This Sparkling Wine & Rum Punch Blast combines combines dry, crisp Italian Prosecco (sparkling wine) with white rum and the summery citrus flavors of lemon, lime, and orange for a great tasting, easy to make twist on the traditional New Year’s Eve bottle of champagne. Read more »
Archive for the ‘Seasonal/Holiday Recipes’ Category
December 30th, 2014 
Bar Drinks, Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes 
Comments Off on New Year’s Eve Sparkling Wine & Rum Punch Blast New Year’s Eve Sparkling Wine & Rum Punch Blast
December 22nd, 2014 Bar Drinks, Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes Comments Off on Fresh Mai Tai: Full-On Tropical Holiday Flavor – All in Pictures Fresh Mai Tai: Full-On Tropical Holiday Flavor – All in Pictures
All right, the winter holidays – every one of ‘em – is right here and now, and I sure wish you Happy Holidays!
The other day while I was in downtown Boston, a good friend of mine, Andrea, mentioned that she and her family were going to have a luau Christmas this year. Terrific! It turns out Andrea will be in charge of the drinks and was thinking about making mai tais. Great! “Only, I’m quite sure I know how to make them,” she said. No problem, I told her. I have a recipe – all in pictures – at my site. I drilled up the site on my phone to show her right then and there and realized that what I’d had available wasn’t quite as clear as wanted it to be. Again, no problem. That’s one of the beauties of working digitally.
I got home, reshot and rewrote the recipe, and now have it here good to go.
November 28th, 2014 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on How to Remove and Store Meat From a Turkey – All in Pictures How to Remove and Store Meat From a Turkey – All in Pictures
Now that Thanksgiving’s over – great holiday! – it’s time to think about leftovers that are limited only by your tasteful imagination…after first removing the meat from the turkey body and then storing that meat properly.
Yeah, I know: I used to dislike removing meat from a turkey, but now that I know how to do it about as efficiently as possible, I don’t mind the job at all. Read more »
November 27th, 2014 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Stress-Free Turkey Roast and Easy Thanksgiving Help – All in Pictures Stress-Free Turkey Roast and Easy Thanksgiving Help – All in Pictures
Happy Thanksgiving!
I love Thanksgiving because all that’s expected is good company and a great tasting meal. At the same time, I sure understand that putting together that fantastically flavorful meal can mean a good deal of stress for those in the kitchen. To help relieve that stress, here’s the easiest, most stress-free way I know to roast a moist and tender turkey, especially one that, like the majority of turkeys available, weighs less than 15 pounds. Read more »
December 12th, 2013 Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes Comments Off on Cycling: Winter Ride Fueled By Holiday Flavor Cycling: Winter Ride Fueled By Holiday Flavor
I tell people with a good smile, “Weather’s a state of mind – just be prepared”. Gotta’ say that line went from smile to laugh when I got out to a frozen car to get my son to school before dawn this morning and then came home to see this online.
December 4th, 2013 Bar Drinks, Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes Comments Off on Crisp and Seasonally Flavorful Fall (Whiskey) Sour – All in Pictures Crisp and Seasonally Flavorful Fall (Whiskey) Sour – All in Pictures
This past weekend I got some requests for the crisp and fully flavorful “fall sour” seasonal variation on the traditional whiskey sour shown in the picture with the turkey dinner below left. The picture below right shows the ingredients. Click any picture on this page for a complete step-by-step picture book recipe.
Rule of Thumb: For every 1 1/2 ounces of lemon juice, add 1 teaspoon sugar, 1-2 teaspoons almond (orgeat) syrup, 3-4 ounces bourbon, and 2 ounces apple cider.
November 29th, 2013 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on How to Remove and Store the Meat from a Turkey How to Remove and Store the Meat from a Turkey
First, I hope you had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving. Yah, I know for some of you that line’ll lay a good wry smile on your face. I had a good time stretched out on my toes in the traditional Thanksgiving family picture – and just managed stand with the tallest in the group. You bet, I’m smiling! Read more »
November 28th, 2013 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Stress-Free Roast Turkey Stress-Free Roast Turkey
Here’s how the 15 1/2 pound turkey I roasted last night (Thanksgiving Eve) turned out after 2 1/2 hours of high heat roasting. After misreading a recipe and making adjustments years ago, using high oven heat (450°F/230°C) at 10 minutes per pound is my favorite stress-free method for ensuring a moist and tender turkey. Read more »
November 27th, 2013 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Quickly Thawing a Frozen Turkey in Water Quickly Thawing a Frozen Turkey in Water
It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Stores will be closed tomorrow. Hopefully, you’ve already bought a turkey if you plan to have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
If you bought a frozen turkey, here’s the quickest safe way to thaw it. Plan on 30 minutes thawing time per pound – about 6 hours total thawing time for a 12 pound turkey, 7 1/2 hours for a 15 pound turkey. Read more »
November 26th, 2013 Blog, Dessert, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Pie Crust: Rolled vs. Pressed Pie Crust: Rolled vs. Pressed
I’m fairly new to making pies but have already learned a lot regarding flavor and efficiency. Most importantly, I’ve learned NEVER to make a pie crust that’s just a bland container for a flavorful filling. No way! Here’s a picture of a crust I made recently loaded ground almond, chocolate multigrain cereal, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, shredded coconut and much more. I’ll put together a picture book recipe soon – after Thanksgiving.
I also learned very recently, after my daughter asked if we could try it, that pressing pie crust dough into a pie pan is so much easier than rolling out the dough like this:
Here’s how I do it now – much easier:
For more practical Thanksgiving help, check out the Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook Thanksgiving Help Page by clicking any picture on this page.
