Christmas Cooking For Dummies

Dede Wilson

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118069707
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Culinary Arts

Look no further for tips and recipes for whipping up a dazzling array of delicious holiday meals — without stress!

Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year -- and Americans traditionally love to celebrate the season with food, food, and more food. This easy guide shows cooks of every generation how to plan and prepare scrumptious seasonal treats. It includes:

• 100 delicious recipes for hassle-free holiday meals, including Warm White Bean Dip, Four-Cheese
• Spinach Lasagne, and Chocolate Truffle Tart
• Tips, checklists, and charts, plus step-by-step guides and shopping lists for special holiday meals, including a Christmas Tree-Trimming Party
• A special section on Christmas decorating and food gifts from the kitchen
• 16 pages of color photos featuring holiday meal recipes and kitchen-made gifts and decorations

Part I

Gearing Up for Christmas Cooking

In this part . . .

No doubt about it, there’s a lot to do at this time of year — so it’s time to do some cooking! This part shows you how to make the most out of preparing foods for the holiday with a minimum of stress and maximum of fun and results. Part I also contains a chapter on ingredients, tools, and techniques that come in handy during Christmas-season cooking. Then it’s on to some suggested menus and how to pull them together, from planning the shopping list to making sure all the food arrives on the table at the same time.

Chapter 1

Making Christmas Special and Stress Free

In This Chapter

Listing the benefits of cooking at the Christmas season

Getting prepared for Christmas cooking

Giving to others

Christmas gives you the opportunity to prepare special food during a whole season, not just on one special day. Businesses hold holiday parties, most adults and kids get vacation time, and windows and streets from the biggest city to the smallest town are festive with bright lights. The whole month of December feels like a party — so I’ve included cooking suggestions not only for Christmas Day, but for the entire season of celebration.

The days get shorter, the temperatures dip, and those hazy days of summer when you casually invited the neighbors over for a barbecue have faded from view. Now is the time to savor the fact that Christmastime is family time. If your extended family gets together every year, consider hosting the party. Or, if it’s just you and one other loved one, make the season as special as it was when you were a child — or as special as you wished it had been. If you’re not near family, find friends who are also free and create a family for an evening.

Not only can you spread good cheer throughout the season, but you can also spread the responsibilities. Family members can take on tasks, such as watering the poinsettias, or they can help with food duties. Even young children can chip in. And someone has to take out all that garbage — it doesn’t have to be you!

But Christmas Is Always at Grandma’s House

Maybe you’ve never hosted a Christmastime meal because you think your mom would never give up the honor. Well, for all you know it has become a duty that she would be more than willing to pass on to someone else. You’ll never know until you ask.

Or perhaps you’ve never offered to host a big holiday meal because you don’t think you’ll be able to live up to family expectations. Well, hey — maybe it’s time to shake things up a little. Maybe it’s time that you start your own tradition.

Take advantage of landmarks. Have you started a family this year? What a great time to start the tradition of Christmas dinner in your home. Or maybe your mother-in-law has hosted it for the past ten years. Time for a change!

Reasons you should make the big meal

There is more to Christmas than just the big meal on the big day, but, for a lot of us, that meal is still the focal point of the season. With that in mind, and just in case you need some further support, here are all the reasons why you should take on the responsibility of preparing the feast:

When you’re the host, you get to make whatever you like.

Making the meal is less expensive than eating out.

You get to choose whom to invite.

You get to pick at the food in the kitchen (those calories don’t count).

You did the cooking, so someone else can clean up.

No traveling!

Making the meal is a way to give back to your family.

Now all your guests have to return the favor.

Guests bring gifts.

Making hearty, delicious food is immensely satisfying.

You have leftovers for the following week.

Can’t I just take the whole gang to a restaurant?

You may be thinking that making a holiday meal is just too much trouble. You may even be tempted to let your fingers do the walking and make a restaurant reservation. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, many restaurants have special menus for the season. But many other restaurants are closed on Christmas, and with good reason. The chefs and other employees want to be with their families.

Really, making the main meal isn’t that big a deal. Set your priorities, and remember to breathe! You will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Christmas Cooking For Dummies helps you plan and make meals that are enjoyable to make, as well as delicious and beautiful to behold.

Prioritizing and Gettin...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Gearing Up for Christmas Cooking
• Chapter 1: Making Christmas Special and Stress Free
• Chapter 2: Taking Inventory: Ingredients, Tools, and Techniques for Holiday Cooking
• Chapter 3: Making Magic with Christmas Menus
• Part II : Holiday Meals: Opening Acts
• Chapter 4: Drinks, Anyone?
• Chapter 5: Appetizers
• Chapter 6: Salads and Soups
• Part III : Holiday Meals: The Main Event and Sideshows
• Chapter 7: Breakfast Dishes
• Chapter 8: for the Main Event
• Chapter 9: Complementing the Main Dish with a Chorus of Sides
• Chapter 10: Relishing the Season with Sauces Sweet and Savory
• Part IV : Holiday Meals: Finishing Touches
• Chapter 11: Visions of Sugarplums . . . Christmas Cookies, Candies, and Confections
• Chapter 12: Cakes, Pies, Puddings, Tarts, and Trifle
• Chapter 13: Baking Breads, Scones, and Muffins for the Holidays
• Part V : It’s Looking a Lot Like Christmas: Decorations and Gifts
• Chapter 14: Simple Decorations from the Kitchen
• Chapter 15: Edible Gifts
• Part VI : The Part of Tens
• Chapter 16: Ten Best Holiday Cooking and Entertaining Tips
• Chapter 17: Ten Great Mail-Order Sources for Ingredients and Tools
• Appendix: Metric Conversion Guide
• : Color Insert