Happy Wednesday and Holidays to everyone.  As I mentioned on Sunday, this is going to be the last column of the year.  My husband and I have made it a tradition to leave for a brief respite during the Christmas rush.  We usually head to Las Vegas-but this year we had a nice surprise and had several free nights worth of points on one of our point's credit cards.  We found we were getting the biggest bang for our points in Phoenix so that's where we are heading to!  We love the area-if any of you live there and have any good restaurant ideas, please send them to me!  We've already got The Big Breakfast and My Big Fat Greek Dinner ready in our minds!

I promised to give some tips today for our family's traditional dishes:  Latkes (potato pancakes) and homemade applesauce
Here they are:
On the latkes-no matter what recipe you are using, have patience.  The tendency to turn them over too quickly makes them less crispy!  Before you get to that point, make sure you add freshly minced onion and garlic-chopped pieces tend to make the latkes fall apart.  Another very good tip-once you've shredded the potatoes, added the onion and garlic-put the mix into clean tea towels or cheese cloth and squeeze as much water out of them as possible!  Get those veggies as dry as you possibly can before adding the salt, pepper, flour and egg!  This will ensure a much tighter batter and then they will brown and crisp up much nicer.  Don't be afraid to use oil and get it really hot!  Be careful putting the potatoes onto the griddle.
Again-give them the proper time to get nice and crispy and brown, replenish the oil as needed.  It's only once a year!  Have the oven pre-heated to 275 and have paper towels on the cookie sheets waiting for the finished latkes.  Enjoy!

On the applesauce-use more than one variety!  I like to mix the tart Granny Smith with some Fuji and either golden or red delicious.  This way you not only get a mix on the taste, but the texture as well.  Leave a few of the apples peels on-again it's a texture thing.  Don't think you must add sugar, unless you like the sauce very sweet.  I like to use 100% cranberry juice for the liquid in my applesauce.  Not only does it give the applesauce a nice pink hue, but it really adds a nice flavor as well.  If you have any fresh or frozen cranberries left, add a ? cup of them, chopped to the pot.  I like to use a bit of ginger for a change of pace from usual cinnamon.
And there you have it, two traditional Hanukah foods that everyone can enjoy-all year round.

Again, may all of you have a wonderful and heartfelt holiday with the people who mean the most to you.  Happy Holidays!

Good Day to everyone!  I've decided to call this week the last for the year.  Yes, I know it's a while until all the hoopla actually starts, but I will be leaving on a brief vacation on the 24th and not return until the 28th and yours truly will be having house guests until New Year's-so I'm afraid today and Wednesday will be it until either the end of December or on Sunday, January 4th!

With that in mind, let's talk about our holiday menus!  Do you plan ahead?  Are you the type that flies by the seat of your pants?  Is it just those that live in with you, or do you have many get-togethers during this time of the year?

Me?  I'm one of those who just really isn't in to having massive amounts of family and friends in my home.  I know that's surprising since I love to cook and enjoy the looks on everyone's faces when I serve, but honestly-I know my body and it isn't as thrilled as I am to do all the work!  And because I am a foodie, I simply do not like to "bring it in".  I don't turn down some much appreciated help, but I like to do my own recipes and enjoy the time preparing-TO A POINT!

My mom, bless her 78-1/2 years was over yesterday and announced she wanted to have everyone over for Hanukah before my husband and I leave.  We decided on the first night.  That would be this coming Sunday.  I made her promise that she wouldn't do any cooking.  Our son was home and said something like "all right mom, are you making the latkes?"  And then he also remembered "Hey, I'll bring the jelly doughnuts".
Hmmm.  Great, somehow with holidays-I'm always the one making the potatoes.   Thank goodness for that Krispy Kremes-Adam really can do that part.  It's only him, my hubby, niece, nephew and from what I understand, our older grandson Dylan who will eat the fried dough thing.  I've also been drafted to make some biscotti (no getting out of it and we refer to them as mandel bread for this particular set of 8 days) for the ones who love to dunk dessert into their coffee.  Especially my dad.

The rest of the meal?  My mom promised it will be one of two main dish fare-either she will go traditional and get a couple of rotisserie chickens from Costco or we have a great deli down the street from their home and she'll get a platter of deli meats and breads.  We will round out the rest of the meal with a veggie plate, salad fixings and some cole slaw.  I'm covering the latkes and the homemade applesauce; my sister will probably bring a fruit salad.
That's our holiday tradition-we are big believers in Hanukah "gelt" (money)-our reasoning is simple:  It's always the right size, the right color and you don't have to stand in line to return it!

Wednesday-I'll share some tips on how to make latkes and jazz up homemade applesauce!

Soup always makes me think of comfort food.  It's hearty, it's warm and I'm full once I've finished my bowl.  But there's more, it cleans out my fridge and helps me get ready for the fresh groceries about to come into play.

Now I said today we're going to talk about traditional recipes with a twist.  The most common soup in all cultures is the age-old favorite:  chicken soup.

There's the tex-mex version where they add hominy or pozole

The Greeks have their divine avgolemono (lemon juice infused)

The Chinese have several version's that have fresh veggies and dumplings or noodles in them

And the Jewish kitchen has Matzo Balls.

All are delicious and make the home smell very inviting.  I thought today, I'm going to share the Avgolemono Soup.  It is truly a traditional Greek dish.  Serve it with some warmed pitas and you've got yourself a great meal.  If you've got a crowd that needs more-serve it with a side Greek salad and baklava!  This particular version came from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
?1 (3 pound) whole chicken
?1/2 cup uncooked white rice
?salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
?3 egg, beaten
?2 lemons, juiced
DIRECTIONS
1.Rinse the chicken and remove any organs that may be inside. Place in a pot large enough for the chicken to move around, but not too much room or the broth will be watery. Add the chicken neck if that is included with your chicken. Fill with enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil. When boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, skimming the fat from the top as it collects.
2.When the chicken is done, the meat should pull from the bones easily. Transfer the bird to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Add the rice, and season the broth with salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for 20 more minutes, or until rice is tender.
3.Whisk the eggs with the lemon juice in a bowl. When the rice is done, turn off the heat. Whisk one ladle full of hot broth into the eggs slowly so the eggs do not curdle. Gradually whisk in more broth until the egg mixture is heated. Then pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whisking briskly. The result should be a creamy, cloudy looking soup. You may season with additional salt, pepper or lemon juice at this point.
4.You may add pieces of chicken to the soup before serving or serve soup with salted chicken on the side.
FOOTNOTE
?The soup should be filling, salty and slightly sour.

Happy Sunday Ladies!  You know this week I was stumped for a while about what to have fun with this week-but Fall weather is finally, begrudgingly hitting us here in Southern California!
In fact, we had FOG and CHILLY mornings, several days this week!

This made me think of soup.  I love soup.  My daughter-in-law to be loves soup.  My husband likes it-as long as I put some kind of ANIMAL protein into it.  Our son, not so much.  

I know we did a couple of columns about favorite soups while it was still steaming hot, but I thought now that I can stand cooking in the kitchen again (no one touches the BBQ with anything but reverence here in our home)why not talk about our favorite soups?

As I'm writing this, I'm eating a nice big bowl of "must go" soup.  And a very tasty, healthy, lo-cal lunch it is!  I made some sauce the other night to go over some sirloin steak tips and barley.  It had a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, a can of white beans, garlic, cumin, onions and spinach.  As you can see, it was serving as our vegetable that evening as well.  Last night I made our family's favorite broccoli dish-steamed with a slight dressing of minced garlic, salt, lemon juice and olive oil.  I sprinkled it with some toasted sesame seeds.  Had just enough left to combine and heat up for today's "must go" soup.

I think you might be seeing what I'm saying:  Soup is a great dish to use up wilted vegetables, leftover grains or pasta, tidbits of meat, chicken, fish, etc?

Now this time my base was the can of fire-roasted tomatoes, but I also have found that a great soup base is spaghetti sauce!  Think about it, it's filled with flavor and you can thin it down with any time of broth, or if you're looking for something indulgent, you can use cream, milk or evaporated milk.  Adjust the seasonings to your family's taste and voila-a hearty meal within a matter of minutes!
Try thinking outside of the box-many of us had a turkey carcass or ham bone to deal with-you didn't have to make turkey or split pea with the remains.  Why not create some turkey chili (it's just a thick stew) or make a cream base with the ham and add some sweet peas, carrots, onions and pasta for a carbonara soup, of sorts?

On Wednesday-I'm going to share a couple of recipe ideas on traditional soups with a twist!

Here we are in the last month of the year!  Hard to believe, but oh so true.

This month is going to be filled with holidays of all kinds for all different beliefs, so there will be a lot of food, fun and variance of flavors for everyone to try out and enjoy!

I know on Wednesdays I usually try to give some recipes or ideas for recipes-but since most of us will be having potlucks at work, with friends and possibly relatives, I thought this would be a great way to try out some different traditions!

When I taught pre-school and ran a day care, I would ask all the parents to provide one snack for the two weeks prior to my closing for the year-one hitch though:  It had to be a food that meant something to their family and I asked that they not only bring it, but tell the entire day care why it was special!

Those that couldn’t take the time off of work were asked to write it up for me so I could bring the child up and read their “story” to the kids.

We had all kinds of snacks!  One of Japanese kids brought potstickers.  Another one brought “jeweled rice“.  One boy with a Cajun background brought black-eyed peas and dirty rice!  We also had parents make home-made cinnamon rolls, matzo ball soup (okay that and the latkes/applesauce were me), chicken and dumplings and one brought in an angelfood cake and jello combination that didn’t go over too well.

That being said-I thought it would be wonderful if some of you would share a dish that means a lot to your families during this holiday season.

Now, you don’t have to send it this minute, but I’d love for you to have them trickle in here-variety and food are truly the spice of life!  Share yours with us here at fab40!

Whew!  Our family made it-how about yours?  Through with any leftovers?  Did anyone get to use any of the handy and creative ideas-as few as there were?

For us, there weren’t many leftovers-we did go to my sister’s home, so packets were dispersed amongst the 4 families that wanted something to take home.  My parents and my sister’s mother-in-law declined to partake of the huge amount of food.  Our brother-in-law’s brother and wife only wanted to take home what was left of their salad and some pie.  So, that left my sister’s family, us and our daughter’s home.

Since my daughter and son-in-law are on the tightest budget of all of us, we sent the bulk of it home with her-turkey, ham, 2 types of stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and some dessert.

We took home some of the stuffings, sweet potato casserole and my mashed potatoes, my son asked for enough ham to carry him through the next 4 days of work lunches.

I had hoped to not have to cook the next night, but alas, I had to make 2/3’s of a meal.  

Now I guess I’ll have to start thinking about making potato latkes and applesauce before we leave for Phoenix next month.

Cheers!