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.

The Green Kitchen

Everyone is hyper aware of global warming and what it can do to the planet. They are cutting down on ordering on  line along with buying locally grown produce. Yet to fully go green, home chefs have to rethink the way they clean,and cook. Nowadays that's pretty easy.

Water is always at the crux of conservation. One way to save is only boiling a cup of water for one cup of tea or hot cocoa. Boiling more just is a waste of energy. Another idea is keeping bottled tap water in the fridge as opposed to running the tap until you get cold water. The water is already chilled and good to go. You can keep bottled water in the freezer during the hot days of summer. One you don;t have to keep opening the freezer door to fetch ice cubes. The ice inside melts providing refreshing, thirst quenching sips. (have a few of these ready for those trips to the beach too.) Vegetables and fruit always have to be washed. Instead of rinsing them with running water , just place them in a large pan of water  and use a vegetable scrubber on the skins.Another chore we have to do every day is washing the dishes.If you have only a few from one meal, wait until the next to wash everything. You could also put all the dishes, cups and utensils in the dish rack and spray them clean with your sink's spray nozzle.Also don't prerinse dishes and cups before putting them in the dishwasher. The machine usually does a good job of it.

Not surprisingly how you cook on can also help in saving the environment, One of the easiest actions is using pots and pans the same diameter as the burner. This will not only save energy but also money.  Electric stove owners can save $36 annually while those who have a gas stove will save around $18. Also reduce  the amount of heat needed. Don't force a boil or try to cook something fast. That's what the microwave is for. Also a microwave can take up less energy than any stove.however it does have a lot of drawbacks. A better medium would be conscientiously using the stove and oven. Don't preheat unless you have to Another energy conserving idea is cooking several dishes together. This means one thing - more yummy sheet meals where the mains and the sides are all roasted together on one pan.Then there's the cook's tic of opening the door to see if everything is browning or baking well. Don't. It's a bad habit that allows  heat to go out. Instead always keep the oven window clean so  you can see clearly through it.Check the oven door seal too. A poorly fitted or degraded one can leach heat and energy  A good test is slip a piece of paper between the seal and the door.If it goes through then replace the seal or buy a new oven.

A green kitchen is a good one. You're making an effort to not only save the planet but also money. The ecology is helped and so are you,