A Recipe For Surviving The Holidays

Barbara: I figured at this time of year, a simple easy recipe is a recipe for surviving the holidays. Stefanie found this one online at Tastespotting.com and it soon became a go-to—everyone (except vegetarians, of course!) loves it, it is ridiculously easy to make, you can multiply the recipe very easily to feed a crowd, you can make it right before serving or the day ahead and re-heat, and you will have delicious leftovers. The original recipe is for 6 drumsticks or thighs, but I also adapted it for a crowd, using 3 full chickens cut up into 10 pieces each (separated thighs and drumsticks, each breast-half halved again, etc) so I can offer every type of meat to my guests. The changes to the recipe for larger quantities are in parentheses after each ingredient.

Sesame Ginger Chicken

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 3-4 (… or a small crowd)

Ingredients

6 chicken drumsticks or thighs (or 3 whole chickens cut up—30 pieces)

Sesame oil

2 heaping tablespoons brown sugar (10 tbsp for 30 pieces)

3 heaping teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (15 tbsp for 30 pieces)

1 heaping teaspoon powdered ginger (5 tbsp for 30 pieces)

1 teaspoon salt (not times 5 for this, please! Use discretion…)

2 cloves garlic, finely minced (10 cloves for 30 pieces—I chop this in a small slicer)

Optional: 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (love this!—but also don’t times-five it for more)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towel and place in a bowl. Drizzle with sesame oil and toss to coat.

Combine all remaining ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle sugar mixture over chicken and toss so that chicken is thoroughly coated.

Place chicken on a baking sheet, skin side up, and bake for 45 minutes or until the top is brown and crispy and the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Yum! 

More Easy Holiday Recipes

Barbara: Last year, I shared a few of my favourite holiday recipes—known for their super-simple prep times (and rave reviews from the revellers), here and here.

First up this year is a great nibbly treat, on its own or added to a cheese plate, slightly sweet, slightly salty, a bit spicy, mmmm. Best part? It's vegan-friendly AND it makes a perfect homemade hostess gift.

Sweet and Spicy Pecans

2 cups pecans (or any nut)

1 tbsp water

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

Put the almonds in a glass pie plate and douse with water, mixing well. Combine the rest and mix it with the nuts.

Microwave (uncovered) on high for 2 min, then stir, then follow with another 1 min and, if necessary, another 1 min, until glazed and syrupy (I've made it where it doesn't end up "glazed" and they're just as good). But be careful not to burn (very easy...)

Spread out on parchment paper to cool, breaking apart occasionally. And voila!

  

Then we have a classic recipe ‘round these parts: melt-in-your-mouth shortbread. My sister sent me this recipe about 25 years ago and I have no idea where she got it, but it is divine. It’s only super-easy if you have one of those stand-alone mixers where you can leave the batter mixing for 10 minutes and go do something else. That said, there were many many years when I did not have the stand-alone and just stood there for 10 minutes with a handheld. Do-able, just boring.

Melt in your mouth Shortbread Cookies

These are more soft puff-balls than elegant flat biscuits. Delicious!

1 cup softened butter

½ cup icing sugar

2 ¼ cups flour

Cream butter and sugar thoroughly. Add flour ¼ cup at a time.  Then blend for 10 minutes (on a Kitchen Aid-type mixer, blend at setting 6).

Drop onto greased sheets (or parchment) and put in 325 oven for 15-20 minutes or until just short of golden.

I bought this $4.00 scoop last year and, man, it makes the cookie dough doling that much easier. Last year, I kept the balls round (as is), but this year, I used a silicone spatula to very gently flatten the cookies before baking. 

What To Say, What To Do

Barbara: For today’s short post, and in honour of the current situation, I thought it would be appropriate to call back an earlier post that we did about cooking for people in times of trouble or need. We asked all of you to contribute your favourite recipes for offering and freezing, food that can sustain when no one feels like cooking, food that also tastes delicious.

It’s been my intention since we posted to catalogue all those recipes, giving each of you who contributed due credit (first names only if you prefer), and posting it to a stand-alone page in our side-bar. It could live there for any of us who might find ourselves suddenly on the “giving” end of life. If you posted a recipe but have any objection to being included by name, please let me know at radeckirites(at)gmail(dot)com (no worries!). In the meantime, please link here if you want to read the original article.

I also want to take this chance to give a shout-out to all of you who “never know what to say” in bad times and yet still venture a kind and loving word or two. I want to assure you that to a person in crisis every kind word is so very valued, appreciated, and needed. They may never be able to acknowledge it, they may not remember to, they may not have the words yet themselves, but in our experience (and, sadly, we’ve had a lot), literally every word of support and compassion makes its way into our hearts and helps with the heeling. This is definitely a “just do it” moment.

Here’s another fast and easy recipe I love. This soup is delicious and comforting, freezes well, and is super-easy to make. You can easily double or triple it.

Yummy lentil soup

4 cups chicken (or veggie) stock

2 cups coconut milk

1 tablespoon green or red curry paste

1 tbsp peanut oil (or any oil)

1 cup cooked green lentils (ie, canned)

6 lime leaves (found in Asian food stores), chopped thinly if fresh (you can freeze the extra leaves after), or whole if dried (then just pluck them out like bay leaves when done cooking)

Heat the oil, then add and heat the curry. Add stock, coconut milk, lentils and lime leaves. Gently heat until it comes to a light boil—10-30 minutes.

The lime leaves give a really lovely lemony flavour, but if you can’t find them, it’s fine without. You can also add fresh peas or snow peas or baby corn. Mmmm.

Me … In-Training

Barbara: I went to my favourite yoga class the other day (man, yoga is my balm in times of stress; it does this subtle re-centering on me no matter how wound up I am; it stretches my muscles, reminds me how to breathe; takes my mind off minutia; man, I love it!), and my teacher had invited this intuitive healer to lead one of our classes. I was excited—always interested in how people interpret the way we are, offering us more tools for how to manage stresses and anxieties.

The intuitive healer had several excellent reminders for us: when you start to tense up, breathe slowly in and out; when you feel hurried and rushed, slow down, be mindful, take your time, instead of playing into the time pressure. Most things that we imbue with time-pressure won’t actually derail if we take 1 or 2 extra minutes of mindfulness (using stoplights as a chance to breathe and regroup instead of panicking and freaking was one good example).

Now, all these prompts are great to hang on to as often as we can, but the thing she said that I knew right away I wanted to chew on with you guys was her reminder that we are essentially beings-in-training. Most of us set personal ideals for ourselves that we aspire to (and, believe me, I do think goals and dreams are important), but we also beat ourselves up if we “fail” to achieve those goals on any given day.

Take the epiphany, for instance: let’s say I finally realize that I always expect—provided I do the “right” things and work hard—that everything will go the way I’ve strategically planned. Of course when they don’t, I get all stressed and upset. And so I decide I have to break this debilitating habit. Full of newfound self-awareness, I assume I will never fall into this negative cycle of expectation/disappointment/stress ever ever again.  Until I do. And then I beat myself up for never ever learning from my mistakes. And so I’m twice bummed. Bummed once because my plan didn’t work out, and bummed twice because I let myself get bummed again when here I’d gone and decided I was going to turn a leaf.

So this concept that I don’t need to change in an instant (like, c’mon, Barb, the switch has been flipped, so now SHINE!!) was quite a relief for me—because what I truly am is a better-person-in-training. Epiphanies are grand and essential but only the first step in a long marathon. I’m practicing every day, not failing, not even “succeeding”, but making my best efforts.

I’ve never been an athletic person, so maybe this idea that a part of me is doing something essentially athletic—getting up every morning, pulling on my resolve, stretching my faith in myself, warming up my epiphanies, and then running!—is simply … liberating.

Deb: Barb, this is a wonderful reminder that we are pepes in progress. Lovely image, really. If we are open and lucky, we will keep learning until we die. I am pretty good at the baby steps concept. If I learn the lesson and then find I have to relearn it, I always find lurking a piece of the previous lesson learned to build on. For example, when I am doing last-minute Christmas shopping and things are crazy paced, I employ what I call “work against the energy!”. Like your instructor said, if everyone is rushing, I stroll, if everyone is pushing, I back up. But I do love the idea of the traffic light recharge. Great advice. I will start employing that baby tomorrow. Great advice during a busy time of year!

Hostess Pecans

Barbara: I was only going to publish this recipe next week, but we’re getting so near the holiday rush that I had to share this with you as soon as I could because not only are they so delicious, but they can be whipped up in a few minutes with minimum fuss and mess and—served in simple canning jars—they make amazing hostess gifts. And they are butter-free (and so also vegan)!

As pecans can be expensive, you can also use a smaller jar to nice effect.

I serve these with cheeses as well as sweets. The cumin makes them smoky-good.

2cups pecan halves

1 tbsp water

1/4cup brown sugar

1tsp ground cumin

1/2tsp cayenne

1/2tsp coarse sea salt

Put the pecans (or almonds) in a glass pie plate and douse with water, mixing well. Combine the rest and then mix it with the nuts.

Microwave (uncovered) on high for 2 min, then stir, then follow with another 1 min of cooking and, if necessary, another 1 min, until glazed and syrupy (I've made it where they don’t end up "glazed" and they're just as good). Be careful not to burn them.

Spread the nuts on parchment paper to cool, breaking apart occasionally. And voila! They should be ready to jar in about 20 minutes. A hostess gift you can whip up while your rollers (or whatever) are setting…

More Yummy And Easy Holiday Baking

Barbara: For today’s quick edition, I’ll share what is a new recipe for me. My daughter made it for the holidays last year and we all swooned. And it's the easiest recipe ever. Because it’s made with crackers and is so highly addictive, she calls it “Crack”. When I used this name at the last advent in front of one of my other daughter’s friends, she very delicately re-named it “Crackle”, which I like because it is a bit like a brittle.

Crackle

4 ounces saltine crackers (that’s one row from a regular box)

1 cup butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers in single layer. (I also lined the pan first with parchment, but I’m going to guess this isn’t imperative—the buttered crackers just lift right up.)

A smaller pan would work even better, as then the crackers would abut each side.

In a saucepan combine sugar and butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. 

Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts. 

Cool completely and break into pieces like brittle.

How to ruin these: if they haven’t cooled completely the chocolate layer will lift off the crackers. I put the whole pan in the fridge for a few hours. And later, the pieces freeze and thaw very well.

Crazy good!

PS if some of you haven’t yet left a holiday wish to deck our halls, you still can!

Newfangled Traditions And Easy Baking

Barbara: I’m not super-sentimental. I don’t keep old birthday cards (although Deb has a genius use for old Christmas cards), and I try to keep nostalgic trophies from amassing. This is probably one of those split-camp things where some of you are firmly in one camp (nostalgic) or the other (not so much).

I enjoyed wonderful traditions when I was growing up … and didn’t hesitate for a second to change them up when I had a family of my own. Of course, it turned out that my parents had also tweaked and improvised those "old traditions”. Turns out I come from a long line of tradition-tweakers. (Makes me wonder which of our own heartfelt traditions my children will change for their own families.)

As it’s the holiday season—here’s a peek inside my family’s adopted “traditions”:

We celebrate Christmas in the European tradition on Christmas Eve (both our families come from European families). The kids have never complained about getting their presents a full 12 hours early. And we get to sleep in the next morning!

My mother and stepfather often visit us for the holidays, and as my stepfather is Jewish and if Hanukah overlaps (as it does this year), we also enjoy some Jewish festivities (beef brisket and potato pancakes this December 23^rd, mmmmm). I should mention here that my stepfather knows the Christmas carols and hymns better than we do!

Neither my husband nor I grew up with stockings, but we liked the concept, so we invented our own stockings tradition when the kids were about 4 and 7-years-old. We hang stockings and then for each of the twelve days before Christmas, we add one small item to each one. By the time Christmas Eve arrives, the stockings are bulging with the “12 Days of Christmas” goodies. Both girls still tease that when they were little they always cheated and fondled the stockings when no one was looking—and had no trouble identifying the “secret” roll of Scotch tape. The next day on Christmas morning, we lie in bed, all four of us and, one-by-one, reveal a stocking present. All this is followed by Christmas brunch and Christmas dinner. Mmmm.

We celebrate the four advents before Christmas. Not (I hope I don’t offend) as a religious ceremony, but as an excuse to gather various people around us and eat Christmas cookies and roasted chestnuts and popcorn and spiced pecans and sing carols. I did take this from my own family, just tweaking it a bit to include our other favourite foods (like cheese and salad and crusty French bread). This is a treasured tradition for each of us. Fond memories include when the kids were young and, fueled by a sugar high, would perform the carols for us replete with dances, plays, and puppet shows. To this day, they still adore Advent and many of our weekly celebrations include their friends—who always begin the celebration shy and tentative, but who end (probably also fueled by that sugar high) by singing and happily reveling alongside us. 

This tradition means that I need to have my Christmas baking done early in the season. And, oh by the way, I hate baking. So I’ve gathered a tried-and-true roster of baked goods that are a) super easy and pretty failsafe, and b) can be frozen for a steady holiday supply. As a new new tradition, through the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share with you my favourites among these recipes in case you’re looking for super-easy goodies that are freezer-friendly for your own traditional gatherings or last-minute shindigs! Enjoy.

Sweet Marie Bars

These are my biggest hit—I think I’ve shared this with just about every one of my buddies. They are delicious even straight from the freezer (although very hard). Soft, they are chewy and sweet and slightly salty. And they’re even vegetarian/vegan friendly. I don’t use my microwave for much, but this is one of my few exceptions.

This recipe is for an 8” glass pan, but to last through the season, I double it and set it in a 9by14” pan.

Bar:

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (if vegan: make sure your chocolate chips don’t contain whey or lactose; if you’re Canadian, the Loblaw’s brand is good)

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup corn syrup

1tbsp butter or oil

¾ cups chopped peanuts (salted)

2 cups Rice Krispies (or popped rice type cereal)

Topping:

1cup semisweet chocolate chips

2tbsp peanut butter

In a large microwaveable bowl, combine the bar ingredients (without the nuts or Rice Krispies). Microwave uncovered at full power for 1min30, then stir well, then microwave for another 1min. You know it’s ready when the chocolate and sugar are fully melted (but not burned!). Remove bowl from microwave and stir in nuts and cereal. Press mixture into a buttered or oiled pan.

For the topping, use the same microwaveable bowl, but now add the topping ingredients. Microwave at HALF POWER for 2min, then stir and microwave for another 1-2min. Stir until smooth and spread over the bar base. 

Refrigerate until set (about 2 hours) and cut into very small squares. These are very rich, so be spare in size.

How to ruin these: it is very hard, but can be (and sadly, has been) done. Either by not cooking the bar mixture long enough, which results in a crumbly bar that doesn’t hold, or cooking too much (long or hot) and burning the chocolate. Keep checking the consistency and you’ll be fine.

(PS Deb won’t be able to vouch for these cookies as peanut butter and chocolate is a combo she abhors. Strange girl!!) Stay tuned for more easy goodies!

Deb: Barb, this is so lovely to see. I love getting a peek into the traditions of others. It’s wonderful to see the many ways we can celebrate, each making our own family unique in the midst of a tradition over 1/3 of the planet celebrates. I love your traditions, Barb, and I hear the joy in your voice each year as you recount the many ways the holidays light up for you and yours.

Here is what we do:

The four weeks of Advent we spend at church, lighting the candles and singing the great hymns and carols, and sharing the anticipation of the joy to come.  Each night of the four advents, we light one of the candles at home, on the advent wreath the boy was given by our dear friend, his first minister, Shirley.

We throw a festive party every year, some years we have 90 people and some years 15, but it is always a fun way to kick-start the season, as we always try to have it early in December.

Every December 24th for a good thirty years we have met with several dear friends for martinis and club sandwiches and it is a tradition we adore. It is so exciting to hear of everyone’s plans and I am always at the table stitching the last bell on a Christmas stocking.

Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, my Mom and Dad have had a drop-in, complete with loving friends and family, hors d’oeuvres and spirits burning bright. As they have lost most of their friends, we now have a cosy gathering with present and absent friends. But we still do it. Only now, Colin and I throw it, aided by my brother and his wife, and our dear friends, Cheryl and Bill. It means the world to Mom and Dad and is a great way to tame the Christmas Day butterflies, which I am thrilled to say I still get.

I love the European tradition of Christmas Eve and had a boyfriend in my past whom I shared that with. Italian Mother and German father. It was glorious. But let’s face it, we all love the traditions we grew up with and, for me, it was going to bed with the tree bursting its branches with gifts as we turned off the lights. I loved as a child putting out the milk and cookies for Santa, confident that he would enjoy mine at just the right time in his journey. I loved waking up at three in the morning, all ten years of me and unwrapping the stocking and putting everything back exactly where it had been, then falling to sleep with visions of sugarplums dancing in my noggin.

As an adult, I loved a quiet midnight with a rum and eggnog, filling the stockings after boy had fallen asleep. Before I tucked him in, we would watch the news for the report of Santa’s journey across the planet and we would sing sweet carol lullabies till he faded off with his advent chocolate still clinging to his tongue.

Christmas Day in our home brings the opening of stockings, the champagne breakfast, nodding off in front of a Christmas movie, and the family gathering  for Christmas dinner. Grace is said, blessings are counted, and another Christmas winds down its magic.

Here’s to traditions of every faith and secular creature on earth. As Tiny Tim observed, “God bless us, everyone.”

We would love to hear all about your Christmas traditions. Tell one, or tell all!