|
 Hello cooks! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did! My
daughter came home from college for the weekend. We spent time with
extended family. It is so nice just to sit back, relax and catch up on
things that are happening in each others lives. It's great to have the
support of your family. I'm very thankful to have them in my life.
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend marks the beginning of the mad rush
towards Christmas. This means lots of time spent baking cookies,
planning family gatherings, caroling with our church small group and
making Christmas gifts. One of our favorite family activities is
decorating the tree. It is so fun to bring out the old ornaments that
were made by the kids when they were little. It always brings back so
many memories. Some of my favorite ornaments are cinnamon ornaments.
They still smell good after all these years. The is a fun project to do
with the kids. You can add them to wrapped packages as a decoration.
Click
here for instructions on how to make them.  One of our family traditions is baking and decorating sugar cookies.
We did this together over Thanksgiving as a family activity. The adults
and older kids made the cookie dough and baked the cookies. Then the
younger kids decorated them. We made a big batch of icing, put it in
separate disposable cups and made each cup a different color. We had
lots of sprinkles, edible glitter, and colored sugars to sprinkle on top
of the icing. The kids thought it was great! Want to try this activity?
Click here for a link to a great sugar cookie and icing
recipe you can try.
I love collecting those little recipes that are printed in magazine
advertisements or in with the grocery coupons. One of my husband's
favorite recipes to make for Christmas gifts is called Chocolate Pizza.
This recipe is from Nestle. It's one that I clipped out of a magazine
years ago. The crust is made from chocolate, rice crispies, and peanuts.
The top is decorated with red maraschino cherries to look like
pepperoni, coconut, and the top is drizzled with melted white almond
bark to look like melted cheese. This recipe freezes very well. Just
make sure you bring it to room temperature before serving it.
Click here to see this fun recipe.
Aren't gifts from the kitchen the best! They are great to give as
teacher gifts. Many different types of baked goods will work for gift
jars. Our favorite are muffins, cookies and brownies. Making kitchen
gifts is a great way to spend time with your children and they get to
practice their measuring skills. As Tammy mentioned in her November 2005
newsletter, there are several wonderful gift recipes on the 30 Day
Gourmet web site.
Click here to read Tammy's article.
This issue
of Chewin' the News brings you two new dessert recipes to make this
holiday season. I hope you enjoy them. Read more about them in the Bonus
Recipes section.
Return to Table of Contents
 Chocolate Fudge Cake This is one of the best chocolate cake recipes that I
have ever tasted. It is dense and fudgy and so moist. The secret is the
buttermilk. I used low fat buttermilk in the recipe. It works just as
well as regular buttermilk. There are several ways to freeze this cake.
You can freeze it unfrosted in layers. I put the layers in gallon
freezer bags. You can also freeze it as a 9x13 fully frosted cake.
Either way it comes out great. When I make this cake, I top it with the
Fudge Sauce recipe below and then top it with whipped cream. Try it this
way or frost it with your favorite frosting.
Click here to
view/print
this recipe!
Fudge Sauce
This is a wonderful fudge sauce that I use as a frosting for Chocolate
Fudge Cake. It is also great on ice cream. Store any extras in the
fridge. One batch is enough to cover one double round layer cake or one
9x13 pan. In either case there will be a little left over to spoon on
your ice cream.
Click here to
view/print
this recipe!
 Pecan Pie Bars
This is one of
my daughter's all time favorite recipes. I made this for Thanksgiving
instead of making a regular pecan pie. It's nice because you can get a
taste of pecan pie without all the guilt.
Click here to
view/print
this recipe!
Return to Table of Contents
 Our winner this month is Rhea from Bakersfield,
CA, with her recipe for Pasta Fagioli Soup Mix. This
recipe has so much flavor! The herb mix used to season the soup is
absolutely wonderful. I like using a soup base instead of chicken
bouillon granules. To mix everything thoroughly, I processed the herb
mixture in my mini chopper. If you cannot find dried green pepper flakes
in your area, you can substitute 3 T. chopped fresh green pepper for 1
T. of dried but you will have to add it when the tomatoes and tomato
sauce are added to the soup.
Let's hear from Rhea:
"My name is Rhea and I live in Bakersfield,
Ca. I'm married and have two children and three grandchildren. I am
looking toward retirement in the next two or three years and hope to
have more time to experiment with cooking. I have been freezer cooking
since I was a junior in high school but found your site only about 3
years ago. The soup is excellent on one of our cold foggy nights and
makes a very easy, very fast Christmas gift."
Click here to view/print the December Recipe of the Month.
Congratulations Rhea! Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe. You
too can get in on the winning! Just post your favorite freeze-able
recipe on the
message boards.
Return to Table of Contents
Our winner
this month is Becky from Carlock, IL. Read how 30 Day Gourmet has helped
her get through a family tragedy and has helped her become a better
cook.
Becky
says:
"I was first introduced to 30 Day Gourmet by a
friend at work. We were both busy teachers who at the end of the day,
were exhausted and didn't want to think about meals. So one Saturday
we cooked 6 recipes total. We ended up with so much at the end of the
day - it was wonderful and my husband was excited about having actual
meals! About a month later tragedy struck my family. My brother,
sister and my sister's husband were all killed in a plane crash. My
sister and her husband left behind 3 young children and my husband and
I became their legal guardians. Oh...and did I mention that I was 6
1/2 months pregnant at the time? Needless to say the meals that my
friend and I had put up were a lifesaver. I had never been famous for
cooking ability in my family so the kids were pleasantly surprised at
their Aunt Becky's meals! Now, a year and half later, I have a husband
and 4 children, with another due in less than 2 months. I have
introduced a couple of my close friends to 30 Day Gourmet and so now
we try to get together at least every couple of months. And as far as
my cooking ability? Let's just say I feel pretty good about providing
healthy meals for my family without the craziness that could have been
if it wasn't for 30 Day Gourmet helping me find my way. Thank you. "
We are so
glad that 30 Day Gourmet was there to help you through this difficult
time. Our hearts go out to you and your family this holiday season. And
congratulations on the new baby who, according to an update from Becky,
should be born any time now!
So, how do you make 30 Day Gourmet
work for you? How do you use it to help you deal with a challenge in
your life? How do you use it to help others? Do you have a funny
cooking story to share? Email me at
carol@30daygourmet.com to
be entered in our contest.
Return to Table of Contents
I hope you enjoy the holiday dessert recipes! I love
dessert. Anything chocolate will do in a pinch for me
- brownies, cookies, cake, fudge, or ice cream. My son
is the same way. All you have to do is put something
chocolate in the oven and he will come running! I
swear he can smell chocolate from a mile away.
Calling all cooks...I'm looking for
your favorite comfort food recipes so post them on our message board,
the
Cook's Corner. Any recipe
posting will be considered for
the Recipe of the Month contest and a chance to win $25 cash or
merchandise from the 30 Day Gourmet store. Just post it under the
appropriate category on the message boards. Be sure to include freezing
directions! I look forward to hearing what you have to share.
Email me at
carol@30daygourmet.com
with any questions, ideas, suggestions or problems. I enjoy hearing from
you!
Best wishes to you and your family this holiday season. Merry Christmas
everyone and have a great month!
Carol
Return to Table of Contents
|