeg based recipe or just decorate with iced on brown and gold leaves or again even a pumpkin drawn on top in icing./

It's the season to enjoy the harvest. However most places go overboard with worshipping pumpkin to the point of oversaturation. Enough is enough! Maybe its' time to turn the attention over to that other fall fave , the apple