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Planning the Holidays

First, plan your menus for breakfast, lunch, appetizers, dinner and remember the beverageds.  Gather your recipes together and write out your menu plan.  Make a list of all your ingredients right along side your menu plan.  When you go to the supermarket, your menu and ingredients will be on one handy list.  As you write out your menu and the ingredients for each item, decide what type of baking pans are needed and add those items as needed.

As you make out the ingredient and grocery list, think about what you already have in the pantry and refrigerator and check for pantry items that may have expired.  To make it easy, check out our Pantry section to help you along.  You can start shopping now for items like soup, broth, pasta, stuffing, relishes, and the like.  Refrigerator items should be purchased starting about a week before.  Food items like eggs, butter, potatoes, onions, celery, fresh cranberries will store well in the refrigerator for about a week.  Other refrigerator items like rolls, fresh meats, cheeses, milk should be purchased about three  to four days before.  Check out our Refrigerator page for ideas.

Start shopping the week of the holiday buying a few things at a time.  This is also a good time to consider what kind of plates, serving platters, ect. are needed.  Think about plates, napkins, cups, silverware, serving plates and utensils.  Although paper and plastic products can be pricey, they are a great time saver for clean up.  There is only so many hours in the day and only so much of you to go around.  Remember, your time is valuable and you deserve to enjoy the holidays too!  Party stores have a wide variety to pick from and typically reasonably priced.  Holiday themed products will probably be more expensive, but you can choose from the everyday colors mixing and matching to create your own theme and it will be just as feastive.

Now, it's time to think about pots, pans, and storage products.  For the oven, purchase aluminum drip trays to help keep your oven clean.  These last forever and one or two should take you through the year.  Very important note...don't put the drip tray on the 'floor' of your oven, it will prevent cooking.  Place the tray on the bottom shelf.  You can place pans and casserole dishes right on the drip tray and it will still catch run overs from items on the top shelf of your oven.  Next, think about what your going to use to cook your roasts, turkeys, casseroles, and bread products.  And store the leftovers.  A must have in any kitchen is a large slow cooker, a small slow cooker, and an electric roaster.  Aluminum roasting and baking pans are also a must have along with storage bags in a variety of sizes.  Here are some ideas on how to use these products.

*   Make your mashed potatoes up to two days ahead.  Place in a large slow cooker that has a removeable crock and store in the refrigerator covered with the lid.  About two hours before the meal, take the slow cooker crock from the refrigerator, place it into the slow cooker base, turn the slow cooker on high for about 1/2 hour with the lid on.  Stir occassionally.  Then put the slow cooker on low with the lid on , stir occassionally and your mashed potatoes will be ready when dinner is ready!  This also frees up your time on the holiday and space on your stove top.

*  Use your small slow cooker to keep your dinner rolls warm.  Bake your rolls about a 1/2 hour before dinner.  Place the warm, baked rolls in your small slow cooker, put on the lid, place your slow cooker on low.  Warm dinner rolls are served and stay warm all throughout the meal!  Helpful hint, if your rolls start to dry out, just turn off the slow cooker, keep the lid on, and they will stay warm.  You can bake your dinner rolls one day ahead.  After they have cooled, place them in a plastic storage bag at room temperature.  They can be warmed in the slow cooker as mentioned above.

*  You can also make your fresh vegetables up to one day ahead and put in a small slow cooker that has a removable crock and store in the refrigerator covered with the lid.  Cook your fresh vegetables until just about done.  They will finish cooking in the slow cooker.   About one hour before the meal, take the slow cooker crock from the refrigerator, place it into the slow cooker base, put the slow cooker on high for about 20 minutes, keep on the lid, and stir occassionally.  Then turn the slow cooker on low and keep on low all throughout the meal for perfectly warmed vegetables.  This is another time saver and a stove top space saver.

*  Roast your turkeys and roasts in an electric roaster.  Not only will it free up your oven, but it will not heat up your kitchen.  And you will still enjoy all the savory smells of roasting!  An electric roaster is somewhat like a slow cooker in that it helps render a plentiful amount of juices from your meats that will be enough for au jus and gravy.  These juices are rich in flavor.

*  Use aluminum roasting and baking pans for a variety of cooking and storing solutions.  We all love to show off our beautiful casserole dishes, bakeware, and platters, but during the holidays you might not have enough for all of your dishes.  An aluminum pan can be a great solution and serve to store the leftovers.  Consider using aluminum pans for breakfast and lunch dishes so your finer bakeware can be used to showcase dishes for the main meal.  They also make for easy cleanup; bake, serve, and toss.  Aluminum pans are perfect for storing leftovers.  They are sturdy and come in a variety of sizes.  And don't forget the aluminum foil to cover meats and casseroles for baking and storing.

*  Plastic storage bags are great for storing fresh herbs, cleaned vegetables, rolls, and more.  When you bring home your herbs and vegetables, trim them up as needed, wash them in cold water, pat dry slightly to remove excess water, gently wrap them in a paper towel and store in a storage bag in the refrigerator for up to one week.  This will keep them fresh and green.  Have a good supply of one large and one small size to grab at a moments notice.  And don't forget the plastic wrap for covering up dishes of all kinds.

Other miscellaneous products to have on hand are paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher soap, and scrubbing pads.  These are items that you will go through from now until New Years, so be sure to stock up.

Need a perfect pie crust recipe?  Try our pie crust recipe, it's easy and turns out perfect every time.

Leeks are delicious to roast along with your turkey and saute for dressing.  But they are full of sand.  Easy cleaning tip.  Cut off the dark green tops and bulb end.  Slice length-wise.  Under cold, running water fan out the layers to rinse all the dirt from between the layers.  Pat dry.  Rinse your knife and cutting board also.

                                        Recipes for the Holidays

Starters for the Day

     One-day-ahead recipes

          French Toast - savory cinammon, sweet vanilla, warm maple syrup; delicious!

          Spinach and Herb Strata - herbs, sausage, cheese; real comfort food!

     Same-day recipes

          Scrambled eggs, toast, assorted jams and marmelades, jarred fruit like grapefruit, tropical blend, mango,     variety of juices, coffee, tea

     Mimosa - elegant and refreshing feastive drink to celebrate the start of the day!

Helpful hints:

Make sausage and bacon the day before.  Store in a small aluminum pan covered with aluminum foil in the refrigerator.  While you prepare breakfast, put the covered sausage and bacon in the oven on 325 degrees for at least 30 minutes.  Ready to serve!  The sausage and bacon can be placed in the same pan.

Prepare the french toast and strata in aluminum pans for easy storing, baking and clean up.

Mid-day Delights

   Lunch

    Keep it easy!  Purchase a variety of lunch meats, cheeses, breads, relishes, chips and condiments.  Get an aluminum serving platter or a plastic serving platter purchased from the party store.  One day ahead, arrange lunch meats and cheeses on your platter.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.  Come lunch time, arrange a small table or kitchen table as a luncheon buffet placing out the meat and cheese tray, breads, relishes, chips and condiments, in their own containers or dishes of your choice, along with paper plates and napkins.  Leftovers can be stored in plastic storage bags or their own containers.

Sweets

   Purchase a variety of candies, cookies, brownies, ice creams, and sorbets.These keep for a long time and are easy to serve.  Make it special and visit your local candy store and bakery for holiday items.  Look for specialty holiday ice creams and sorbets in the grocery store.

Appetizers

   Assorted cheese, store-bought dips, crackers, salami, and beef sticks are a great go to and keep for a long time.  Want to make it more special?  Check out these easy recipes.

Beef and Cream Cheese Roll Ups 

Cocktail weiners 

Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives