If you have been given a chocolate easter bunny at some point in your life then you know what a pleasant holiday tradition it can be. There is just something about getting a holiday gourmet gift that really brightens the day. In my family, however, we don't save our chocolate holiday gift for easter! Any holiday can be an excuse to get a delicious chocolate miniature wrapped in brightly colored foil.
My favorite chocolate holiday gifts are the ones that come in unexpected shapes and with interesting wrapping. Chocolate easter bunnies and Santa's are okay, but give me a chocolate Christmas train or nutcracker any day! With your average meal, it does not matter how you package the food. With a chocolate holiday gift, however, presentation is everything. Mediocre milk chocolate packaged in a bright foil wrapping will often be a greater pleasure to receive than a delicious dark chocolate in a plain box – at least for children.
Then again, for a more refined palate, there is nothing better than a little taste of something delicious and precious. A dark chocolate holiday gift, a log of well smoked sausage, or perhaps some sharp cheddar will really serve to delight the palate of any sophisticated adult. After all, these are all special foods – things that we do not allow ourselves to eat just every day. The holidays give us a great excuse to treat ourselves to them – especially if a friend makes it easy to indulge.
If you want to, you can even make your own chocolate holiday gift. A lot of the folks I know do just that. Simply buy some baker's chocolate, melt it down, froth it up while mixing in some sugar, and pour it over the filling of your choice. I have always found blueberries, strawberries, and cherries to be great centers for chocolate holiday gifts, but use your imagination. After that, you can decorate it with frosting, shape it how you want, wrap it up, and give it to a close friend. It is one of the best gift ideas for a chocolate lover, combining the delicious taste of chocolate with the personal touch of a handmade gift idea. Just thinking about making a delicious, handmade chocolate holiday gift is making my stomach rumble. As much as I like to give out chocolate gifts, I like eating them even more. I think that it's time for me to go bake!
Chocolate Holiday Gift
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Chicken Recipes - Some New Twists
Chicken Recipes
What’s for dinner? Tired of the same old thing, and ready to try something new? All you need is chicken and some basic ingredients and you’re ready to go. The internet is your best resource to find a tasty chicken recipe that will keep your family raving about your out-of-the-world cooking skills. It doesn’t matter what cut of chicken you have in your freezer, because there are lots of recipes for chicken breasts, legs, thighs, wings, and the whole chicken. So take a look at what you have and start searching for something that will make your mouth water. There are appetizers, casseroles, pasta dishes, salads, sandwiches and wraps, soups and stews, and slow cooker recipes, in addition to baked, fried, and roasted chicken recipes, and great barbecue and grilling ideas. How about chicken and spicy sausage with pasta, or mini white chicken pizzas? Either sounds great for a quick summer lunch.
Lots of scrumptious chicken recipes are at your fingertips, never again must you prepare that same old boring chicken dish, unless you want to of course. But why would you? A change of pace will do you good, in more ways than one. If you’re in the mood to spice things up a bit, go Mexican, with an assorted collection of chicken recipes with Mexican flavors including the tortilla club sandwich, chicken and rice burritos, or chicken teriyaki rolls. Allrecipes.com has more than 2,880 trusted chicken recipes complete with ratings, reviews, and cooking tips, including classic chicken soup, stir fry, glazes and rubs, make ahead meals, chicken in thirty minutes, appetizers, and more. The Food Network also has a large selection of chicken recipes and meals, and chicken meal ideas for every night of the week.
Trying a new chicken dish doesn’t have to be complicated. Most are fairly easy, so don’t be afraid to try something you may have been a bit apprehensive about in the past. Fried chicken doesn’t always have to be a greasy burnt mess. Just visit the chicken recipes index on Southernfood.about.com for the perfect way to fry chicken, or maybe you’re in the mood for some chicken chili instead? Whatever it is you have a hankering for you’re bound to find it online. Serve your family a new chicken dish for dinner and never look back. Healthy chicken recipes couldn’t be any easier. Most food sites that feature chicken recipes, offer handling and cooking tips as well, in addition to user friendly search and print options, so you can easily add your new favorites to your recipe book. What is the only downside to all this you ask? You’ll have your family begging for more, and you’ll never go out to dinner again!
Chicken Recipes
What’s for dinner? Tired of the same old thing, and ready to try something new? All you need is chicken and some basic ingredients and you’re ready to go. The internet is your best resource to find a tasty chicken recipe that will keep your family raving about your out-of-the-world cooking skills. It doesn’t matter what cut of chicken you have in your freezer, because there are lots of recipes for chicken breasts, legs, thighs, wings, and the whole chicken. So take a look at what you have and start searching for something that will make your mouth water. There are appetizers, casseroles, pasta dishes, salads, sandwiches and wraps, soups and stews, and slow cooker recipes, in addition to baked, fried, and roasted chicken recipes, and great barbecue and grilling ideas. How about chicken and spicy sausage with pasta, or mini white chicken pizzas? Either sounds great for a quick summer lunch.
Lots of scrumptious chicken recipes are at your fingertips, never again must you prepare that same old boring chicken dish, unless you want to of course. But why would you? A change of pace will do you good, in more ways than one. If you’re in the mood to spice things up a bit, go Mexican, with an assorted collection of chicken recipes with Mexican flavors including the tortilla club sandwich, chicken and rice burritos, or chicken teriyaki rolls. Allrecipes.com has more than 2,880 trusted chicken recipes complete with ratings, reviews, and cooking tips, including classic chicken soup, stir fry, glazes and rubs, make ahead meals, chicken in thirty minutes, appetizers, and more. The Food Network also has a large selection of chicken recipes and meals, and chicken meal ideas for every night of the week.
Trying a new chicken dish doesn’t have to be complicated. Most are fairly easy, so don’t be afraid to try something you may have been a bit apprehensive about in the past. Fried chicken doesn’t always have to be a greasy burnt mess. Just visit the chicken recipes index on Southernfood.about.com for the perfect way to fry chicken, or maybe you’re in the mood for some chicken chili instead? Whatever it is you have a hankering for you’re bound to find it online. Serve your family a new chicken dish for dinner and never look back. Healthy chicken recipes couldn’t be any easier. Most food sites that feature chicken recipes, offer handling and cooking tips as well, in addition to user friendly search and print options, so you can easily add your new favorites to your recipe book. What is the only downside to all this you ask? You’ll have your family begging for more, and you’ll never go out to dinner again!
Chicken Recipes
Butter Cookies Recipe - An Old Favorite
There are many traditions that I have in my family and with friendships. My husband and I have enjoyed carrying on some of the traditions that we practiced in the families that we grew up in and we have also established new traditions that we have done within our family. As with most traditions and celebrations many of our rituals involve food.
We are both of German heritage and we both enjoy cooking as well as eating. From the time our children were little we have included them in preparing meals on a day to day basis and we have made special occasions out of preparing foods for our traditional celebrations. One of my fondest memories of helping my mom in the kitchen was making my grandmother’s butter cookies recipe. It was fun making the different shapes out of the rolled out dough and then decorating the cookies once they were baked. Mom would have a variety of sprinkles and different colored frostings for us to use on the sugar cookies.
I have used my grandmother’s butter cookies recipe with my children. They enjoy making these cookies so much that we have increased the occasions that we make them for. My mother would only make the butter cookies recipe once a year at Christmas time. We also make the cut out cookies for Valentines Day, Easter and the fourth of July. The key to any good butter cookies recipe is that the dough has plenty of butter and that you leave it in the refrigerator for several hours and preferably over night. Having cold dough allows for easier rolling without needing to add extra flour, which can produce a dry cookie with little taste. Depending upon the holiday I will use different spices to add to the butter cookies recipe. At Christmas I add cinnamon to the dough and for Easter I add lemon extract. The key is to not worry about the mess and let the kids be as creative as they want to be with decorating. I have found that if I cover their work space with a cheap plastic table cloth the clean up is easy because I simply throw away the plastic when we are done. I also set aside cookies that I want frosted special for serving for parities or to take to various functions.
Now that our children are grown we have started making these special cookies with our grandchildren. It is neat that my grandmother’s butter cookies recipe is now bringing smiles to yet another generation.
Butter Cookies Recipe
We are both of German heritage and we both enjoy cooking as well as eating. From the time our children were little we have included them in preparing meals on a day to day basis and we have made special occasions out of preparing foods for our traditional celebrations. One of my fondest memories of helping my mom in the kitchen was making my grandmother’s butter cookies recipe. It was fun making the different shapes out of the rolled out dough and then decorating the cookies once they were baked. Mom would have a variety of sprinkles and different colored frostings for us to use on the sugar cookies.
I have used my grandmother’s butter cookies recipe with my children. They enjoy making these cookies so much that we have increased the occasions that we make them for. My mother would only make the butter cookies recipe once a year at Christmas time. We also make the cut out cookies for Valentines Day, Easter and the fourth of July. The key to any good butter cookies recipe is that the dough has plenty of butter and that you leave it in the refrigerator for several hours and preferably over night. Having cold dough allows for easier rolling without needing to add extra flour, which can produce a dry cookie with little taste. Depending upon the holiday I will use different spices to add to the butter cookies recipe. At Christmas I add cinnamon to the dough and for Easter I add lemon extract. The key is to not worry about the mess and let the kids be as creative as they want to be with decorating. I have found that if I cover their work space with a cheap plastic table cloth the clean up is easy because I simply throw away the plastic when we are done. I also set aside cookies that I want frosted special for serving for parities or to take to various functions.
Now that our children are grown we have started making these special cookies with our grandchildren. It is neat that my grandmother’s butter cookies recipe is now bringing smiles to yet another generation.
Butter Cookies Recipe
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