by Macki on Dec 29th, 2011 // Appetizers, Snacks
Whenever I take my little guy to the store with me and he gets very excited in the produce section, running around like a wild man grabbing anything and everything. Usually I put most of it back but this time he insisted on getting a bag of cubed sweet potatoes. I usually buy them whole, but had an ah ha! moment: They would make perfect appetizers for our Kidtastic New Years Eve party! See how I transformed ordinary cubes into extraordinary bites of sweet potato goodness over at the Family Kitchen.
by Rebecca on Dec 23rd, 2011 // Appetizers, Holiday
We love Hanukkah. For the kids it’s all about the gifts. For the adults it’s all about the potato pancakes!
This week, as I was whizzing up potatoes and dreaming of frying them up and smothering them in sour cream and apple sauce, it occurred to me that everything else on the plate would be forsaken for these latkes of love. In reality, that’s akin to eating only fries for dinner. So… I decided to add a little protein in an attempt to make it health-ier.
I added a whole can of drained chickpeas to the food processor and served ‘em up without mentioning it. They were gobbled up faster than you can say Happy Hanukkah. This one is a keeper! Read more after the jump…
by Macki on Dec 22nd, 2011 // Desserts, Kid-tastic
My little Los Angeles family unit has joined my big family unit for the holidays up at my parents’ house in the mountains of southern Oregon. On our first night after spending a long day hunting down the perfect Christmas tree and getting it home and centered and decorated just so, we had to make a quick spaghetti dinner to feed 12 hungry grinches (did I mention it was a long day?). After dinner my little girl wanted to know what we had for dessert and we froze. We had nothing. Not even an old pint of ice cream in the freezer. So my kid went to work. No one was even paying attention, but every few moments I glimpsed a flurry of activity in the kitchen and lo and behold, the kid came up with this recipe (which she’s calling ‘Chocolate Dreams’) all on her own. Get the full how to from Sylvie over at the Family Kitchen.
by Macki on Dec 18th, 2011 // Swell Suppers
I may celebrate the other, more commercialized holiday this time of year, but that’s not going to stop me from cooking up a holiday feast. We’ve got tons of friends who celebrate Hanukkah so I’m putting together a menu that can be served for any holiday celebration, but it’s heart is with Hanukkah. Tonight we are cooking up Rosemary Rib Roast, Grampa Stephen’s Latkes, Crock Pot Applesauce, and Baked Jelly Donuts for dessert.
One of the many great things about this meal is that most of the cooking is not hands-on, yay! Begin with the crock pot applesauce. If you want to cook the apples all day, start in the morning and cook for 6-8 hours. If you’ve got less time begin about 2 hours prior to eating. Once you’ve decided on the apples move on to the rosemary rib eye. Preheat the oven, sear the beef pop in the remaining ingredients and let it cook. So easy!
Now it’s time for grampa Stephen’s latkes. Follow the instructions carefully, grampa Stephen knows what he’s doing! Once you latkes are made it’s time to get dessert started.
Make the donuts according to the recipes. Once the donuts are finished cooking and have the butter and cinnamon sugar topping, pipe some jelly into the center using a pastry bag fitted with 1/2 round tip. Mush up the apples and place on the latkes next to the rib eye. A perfect holiday feast is served no matter what you are celebrating! Now does’t that sound swell?
by Macki on Dec 15th, 2011 // Desserts, Holiday
Last week we made candy cane white chocolate pretzels which disappeared. This week I’m craving dark chocolate with candy canes. Good thing we had a girls cupcake decorating party with some left over cake mix. I busted out my donut pan and whipped up a batch. Get the recipe over at the Family Kitchen.
