The 2020 Holidays Recipe Collection How you doin’? I will be honest with you… this is not one of my favorite foods—green beans of any kind. But they are the perfect green veggie to serve at a Thanksgiving Day feast. My dislike of green beans dates back to my student days at the Cordon Bleu in Paris. For the first 6 weeks of class (for which we paid a lot of money) all you worked on was GREEN BEANS… haricot vert for our French friends. We learned how to string them, cut, mince and dice them, sauté, fry and bake them. In short, we were required to learn how to do everything to green beans but grow them. Within 6-weeks the class size was half of what we started with and we got a lot more personal attention to progress our culinary talents. So how do you like your green beans? Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 4 to 6 servings Ingredients 2 cups French-styled green beans, cooked, drained and still hot 1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 to 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder Directions
ChefSecret: The almonds are the best part of this dish. Be careful not to burn them. Cook them until they are just light golden brown. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “My mom always told me I wouldn’t accomplish anything by lying in bed all day. But look at me now, ma! I’m saving the world!” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thank you for reading. #ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #GreenBeansAlmondine #Almonds #GreenBeans #SideDish #Vegetables #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020
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The 2020 Holidays Recipe Collection How you doin’? This is the time of year you see all those cheap, drugstore chocolate covered cherries on the shelves with the seasonal candy—the ones with the semi-liquid goo in the center. The Brock Candy Company began making cherry cordials in the 1930's and the tiny treat helped keep the company afloat during the Great Depression. Queen Anne Candy Company began making their chocolate cherries in 1948. Neither of these two brands is what this recipe is all about. Mine are sophisticated, luscious brandy-soaked chocolate covered cherries and there is nothing cheap about them. The recipe is as simple as it is delicious and is derived from an old French tradition that started in the 1700s. The confection was called griottes (gree-OAT) and appeared in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Cherries were a local crop, and long-stemmed sour griotte cherries were soaked in a local-made kirsch (cherry brandy) and enrobed in chocolate. This recipe makes beautiful homemade confections that are perfect to give as gifts this time of year. Prep time: 15 minutes Soak / Freeze time: 3 hours Chill time: 10 minutes Yield: 18 chocolate covered cherries Ingredients 18 maraschino cherries with stems, drained well 1/2 cup kirsch or cherry brandy 6 ounces semisweet chocolate Directions
ChefSecret: When melting the chocolate, do not let the bottom of the double boiler touch the boiling water or it may burn the chocolate. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: I swear, we are fighting off two pandemics at the same time—Covid-19 and Stupidity. We have been trying to fight stupidity since humans began, and we’re still waiting for an anti-stupid vaccine to be created. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. #ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #ChocolateCoveredCherries #ChocolateCherries #BrandiedCherries #DarkChocolate #Dessert #Snack #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020 The 2020 Holidays Recipe Collection How you doin’? Regardless of how you feel at this moment, you’ll be feeling much better after you have a couple of glasses of my Happy Holidays Punch. In fact, you'll be hearing jingle bells in no time. Happy Holidays Punch screams holiday cheer! Blending cranberry juice, lime, wine and vodka for a refreshing drink to add to any holiday gathering no matter how large or small. More to the point it is perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years. This holiday punch is easy-to-put-together in minutes. This is a slightly sparkling beverage with the perfect balance of sweet and tart and has the bonus of looking beautiful on your holiday dinner table. Most recipes for fruit punch are either too sweet or too dry. My holiday punch blends the best of both—finding the perfect balance to enjoy a drink or two! You can change up some of ingredients to suit your taste—alcohol choice is completely up to you. Whenever I serve this easy Happy Holidays Punch, it’s Gone in 60-Seconds and everyone wants the recipe. You got it first. Prep time: 5 minutes Yield: 8 servings Ingredients 2 (5.5-oz.) cans Cran-Apple Juice, chilled 1 (12.0-oz.) can Sprite 1 (750-ml.) bottle red Moscato, chilled 1 split bottle Prosecco, chilled 1/4 cup vodka, chilled 1 cup frozen cranberries 1/8 cup mint leaves 2 cups of ice cubes 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rimming glasses 1 lime, sliced into rounds Directions
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: Home schooling is tough during the current pandemic. I heard a little girl at McDonald’s ask her mother, “Mom, am I adopted?” Mom replied, “No, of course not. I just put the ad on the internet yesterday.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. #ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #HappyHour #Cocktails #HappyHolidaysPunch #Prosecco #Cranberries #Moscato #Vodka #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020 The 2020 Holidays Recipe Collection How you doin’? If you grew up in the Los Angeles Area you would know that many of the “cafeteria ladies” were great cooks. On more than one occasion, I asked my mother to go to the school and ask Miss Margaret for one of her recipes. She made great southern biscuits, fantastic jumbo cinnamon buns, the best mac ‘n cheese and fantastic Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Nothing was a frozen, prepared food—everything was scratch-made from USDA American-grown surplus. These surplus foods included all-purpose flour, cheddar cheese, sour cream, corn and more. This allowed the farmers to keep price supports in the market for their products. It was a bonanza for school districts and the kids loved the food that was prepared. I can’t claim my Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake to be historically accurate, but it’s darn close and, to my memory of taste. It is right on with all the 1950’s recipes of the time that I was able to find on the internet. This is the perfect recipe for holiday mornings when this freshly baked Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake can be the star of the morning or holiday buffet table. Prep time: 30 minutes Bake time: 1 hour 10 minutes Yield: 8 to 10 servings Ingredients For the streusel 1/4 cup granulated sugar 3 packed tablespoons dark brown sugar 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon For the cake 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground mace 3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan, room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs, room temperature 1 cup sour cream 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Directions To make the streusel
Epilogue: Years later, I found out that Miss Margaret had retired and her husband had died leaving her quite alone. I invited her to spend Thanksgiving Day with my family. She was very talkative about her life. She had no children and loved to be with the kids at school. She learned to cook on her family’s farm in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. At 12 years of age she was helping her mother cook 3 meals a day for the family (of 8) and about 10 hired hands. She’d go to school for 4 hours and then collect the chickens' eggs, help milk the cows, and even do a little baking. She was quite a lady. Her husband worked at the McDonnel Aircraft factory in Long Beach during the World War II while her husband served in the Pacific with the Marines. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Due to the requirements to maintain a safe distance, I will no longer be shaking hands or hugging. In lieu of those established customs, you may politely bow or fall to your knees from a safe distance.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. #ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #CoffeeCake #Streusel #ChristmasMorning #Dessert #Baking #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020 The 2020 Holidays Recipe CollectionHow you doin’? A couple of years ago we were asked to create a line of holiday gingerbread houses. We researched gingerbread houses, people and even Old Saint Nick himself to their origins. We learned the history and found quite a few good recipes as well. This is the recipe we went with. Gingerbread cookies should not be just for the holiday; they are great to munch on all-year ‘round. Unfrosted gingerbread cookies can even be crushed and used for cookie crumb crusts for special cheesecakes. The first documented commercial trade of gingerbread “biscuits” in England dates back to the 17th century, where they were sold in monasteries, pharmacies, and town square farmers' markets. In England, gingerbread was thought to have medicinal properties. They were kind of a rough crude cookie… nothing that would be acceptable in today’s market. In the 16th century, the English had replaced the breadcrumbs with fine-milled flour, and added eggs and sweeteners, resulting in a lighter, tastier cookie. The first gingerbread “man” is credited to Queen Elizabeth I, who surprised visiting dignitaries by presenting them with gingerbread men baked and decorated in their own likeness. Then she would bite their heads off—only kidding. Just checking to see if you’re paying attention. In the story the Gingerbread Man, he springs out of the oven alive and is transformed from a piece of gingerbread to a live, gingerbread man. Thus, an inanimate object springs to life, signaling the desire the woman has for a child. Awww… isn’t that cute? Moving right along… Gingerbread Houses originated in Germany during the 16th century. The elaborate cookie-walled houses, decorated with foil in addition to gold leaf, became associated with Christmas tradition. It is unclear whether gingerbread houses were a result of the popular fairy tale, or vice versa. Gingerbread houses are quite edible, and absolutely delicious. You have to eat it, because it will turn moldy and lose its flavor the older it gets. That is, unless you're participating in a contest, in which case eating the house would be ill-advised until you receive your prize! Prep time: 20 minutes Chill time: 3 hours Bake time: 10 to 12 minutes Decorating time: allow 30 to 60 minutes Yield: 2 dozen cookies For the cookies 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light molasses (room temperature) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 cup hot water For the icing 2 cups powdered sugar 6 to 7 tablespoons heavy cream or milk To bake the cookies
ChefSecret: Handle the dough as little as possible and work quickly so the warmth of your hands doesn't soften it too much. Special Note: If making Mr. or Mrs. Claus gingerbread cookies, the colors will be red and black for suits, hats and eyes. Leave majority of frosting white for beards, hair and fur. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Kids would be a lot cooler if every time they shouted “MOM,” it was followed by, “You’re Awesome,” “Thanks For Keeping Me Well-Fed,” “Thanks For Home Schooling Me During These Difficult Times,” “Thanks For Keeping Me Alive!” Just kind of dreaming, I guess. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thank you for reading. #ThanksgivingRecipes #Thanksgiving #Gingerbread #GingerbreadMen #GingerbreadPeople #Dessert #Cookies #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #Thankful #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020 |
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