Healthy at the Holidays?

As crazy as it may seem--with the way we can so easily overeat at holiday dinners and parties--holiday food can be healthy.  All it takes is a little bit of smarts, self-discipline and moderation.

If you have a choice between something fried and something baked or sauteed, choose the baked (although fried food done correctly isn't as bad as you might think).  Still, shrimp sauteed in olive oil is better for you than fried shrimp. 

Try to avoid pre-made dips and salsas.  Dips and the like that are pre-packaged usually are loaded with sodium and preservatives.  And they don't taste all that great either.  It's so easy to whip up some hummus or some other dip with fresh ingredients (I just made a red bean dip for a party in literally less than 5 minutes).  Better taste, healthier and less expensive--why wouldn't you make it yourself?  Eat them on whole-grain breads, chips or crackers and it's even healthier!

Choose things like salmon, chicken or shrimp for a low-fat option (not to mention the anti-oxidants in the seafood).  Beans, cheese and nuts have protein.  Even dark chocolate and red wine are said to be healthy.

The common factor in all this is moderation.  A few pieces of cheese provides some good calcium and protein.  Eating a pound of cheese throughout the evening provides fat and cholesterol that outweighs the benefits.

So control yourself and know what you're eating!  Life's too short to deprive yourself of great holiday food--just be smart!

Thanks to this USA Today article for some information on this subject.

Finger Food Help

This time of year, most of us are trying to find quick and easy foods for entertaining--whether it's for a party or for when people unexpectedly drop in.

Yes, having cheese and crackers on hand is helpful.  But doing just a little bit more can make a great impression--and create some tasty treats.

The New York Times' Mark Bittman always seems to come up with some great templates for how to make delicious food (see some of the other items I've posted in the past using his articles). 

This time, Bittman lays out a flow chart for creating great finger food with little prep time.  Most of the ingredients he uses might just be in your pantry or fridge when you need them. 

He divides good finger food into 3 parts: The Base--crackers, celery, etc that will hold other ingredients; The Spread--something to spread on The Base that will be flavorful and hold The Finishing Touch--something with flavor and texture.

Check out his chart here.  Then just wait for guests to show up!

Martha's Cake

Most Christmas food traditions are handed down from previous generations.  Our Christmas dinners contain many of the dishes that have been part of the feast for years and years.  And often, we enjoy starting new traditions with our kids--ones that might be around long after we're gone.

Here's a recipe (of a sort) that was emailed to me.  It's from none other than our first First Lady, Martha Washington. 

Martha's Christmas Cake was apparently an annual tradition at Mount Vernon--and from the look of the recipe, it must have fed a load of people.  I did a little bit of Internet surfing to see if I could find out any more about it and found that there are some modernized recipes out there for the cake.  But I find Martha's original interesting.  It's fun to think of her or her servants throwing all of this stuff together for their holiday celebration. 

These are supposed to be the exact words that she put in her recipe for a "true Virginia Christmas":

Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth, start to work four pounds of butter to cream and put the whites of eggs to it a spoon full at a time till it is well worked. Then put four pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same way, then put in the yolks of eggs, and five pounds of flower (sic), and five pounds of fruit. Two hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace, one nutmeg, half a pint of wine, and some French brandy.

Somebody better have a big pan!

Gift Certificates

I'm going to use today's blog for shameless self-promotion.  I'm allowed to do that.

There's always one or two people on our holiday gift lists that are just impossible to buy for.  They don't really have hobbies.  They don't read much.  They have pretty much everything that they need.  For these hard-to-buy-for folks, may I suggest a Dinner's Done Personal Chef Service gift certificate?

You can buy gift certificates for a certain dollar amount, which the recipient can use as they wish.  Or you can buy a certificate for a specific service.  Check out my website for more information about the services that I offer and how much they cost. 

A Dinner's Done gift cert is a unique and fun gift that the recipient will remember and enjoy for a long time.  Interested?  Just give me a call (215-804-6438) or send me an email!

Say Cheese!

I love cheese. 

Sharp or mild, goat or cow, soft or hard, blue or white or yellow or green, stinky or um...not stinky.

But I know that, being someone with slightly high cholesterol numbers, I shouldn't eat too much of it no matter how yummy it is. 

Alas!  A new survey has me thinking that Danish researchers are geniuses!  (And not because I like to eat Danish, too.)

According to a recent Danish study, cheese may not be so bad for cholesterol after all.  OK, they compared it to eating butter--but it shows that in moderation, cheese isn't as bad as you might think.

According to an article from the Chicago Tribune, here's how the tests were conducted:

The group surveyed about 50 people. Each person was put on a controlled diet and added a measured amount of cheese or butter daily.

Throughout, each participant was compared against his or herself, to follow changes in the body caused by the foods. Researchers gave each person cheese or butter, both made from cows milk, equal to 13 percent of their daily energy consumption from fat.

During six-week intervals, each person ate the set amount of cheese or butter, separated by a 14-day cleansing period which they returned to their normal diet. Then they switched, and for six weeks those who had eaten the cheese before, ate butter, while the butter eaters in the first phase ate cheese.

While eating cheese, the subjects showed no increase in bad or overall cholesterol, while when they were eating butter, their cholesterol increased by an average of 7%.

According to the article, it could be the calcium and/or protein in cheese that helped these results to occur.  Whatever the reason, I'm all for it. 

So does that mean that on a grilled cheese sandwich the cheese and butter cancel each other out and it's just like eating toast? 

 

Blooming Glen Christmas

Here in our little village of Blooming Glen, we had a nice tree lighting celebration yesterday. 

Earlier in the year, the Blooming Glen Garden Club started and worked hard at tidying up the one-room schoolhouse and the grounds surrounding it.  And for the Christmas season, they planted a tree and decked it out in all sorts of ornaments--many of them handmade by the club members.

It seemed like most of the village showed up (it's a pretty small village) for hot cider, home-baked cookies, carol singing and getting to know their neighbors.  Young and old, long-time residents and newcomers--all together to celebrate the season and our community.

It was really nice--with a real old-fashioned feel.  We need more stuff like that. 



Christmas Traditions

For those of us who celebrate Christmas, you know that food holds a pretty central spot in many of our holiday customs--candy canes, cookies, the holiday feast, sugarplums, etc. 

If you read my December newsletter, you learned a little bit about how important the Pennsylvania Dutch are to many of our Christmas traditions.  (If you didn't get my newsletter, send me an email and get on my list!)

Long-standing historical traditions are great, but what makes many of our holidays really special are those traditions that have been created by our own families--maybe by our great-grandparent, maybe by our parents, maybe by us. 

Lynne Goldman (of Bucks County Taste) has written an article for Bucks Life magazine that discusses the family holiday traditions of local chefs (me included!).  From Jell-O to stuffed cabbage, from eggnog to Slim Jims, these chefs have lasting memories about the food that represents their holiday to them.

Read Lynne's article here.  And it would be great if you would share any fun or meaningful food memories that make your holiday special.  Just click below to comment!