Holiday eating tips | Golden Skate

Holiday eating tips

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
*author unknown - this is floating around facebook...

Just in time for the holidays...my eating tips:
1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that i...t... has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
I am so not going to show this to my husband. :laugh:

But Christmas eggnog -- irresistible. As for mashed potatoes, whole milk is not good enough - we make them with half-and-half and parmesan.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
I am so not going to show this to my husband. :laugh:

But Christmas eggnog -- irresistible. As for mashed potatoes, whole milk is not good enough - we make them with half-and-half and parmesan.

ugh I cannot stand eggnog! :laugh:
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Well, I like homemade fruitcake. I make it with my great-grandmother's recipe. Furthermore, people ask for it for Christmas gifts.

Like any other food, it depends who makes it and whether they used really good ingredients.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Doris, after reading that, I can't help asking if you would consider posting that recipe (please!).

I just ground the walnuts for a wonderful winter cookie recipe that someone on the other skating website once posted. I think they're called nut balls? It's basically just butter, sugar, and walnuts, dipped in confectioner's sugar. So yummy! I'm making them for gifts too.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
My favorite Christmas cookie are what I know as Russian Tea Cakes... when I was little I called them snowball cookies because they are round hardish cookies (walnuts in a sugar cookie like dough) and then they get rolled in powdered sugar TWICE... yum! my favorites by a mile!
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
That's exactly what I'm making and I like your name better than the one on that other website! The only difference is that mine are more crumbly than hard because of all the butter and no eggs. They're not doughy, though.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
That's exactly what I'm making and I like your name better than the one on that other website! The only difference is that mine are more crumbly than hard because of all the butter and no eggs. They're not doughy, though.

I think you have a better description than I do, though mine don't crumble, it's not like they're rock hard... I just love them, though... now I want to bake cookies lol
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Well, I like homemade fruitcake. I make it with my great-grandmother's recipe. Furthermore, people ask for it for Christmas gifts.

Like any other food, it depends who makes it and whether they used really good ingredients.

I also would love the recipe. Bon appetit!

My philosophy for feasting: chocolate grows on trees, doesn't it? That makes it a vegetable.

Everyone's cookie recipes sound divine.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
My great grandma's recipe is for a dark fruitcake. I'm planning on making mine tomorrow:


Great Great Grandma Perkin's Favorite Fruit Cake/Doris's Christmas Cake

1 lb. butter
1 lb sugar (2 c.)
1 lb. white flour (3 1/2 c.)
30 oz raisins (two 15 oz. packages)
20 oz. currants (two 10 oz. packages)
12 oz. citron (three 4 oz. packages)
4 oz. lemon peel ( one 4 oz. package)
4 oz. orange peel ( one 4 oz. package)
8 oz. candied red cherries ( one 4 oz. package)
1 pint Grandma's mild unsulphured molasses (2 c.)
1 generous wineglass grape juice ( 1/4 c.)
1 generous wineglass orange juice (1/4 c.)
5 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. allspice
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda, dissolved in 1/4 c. hot water

brown paper (or wax paper or parchment paper)
aluminum foil
cheesecloth or clean dish towels.

Place all the fruits in a very large bowl. Pour the juices over them and mix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for several hours, if possible.

Heat oven to 325 F.

Line your pans with brown paper, lightly buttered. I use one angel cake
pan and 2 loaf pans. This is a HUGE cake. It makes 14 little aluminum loaf
pans (5-3/4"x3-1/4" approximately).

Cream the butter. Beat in the white sugar gradually. Beat in the molasses.
Beat in the eggs.

Mix the flour, salt and spices in a separate bowl. Add gradually to the butter
mixture. Add the baking soda. Then stir in the fruit and juice. Pour the
batter into the lined pans.

Bake. This will take over an hour for even small pans. When done the
center of the cake will be set, and a tester will come out without wet
dough on it.

Let the cakes cool and remove paper.

Saturate cheese cloth or towels in a mixture with the proportions
1/4 grape juice, 1/4 orange juice, 1/2 a good cream sherry.
(This is not in Great Grandma's recipe. She was temperance and
would have used all juice.)

Wrap the cakes in the damp cloths, and then wrap in aluminum foil.

Place in the refrigerator to mellow. The cake needs to be soaked
for at least one week. Check every two or three days. If the cloths
are getting dry, mix up another batch of soaking liquid and resaturate
and rewrap your cakes. The traditional length of time for mellowing cakes
is three to four weeks.

This is a very rich cake. Serve small portions with vanilla ice cream.
The cake will last several months if you keep it moist.


I also have a good light fruitcake recipe.

Light fruitcake

Fruits:

2 1/4 lbs fruitcake fruits from King Arthur's Baker's Catalogue
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop...ooglecom&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=shopping
This is about 5 1/2 c. of fruit
6 oz. candied cherries
1/4 c. sherry

Mix the above in a large glass bowl, and let sit overnight

Cake:

1 c. (2 sticks) butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
4 eggs
1/4 c. light corn syrup
3 c. King Arthur flour
3/4 c. milk
2 c. diced pecans

Beat together the butter and the sugars.
Beat in the eggs, milk, and corn syrup.

Mix spices, salt, and baking powder. Mix in the flour.
Blend into the batter.

Stir in the fruits (undrained) and the nuts.

Grease and line the bottom of 2 large loaf pans with parchment.

Fill the pans about 3/4 full.

Bake at 300 F for 40 to 70 minutes, depending on the sizes of the
pans. A cake tester or knife in the middle of the cake will come
out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, allow to cool from 10 minutes and
remove them from the pans. Make a mixture of equal parts of
grape juice, orange juice, and a good quality sherry. Soak
cheesecloth in the mixture. Wrap the cakes. Then wrap the whole
cake in aluminum foil and refrigerate. In 2 days, remoisten.

This cake is best about 2 days to 1 week after you bake it.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Doris, Thank you! These look marvelous. I have never handled many of those ingredients before and am not sure I have time to collect them all this year (sounds like King Arthur might help... good to know), but I am definitely storing it for future reference. Both my husband and my brother adore a good dark fruitcake.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Generally the regular grocery has the candied fruits, in the same place with figs and apricots, but you can't leave it till the last week before Christmas-once they are sold out, the stores never reorder.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/essentials/fruitcake

King Arthur does have the stuff you need, but its pricy.

You can also make your own candied orange & lemon peel. My only problem is that the candied orange never makes it till Christmas. Its great dipped part way in melted dark chocolate. And the dipped peels make great little gifts.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/candied-orange-recipe/index.html

The one thing that is a must for dark fruitcake is the molasses has to be unsulphured. Sulphured molasses gives a nasty taste to the whole cake.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Duly noted. Thanks, and happy baking tomorrow! I may just do this between Christmas and New Year's (grabbing ingredients first!). After all, it will still be Christmastide.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Well, I like homemade fruitcake. I make it with my great-grandmother's recipe. Furthermore, people ask for it for Christmas gifts.

Like any other food, it depends who makes it and whether they used really good ingredients.
Many, many years ago I had a friend who was one of the best cooks. She used to make her fruitcake early and then she treated it with whiskey for several days. It was the best...:laugh: :laugh:...I even asked for seconds!! :laugh: :laugh:

Toni, you cookies reminded me of Italian wedding cookies. I used to work with a guy who was Italian and his dear sweet Aunt Rosie would make me a batch every christmas. I loved them. :love:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Wedding-Cookies-III/Detail.aspx?k=1
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I prefer sherry. :)

I have tried brandy as a fruitcake soak, but didn't care for the result.

I'm not crazy about straight whisky, which is exactly why I don't use it as a soak, but if you do, you should definitely go for it. Just never use a liquor in food that you wouldn't want to drink--that is my general rule about cooking with liquors.

If you don't drink liquor, just use a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of orange and grape juice to get a similar effect. However, they have no preservative effect.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Oh, that's an interesting rule about not cooking with what you wouldn't drink. I would never drink cream sherry -- too sweet for me. Do you think medium-dry (Amontillado or shooting sherry) would work?
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
maybe that's why I don't like fruit cake... I don't like most juices and I don't drink.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Yes, I might try the amontillado, if I were aiming for a less sweet cake..

However, I like cream sherry with fruit cake.
 
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