Culinary Family Traditions - Christmas Recipes

The holidays bring about numerous opportunities to gather with family to celebrate the season of sharing and giving. Throughout the years my family has collected quite a list of some favorite Christmas recipes.
These favorites have been enjoyed over and over again, and we have yet to grow tired of them.
We've shared some precious memories in pitching in and preparing the holiday meals.
Here are just a few of our family favorites:
Christmas Punch (One of Tammy's recipes)
Ingredients
1 1/2 liter of chilled 7-Up
About 20 scoops of green lime sorbet
2 Tbsp of lemon juice
Directions
Gather up your favorite punch bowl set. Make sure it is washed and cleaned for use. Pour the chilled 7-Up in the punch bowl. Scoop up 20 scoops of sorbet into the 7-Up. Add the lemon juice and then give the punch mixture a quick stir. Serve immediately.
Cheesy Potato Casserole (My Sister's Recipe)
Ingredients
32 oz frozen hash browns
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup melted butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz tub of sour cream
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1 cup crushed corn flakes or potato chips
Directions
Mix onion, soup, sour cream, and cheese in bowl.
Place potatoes in 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour melted button on top. Then stir in mixture of remaining items.
Sprinkle corn flakes or potato chips on top. Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
Ambrosia Salad (My Sister-In-Law's Recipe)
Ingredients
2 cups shredded coconut
1 8oz container whipped cream, thawed
1 11oz can madarin oranges, drained
3 apples, peeled and chopped
3 bananas, sliced
1 8oz can pineapple chunks, drained
1 10oz jar maraschino cherries, drained
3 cups miniature marshmallows
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the whipped cream, coconut, chopped nuts (if desired), apples, pineapple, mandarin oranges, marshmallows, and cherries. Mix together well and refrigerate for 30 to 45 minutes.
Important Tip: Wait until right before serving to peel and add the bananas to help preserve them from turning brown.
There was a time when we did a recipe exchange. This was a lot of fun...plus it was a perfect way to get lots of great recipes to be enjoyed by the whole family.
Here's a neat holiday gift idea for your family members
Make a scrapbook up of memories including family favorite recipes, events, pictures, and even special memories shared by the family. Get creative with this and include lots of illustrations. This will be a gift that will be special to your family and will last for a lifetime.
It's important to keep your family traditions going...and keep sharing them even when the Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren come along.
There's nothing more important than gathering with your family and just being together and sharing old memories, laughing, and loving one another.

Article Written By Tammy Embrich
You can find more articles and recipes, along with grandparenting and parenting tips at Grandma's Home Bloggers
Tammy also offers free work at home job leads, work at home articles, tips and more at Work At Home Jobs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tammy_Embrich/17993

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1580069

Early Christmas Shop For the Best Christmas Gifts

Do you promise yourself each and every year that you will get all your Christmas shopping done early so that you can have a relatively stress free holiday season, only to find yourself shopping for last minute Christmas presents a day or two before Christmas day and having no idea what to get or where to get it? Proper planning is important. I am sure that you can come up with at least ten minutes a day or week to think about your Christmas list. The only way to have a stress free holiday season is to early Christmas shop for the best Christmas gifts.

As we get closer to the holiday season, you need to find a couple of minutes to compile a list if you haven't done so already for the best Christmas gifts. Last minute shopping does not allow you to find the best Christmas gifts for your friends and family. A thoughtless gift is worse than no gift at all. Getting the best Christmas gifts requires that you put some thought into the task and early Christmas shop for the best Christmas gifts.

If you have no idea what holiday gifts to get and what would make great holiday gifts, find suggestions on or offline on the best gift ideas and where to find them or pay attention to any hints dropped by family and friends in order to prepare a list of the best Christmas presents.

Make this the year that you early Christmas shop. Most holiday shoppers usually wait until the very last minute which is seen with the crowds of people at the mall and other shopping centers and the resulting stress. Waiting until December to find Christmas presents also means that if you are using a credit card, you will have a large credit card bill in the new year to pay off. Early Christmas shopping for the best Christmas gifts allows you to spread out your expenses on Christmas presents.

Online shopping is continuing to explode and while you do not deal with the crowds, you need to place the orders early to ensure that you receive the best Christmas presents well before Christmas day especially if you need to mail some of these holiday gifts. Plan to shop early to avoid the stress of wondering whether you will receive the Christmas presents before Christmas. Although some online stores can gift wrap and mail the Christmas present to the recipient for you, I prefer my own wrapping and you do not want the recipients to receive the Christmas presents too early or too late.

Various stores and other outlets should have information on some of the best gift ideas to help you with your Christmas list. You also need to set a budget that you stick to when reviewing the best gift ideas.

This information on the best Christmas gifts usually contains lists of the best Christmas gifts for men, the best Christmas gifts for women and the best Christmas gifts for girls and boys in order to help you come up with ideas on great holiday gifts to fill out your Christmas list. Once you spend some time compiling this Christmas list early of the best Christmas gifts and made the purchases, you can then have a relaxing and stress free holiday season because would have done all your Christmas shopping early.

One of the best ways to Christmas shop early for the best Christmas gifts that you can keep in mind for next year's Christmas since it is already late in the year 2010, is to shop in the few days after Christmas day 2010 for for the following year's holiday gifts since a vast number of stores both off and online have various sales to prepare for the new year by getting rid of excess inventory which means that you will be able to get some of the best Christmas gifts for the following year.

Some of the best gift ideas for 2010 will more or less still apply for the coming year. For electronics, you will probably have to wait until the coming year before making purchases because updates occur frequently in this area.

Another tip to help you with early Christmas shopping for the best Christmas gifts once you have reviewed any lists showing the best gift ideas, is to purchase two gifts instead of one gift for the people on your list at the time of their birthday so that you can give them one gift as a birthday gift and the second gift at Christmas time.

These are only a few tips to keep in mind that will ensure that you have a relatively stress free time at Christmas because all your Christmas presents would have been purchased and wrapped since you properly planned and put a lot of thought into your gift giving and allowed yourself enough time to come up with the best Christmas gifts for your family and friends.

Have a great holiday season by early Christmas shopping for the best Christmas gifts [http://thetop10christmasgiftsnow.com]. For the best gift ideas, visit my website for a listing of the top 10 best gift ideas for him, for her and for boys and girls. Properly plan for the season so you can relax without stressing about all the Christmas presents that you still need to get right up until Christmas day. Visit my website at [http://thetop10christmasgiftsnow.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lydia_Stevens/617326

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5048942

Simple And Delicious Goose Christmas Recipe

The Christmas season brings so much traditional fare to tables around the world that some look forward to the amazing meal all year long. It's no secret that weight gain is a concern of Christmas celebrations worldwide as well. There are always so many rich options of protein, potatoes, cheeses, and sweet treats that it is anyone's guess how we managed to eat so much in a single day. Not including leftovers, of course.

One lovely meal that is quite popular in Europe is the Christmas goose. Goose and duck are enjoyed regularly around holidays and are prepared to accentuate their fatty flavor, which makes for a crispy skin and delightfully tasteful meat on the inside. Thanks to our European roots, we were always able to get a taste the delicious goose over the holidays, as our maternal grandmother insisted on it at her table, lamenting every year that turkey was so pedestrian, and improper. Her lovely accent made the Christmas recipe even more delightful to watch her execute year after year.

It took until around the age of ten to realize exactly what she was cooking, as her reference to the bird as a goose was simply slang, we thought. It was certainly smaller than a turkey, and it tasted incredible, but we all assumed it was the magic of her heritage that made it so. Besides, a goose wasn't something you ate in our minds. It was a bird that actually flew -- unlike the turkey or chicken -- and moreover, a character in one of our favorite nursery rhymes, "Mother Goose."

Our mother was never a fan of its preparation, or our grandmother for that matter, so when granny was gone, she would never entertain the idea of cooking it herself. Finally, as an adult, I found a traditional German recipe for its preparation, and wowed a group of friends with it at a dinner party. It's super easy, and a great change of pace from the typical meals you would serve your dinner guests, whether around Christmas time or just as a fun departure from the ordinary.

Delicious Goose: The Christmas Recipe

It is certainly okay to brine a goose, much like you would a turkey. However, part of the deliciousness that is the goose comes from its own fatty existence, which is hard to duplicate with any other bird -- although the duck is probably second in line in richness. For the purpose of this recipe, I'd say forgo the brining, and keep it simple and easy!

What You Need:
• Roasting Pan with Rack
• 1 Young Goose (4-5lbs), Completely Thawed
• 2 Apples, Peeled, Cored & Quartered
• 1 Small Onion, Cut into ¼" Wide Strips
• 2 TSP Thyme
• Plenty of Kosher Salt
• Lots of Cracked Black Pepper
• Water

What To Do:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Clean the goose thoroughly, inside and out -- removing and tossing anything in the cavity.
• Pat the goose dry with paper towels, and apply kosher salt, cracked black pepper and thyme generously to the bird, inside and out.
• Place the apples and onions inside the cavity.
• Mix one tablespoon of kosher salt with one cup of water, and pour into the roasting pan.
• Add the rack to the pan, and place the goose atop it -- BREAST SIDE DOWN.
• Pierce the goose's skin in several places, front, middle and back to allow the fat to exit as it cooks.
• Cook the goose for 50 minutes, using the salt water to baste 2-3 times during that period. You can add more salty water to the pan as needed.
• Remove the pan and turn the goose over onto its back, and return to the over for an additional 50 minutes.
The goose should cook to a temperature of 150 degrees, so check the temperature before turning the oven off. The goose can cook for another 20 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly. Be sure to baste in between, and allow it to sit for five minutes before carving.

Serve the goose with fruity options of peach halves or Current jelly. The sweet and salt mixture will delight your senses, and beg an answer to the question, "Why is this the first time we've had goose?" Leftovers will store just like chicken or turkey, and can be added to bread the next day for a wonderful twist to the leftover sandwich you are used to.

Steven Ircha is the Senior Managing Director of Aegis Capital where he helps individuals and institutions manage their investments. He lives in Bronxville NY with his wife and five children. Steven attended NYU, Brooklyn Law School and the Harvard Business School.
He is also the assistant Scoutmaster of Bronxville Troop 5 and the Friends of Scouting Chair for the Westchester Putnam Council Boy Scouts of America. He frequently watches Jet's games with his brother-in-law,Woody Johnson,owner of the New York Jet's football team.
To contact Steven, please call 914-361-1099 or email him at ircha@yahoo.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Steven_Ircha/1445509

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7406669

Kids Christmas Recipes

With the Festive season just around the corner you may be looking for some Kids Christmas Recipes, that you can cook for or with your kids.

There really is no better time than the festive season to get in the kitchen cooking with your kids. Christmas is steeped in traditions and flavors, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and of course lashings of hot chocolate.

Kids love to bake and enjoy nothing more than making gifts that family and friends can eat. Lebkuchen are Traditional German Christmas Cookies and my children love to decorate these with white icing and silver balls. Sugar Mice and Coconut Ice are ideal gift ideas.

We have another family favorite Christmas Recipe Chocolate Cherry Fudge.

Starry Mince Pies

Mince Pies are traditional at Christmas, this recipe will make approx 12 pies.

250g Plain Flour
150g Cold Butter, extra for greasing
Cold water to mix, allow between 1 to 1 1/2 tsp per 25g of flour
1/4 Level tsp Salt
350g Mincemeat
Beaten Egg for brushing
Sifted Icing Sugar

Pre-Heat your oven to 190c/375f/Gas Mark 5.

For the pastry:-

1. Sift the flour and the salt into a bowl.
2. Add the butter, cut into the flour with a knife then rub with your fingertips. When rubbed sufficiently, the mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.
3. Sprinkle the water over the crumbs, mix to stiff crumbly-looking paste with round-ended knife.
4. Draw together with fingertips, turn out on to lightly floured board. Knead quickly until smooth and crack-free.

Building the Pies:-

1. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface,using an 8cm round cutter stamp out 12 circles.
2. Grease your muffin tin and line with your pastry circles.
3. Using a teaspoon put equal amounts of mincemeat into each pastry case.
4. With your remaining pastry using a small star cutter cut out your stars.
5. Place your stars in the center of the pie and brush with a little beaten egg.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes (or until golden brown)
7. Remove from the tins and dredge thickly with sifted icing sugar.

The mince pies can be served warm, with whipped cream or custard, you could also decorate with other festive shapes depending on your cookie cutters.

Whether you are looking for Kids Christmas Dessert Recipes or Easy Kids Christmas Cookies Recipes I have put together some Family Favorite Xmas Treats and Kids Christmas Recipes.

[http://www.get-your-kids-cooking.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cara_Hanley/866848

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5559308

A Mexican Christmas - 3 Traditional Mexican Christmas Recipes

hristmas in Mexico is all about hospitality and making traditional Mexican Christmas food recipes to share with friends, family and neighbors. There are some Mexican Christmas recipes, which are made only at Christmas, and others, which are made throughout the year, for various occasions. Tamales, for example, are enjoyed all year in Mexico but sweet tamales are for birthdays, christenings and Christmas parties.
There are also traditional Mexican drinks, including atole, which is a thick, cinnamon-flavored drink, and ponche, which is a fruit punch. Ponche can be made with or without alcohol.
Atole - A Traditional Mexican Beverage
This recipe serves four people and it is warming and delicious. Atole is meant to be served thick but if it thickens too much, you can add a little extra milk to thin it down a bit.
What you will need:

• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 7 oz white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 oz masa dough
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

How to make it:Dissolve the masa in the water, then strain this liquid and add the cinnamon sticks. Bring it to a boil, and then stir in the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and milk. Keep boiling the atole until it is thick. Take out the cinnamon and serve hot.
Traditional Mexican Bunuelos
This easy recipe for bunuelos serves ten people and everyone will enjoy these festive Mexican cookies. They are served broken into pieces with a hot anisette-flavored syrup poured over them. Bunuelos are popular with adults and kids and they are popular at Christmas but made for other occasions too.
What you will need:

• 2 eggs
• 9 oz piloncillo (raw sugar)
• 9 oz lard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons anisette
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 lb flour
• 2 cups water

How to make them:Boil half the anisette in half the water and let it cool. Sift the salt with the flour. Add the eggs and egg yolk, as well as the water and anisette mixture. Knead the dough until it is stiff, and then form small balls. Roll them out thinly, and then fry them one at a time in the lard. Heat the piloncillo in the remaining water with the rest of the anisette. Strain the mixture once it is thick, then break the fried bunuelos into pieces and serve them with the syrup poured over the top.
Mexican Christmas Salad
This salad serves ten people and is a combination of fruit with a tangy dressing. This is a colorful and healthy Mexican Christmas food recipe and it is easy to make. Chill it for a couple of hours before you serve it, to let the flavors combine and to ensure it is very cold.
What you will need:

• 2 peeled, diced, cooked beets
• 1/2 cup unsalted pecans or almonds
• 1 diced banana
• 1 peeled, diced apple
• 1/4 fresh peeled, diced pineapple
• 1 peeled, chopped orange
• 1 diced cooked carrot
• Seeds for 1/2 pomegranate
• 3 tablespoons salad oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar

How to make it:Put the lime juice, salad oil, salt and sugar in a screw-top jar and shake until well blended. Combine the fruits then pour the dressing over the top and stir well. Garnish the salad with the pomegranate seeds and nuts and chill it in the refrigerator before serving.

Christine Szalay-Kudra is an author, food expert and mom of four boys. She is the owner of the Recipe Publishing Network, a group of sites dedicated to fine food and information for cooks. When not busy with her business you can find her sharing on one of these social networks at her own URL: http://www.recipepublishingnetwork.org/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Christine_Szalay_Kudra/73485

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3884995

Is There Something Special With Christmas Recipes?

What makes your Christmas exciting and moving? For other people, they say that there is a different joyous atmosphere that only Christmas can bring. Some say that the gifts excite and electrify them. There are also others who look forward to having a taste of different Christmas recipes. How about you? What part of Christmas do you want best?
Preparing your Christmas recipes
If you and your family are looking forward to have a wonderful dinner during Christmas Eve, then you must read through tips on how to prepare your special Christmas recipes.
• Ask everyone who will celebrate Christmas with you about the food they want. This is just to make sure that everybody likes the food that you will serve. Apart from that, you should also assess the eating capacity of each of your family members so that you could prepare enough food for everyone. This is also a good thing so as to avoid spoilage and rotten food the next day.
• Finalize the list of Christmas recipes that you will prepare and include each ingredient and the quantity. By doing so, you can be sure that there will be nothing that you will forget while in the market. By the time you are already doing the preparations, you have everything that you need and you will be able to finish cooking earlier.
• You can also do your marketing in a place that you are familiar with so that you know where to get every item that you need to buy. It will not take you time just trying to look for the store lane where you will get your ingredients.
• Prepare a practical budget for your Christmas recipes. If there are expensive ingredients that are not easy on the pocket, you can look for alternative ingredients that will give the same great taste to your dish. By doing this, you will not only be able to serve a delicious delicacy, you will also serve one that is easy on the pocket.
• Keep in mind that there are so many people in the market so it would be better to do your shopping a little earlier but not so early because the food might not be fresh when you cook it.
• You can prepare traditional dishes that your family likes or you can also introduce new dishes from websites. Just be sure to look for Christmas recipes that are easy to prepare so that it will not take much of your time cooking it. Of course it would be better if you can spend more time with your family than staying in the kitchen while you cook hard to prepare meals.
You can prepare a Christmas recipe for your family and not have the same feeling if you prepare it on Christmas. Why is that? Because it is not really that recipe that excites you, it is the thought that you are celebrating the Holiday season with your loved ones. No matter what you serve on the dinner table, you and your family or friends will still have a great time sharing the feast that you have prepared.

If you like my work, you may read more at 40 foot container [http://40footcontainer.com] and dog agility training equipment [http://dogagilitytrainingequipment.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alana_Olson/547654

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4296633

A Delicious Christmas Recipe To Make Your Mouth Water

I don't know about you but the one thing I especially look forward to at Christmas time is the food. And I mean really look forward to it. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying Christmas is just about food, the festive season is a great time for bringing families together and celebrating, but hey, like I said, I really do like the food.
Traditions Of A Recipe For Christmas
This goes way back and to most families is the main focal point of their Christmas. Waiting to see what that big juicy Turkey will taste like and how it will be presented on the table. Of course there are many other meals for Christmas with a lot of these recipes having been passed through generations of families. It's kind of eerie when we think of this; I mean just think, our ancestors were tucking into the same mince pie that we are eating now at our Christmas Soirée. Well, perhaps not the 'same' mince pie but certainly the same recipe perhaps.
Some Ideas For A Christmas Recipe
I think the fun recipes are desserts as these are a pleasure to create and everybody always loves a lovely Christmas pudding. The Christmas fruitcake is also a great choice and isn't too difficult to prepare.
A Simple Fruit Cake Recipe
Why not try this very easy fruit cake which doesn't take a great deal of time to prepare and tastes absolutely mouth watering. This is traditional recipe for Christmas time and will always be well received by your guests. To make this you will need to compile the following ingredients: -
One and a half cups of raisins
Three cups of sifted flour
One and a half cups of shredded dates
One cup of crushed nuts
Two cups of water that has been boiled
5 tablespoons of standard vegetable oil
One teaspoon of baking soda
Two cups of sugar
Two teaspoons each of cloves and cinnamon and add one teaspoon of salt.
Preparation
Now that we have all the ingredients measured as above, simply find a clear and clean surface and then proceed to lay them out. Take the sugar together with the vegetable oil and your raisins and place these in a pot and simmer for approximately twenty minutes or so. Make sure you allow the mix to cool down for approx 5 minutes. During this time the soda, salt and pour cloves can be mixed together in a sifting fashion and then incorporated onto the now cooled down mix. Now get your nuts and start stirring the designated amount into complete mix. An old trick to stop the nuts from sinking is to also add some flour at the same time of adding the nuts. Simply then pour the finished mix into pan which has been pre-greased and bake in your oven at three hundred and twenty degrees for approximately one and a half hours. Set your timer for this and additionally check from time to time.
Making a delicious Fruit cake is just one out of many many mouth watering Christmas recipes that you can make. If you browse the internet you will find all sorts of ideas that you can put to use. Whether you refer to a cookbook or browse the web in general, with a little digging and delving you are bound to find the Christmas recipe that is just right for you and your family.

If you require more Christmas Decoration info [http://www.outdoorchristmasdecorationsite.com/christmas-decoration.php] then be sure to visit the Outdoor Christmas Decoration Site which provides comprehensive help, advice and ideas on all aspects of Christmas Decoration. Clive thoroughly recommends this site so check it out today here =>[http://www.outdoorchristmasdecorationsite.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Clive_Jenkins/40536

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/352419