Trends Past Trends Future

 This was an interesting year food wise. There was hot honey and sleepy girl mocktails. Fast foods combat each other with cheaper prices. These were some fo the trends in the year past. What will 2025 bring in?

Hot honey was everywhere, from iced tea to a dip for anything chicken.It's an easy make.Take regular honey, preferably a wildflower kind, add crushed hot pepper flakes and just a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar to cut all that sweetness. You can simmer it on a stovetop or just hear it int he microwave for a few minutes. Add it to everything. it kick;s up a bland buttercream and makes for an exciting rib sauce. As for the sleepy girl mocktail.Use tart cherry juice which facilitates sleep,magnesium and some seltzer.Mix and drink. This is perfect for those sleepiness nights and can help in destressing. Fast food giants like Wendy'd and McDonalds's lowered their prices in competition with each other. This will continue until the summer. Taco Bell joined the nugget competition with their chicken nuggets and covered them with tortilla chips. They're bigger than McDonald's and according to some Tiktokker's tastier.

What's ahead in 2025? it will be a year of sauces.Chipotle's viral vinaigrette will be gracing salads. This is a mix of red wine vinegar ,honey oregano and garlic along with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. This is the perfect lift for any salad. Ranch dressing will still be number one but there will be variations.There will be pickle flavorings along with chimichurri. Fruits will have new flavors.It all started with cotton candy grapes. Strawberries will surprisingly have more flavors. Your next bite into one may be one filled with pineapple, peach or passion fruit mixed with the juicy berry flavor. These will also be higher in nutrients and vitamins too, given that they'll be grown on more organic soil.Hospitality will also be big in the new year with  friendship oozing out of hotels and restaurants. There will be shorter menus and comfortable menus. Value and deliciousness will be important as more and more places offer workers a more reasonable work/life balance.

It's time to ring out the old trends and ring in the mew. 2025 will be interesting and flavorful. Every bite and sip will be intriguing.

Nibble In The New Year

 New Yea'rs Eve demands party food even if it's a party of one. Think fun appetizers and hors'douevres  for a fun ringing in to the New Year.. You can have a wide variety of bites from a mini charcuterie to saucy dippables .It's up to you to decide.

One fun thing is to create a charcuterie or sea-cuterie board. It doesn';t have to be grand. if there's only three or four  - or even two then think a good salami sliced along with slices of prosciutto and mortadella. Have slices or cubes of cantaloupe for a lovely savory - sweet flavor, along with  rounds of toasted Italian bread, crackers, olives and sun dried tomatoes in oil. I would also  include cubes of mozzarella and Parmesan too for fun snacking. A sea-cuterie can have chilled shrimp with  sauce along with crab cakes  You could include herring - a German tradition of ensuring good luck for the New Year along with anchovy fillets. Rice crackers wouldn't go amiss here. You could also have slices fo brown bread for the herring and Italian or zFrench bread for the anchovies. If you want to add canned salmon along with tuna in olive oil ,do that too.It's your board  so have fun with it.A cheese cuterie board is also fun too. Try different varieties of cheeses from Edam to Gouda. Have the centerpiece baked Brie in puff pastry. With this have apple and pear slices and various breads and jams that will go with the fromages.

Hot bites are always welcomed. Air fryer wings and /or drumsticks are perfect nibbles to ring in 2025. have them just oiled and then salted and peppered. These are the best. crispy and fried  and then dipped into a variety of sauces. Have little ramekins filled with barbecue, lemon  butter, and honey mustard.  Serve with little scoops of macaroni and potato salads. These with the chicken actually make for a filling meal. Mini or English muffin pizzas also make for tasty appetizers. These are so easy to assemble and then bake in whether a toaster oven or an air fryer. if there;s more than two people then set up a  toppings bar. Have olives  ,pepperoni,  sliced mushrooms and anchovies. Another fun idea is a basket of fresh from the oven garlic knots . You can get already made pizza dough or make your own. If you're making your own , the give the dough and hour to an hour and a half to rise. These can be baked in either the oven or air fryer. You can sprinkle a bit of Parmesan in for more flavor.  You could have a plate of olives or artichoke hearts as a nice accompaniment.

I'ts New Year. Ring it in with tasty nibbles. They can be cold or hot, but make sure they're delicious.

Between The Holidays

 These days between Christmas and New Year should be easy. No work. Sleeping in. Cooking should be easy too. Think air fryer and microwave dishes that are simple to make. 

I found this with all Lidl products. I just wanted something simple but tasty. I used their chili starter which is just tomatoes with cumin and chili powder and microwaved it with chickpeas and red kidney beans.

I just added a splash of olive oil and water. It was then microwaving it for five minutes .

I added rice  and it was a great meal, simple without too many frills. To add to it I threw in Lidl's El Taquito's avocado bits.

These are the size of chicken nuggets but there's creamy avocado inside a tasty, fiery crust. This gave the chili some oomph. Yes there was dessert.A gain it was Lidl's Favorina brand of Pandora, the Northern Italian holiday sweetbread. Mine was a mini version.

it was a fun treat afterwards. plain simple, but oh so buttery.

This week is a time for rest and relaxation. Keep the cooking simple. Use the air fryer. use the microwave. It's make for easier meals.

A Kwanzaa Treat Gingerbread

 Kwanzaa is  known for the foods that represent African life and their contribution to the American table. Most are savory main dishes yet there is one dessert that is perfect on the holiday table. A molasses rich gingerbread cake that's perfect for any table.

Regular contributor and chef Tejal Rao wrote about this in Wednesday's new York Times Christmas Day Food section. The recipe comes from cookbook autohr and culinary  historian Jessica B. Harris. Some may know her from the  2021 Netlifx series High On The Hog, , based on her book of the same name. She has been educating Americans about the complexities of Black cuisine for decades. She first published another Kwanzaa recipe collection, A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook. She felt that she needed to connect meaningfully beyond her family. She read the work of African American activist Maulana Karanga who codified the holidays back in the Sixties.  She filtered it through her work which was equal parts historical guidebook and cookbook. Dr.. Harris made corn and Hopin John , black eyed peas for American and African friends. There was also roasted pork. This November she published a new edition of "A Kwanzaa Keepsake".

The book remains organized around the seven principles of the holiday that she brings in seven themed menus. The third night, Ujima which celebrates collective work and responsibility is full of portable dishes. There are portable dinners , perfect for potluck suppers. There is a spicy baked mac and cheese. broiled chicken thighs that are good hot or cold and a deep dis apple cobbler. There is the gingerbread,a hot water kind, spiked with ginger and cinnamon, served on Nia , the fifth night  and it means purpose. She had made the gingerbread for Betty Shabazz,Malcom X's widow.It uses the old fashioned but reliable method of adding hot water to the batter. Dr. Harris bakes it throughout the season A barely sweetened cream is dolloped on top of it. A cup of dark molasses is added for a richer flavor while cinnamon and ginger round out the spice flavor. There is also brown sugar added for a deeper,earthier taste. The molasses and boiling water are combined together. The dry ingredients are added then melted butter and brown sugar. It takes about thirty-five minutes to bake in a 350 degree Farenheit oven, Molasses and cream and whisked together for the topping.

This gingerbread is perfect for anytime of year but appropriate for Kwanzaa.It celebrates the spices of Africa while combining American baking., It's a good blend , great for any holiday.

Bakeries On The Rise

 One of the best dreams as any home baker can have is owning their own bakery. This is happening for several  whether they've baked at home or in a well known restaurant. There is a golden age of bakeries happening and it's coming with delicious results.

New comer , food journalist Meghan McCarron who has won a James Beard award along with co-producing the web series Queer Table wrote this interesting piece in Christmas Day's New York Times Wednesday Food section.Smaller bakeries are having a Renaissance. More and more former pastry chefs are opening them up in such diverse areas from big cities like Los Angels to smaller ones in Parker,Colorado. Most of these are not in well known areas like New York's Soho. Some like Poulette, are in Parker Colorado, in a strip mall, Others have evolved from pop up kiosks to small brick and mortar places. Unlike eateries , bakeries really don;t require a lot of space. There's no need for a dining area. A few tables inside and out will suffice. There's no need for a big staff, unless the place branches out to other locations.Also being in such diverse areas brings good pastry to those who never would have had access to this. This is the case of Poulette where  vanilla bean spandauers Danish pastry filled with either custard or jam are favorites of the local Little League team.Locals are ordering honored Bretagnes for birthday parties.

Other pastry chefs nationwide are also reaping the benefits.Some like  Elaine Uykimpang Bentz and her partner moved from Chicago to Cincinnati to start a restaurant. SHe didn't want to bake however her pandemic pastries got such a following the only course going forward was opening up a patisserie.This trend has also been beneficial to obsessive home bakers who want to pursue their dreams. Jesus Brazon the owner of Caracas Bakery started at home with his sourdough loaves. It took a few tries before he [perfected the recipe. After baking success he started to share his loaves with family and friends. A friend with a restaurant asked him to bake loaves.He thought he could have a part time business selling just coffee and rolls but figured he might as well devote his whole time to running a bakery, He did have help from his chef father Manuel who taught him to make French style pastries. Now he has three locations. Another baker,Peter Mitchell, co owner of The Sour in South Dakota, He started as a corrections officer and watched enough YouTube to become a baker, Some like Deborah Yee trained in restaurants like French Laundry before starting her business.

Bakeries are enjoying a golden age. People want good croissants wherever they are. It could be a big city or a country town. 

A Very Delicious Christmas

 Hopefully all my readers worldwide had the same delicious Christmas I had ( big thanks to Lidl for the sides and desserts - yum and Shop Rite for the Gardein turkey

The best Christmas gift is a good Christmas meal !!! HOpefully everyone had one, filled with good flavors and love.

Happy Full Christmas

 Happy Christmas to my readers worldwide. May it be full of good food and good friends and family.