Holiday and Celebration Menus

[Menolly]

I didn't see a thread with this topic, so here it is for all upcoming holidayand celebration feasts.

Thursday night I'll prepare a Mabon feast, consisting of Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin, Fall Dinner in a Pumpkin, and Pumpkin Pie in a Pumpkin (I serve the same meal for Hallowe'en). While I am not Pagan, I like to acknowledge the turn of the seasonal wheel.

After that, it is time to plan the two day feast for Rosh HaShannah, followed 10 days later by the break-the-fast meal after Yom Kippur. Then the meals to be served in the Sukkah during Succos, to be wrapped up with the Simchas Torah party.

And then the Hallowe'en meal and the planning for the 'holiday season.' I hope others will join me in sharing menus and ideas.

[duchess of malfi]

All of our holiday meals in the fall, winter, and spring have to have one thing (besides good bread and some sort of pie, usually two kinds of pie). And that is home made macaroni & cheese. I bake it up in a huge casserole dish. Its pretty much my childrens' favorite thing to eat in the entire world.

When I have a bit more time later, I'll be glad to post the recipe.

[onewyteduck]

No holiday meal is complete without my husband's stuffed garlic bread. If you want low fat, go somewhere else!

[duchess of malfi]

Sounds yummy! Bread = good. Garlic = good. Cheese = good.

OK, here we go:


Duchess's Mac & Cheese

preheat oven to 350F

on stove top cook 3 cups dried macaroni noodles, when cooked, drain and set aside

in a separate pot, melt 6 tablespoons of margarine or butter; stir in 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and a couple of dashes of black pepper (you can also add a bit of garlic powder and onion powder if you like those tastes). Add 4 cups of milk, stir until foamy and thick (it usually takes longer than cooking and the noodles, and the milk mixture will look like something you'd see at a Starbucks coffee place when it is finally ready)

continue cooking milk mixture another minute or so after it gets really thick and foamy; then stir in 6 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese; melt the cheese into milk mixture then remove from heat

get out your biggest casserole pan & spray it down with nonstick cooking spray.

in your biggest mixing bowl, stir together the cheese sauce and the cooked noodles

pour half of that mixture into your casserole pan; top with sliced sharp cheddar cheese; cover with remaining noodle & cheese mixture

bake for 35 minutes or until heated through

makes enough to feed a couple of adults and a couple of very hungry teens

[Menolly]

Duchess's Mac & Cheese

Sounds very similar to mine! Only I add chopped veggies so it's a one dish meal.


Baked Macaroni and Cheese Casserole
(Pam/Menolly)

1 lb. box medium pasta shells
1/2 cup each minced onion, carrot, celery, green pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
2 TBS chopped garlic
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cans evaporated (not sweetened condensed) milk
1/4 cup pale dry cocktail sherry or white wine
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white or black pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
3 cups (12 ounces) grated Sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
1 egg, lightly whipped
1 package Jones frozen Dinner Sausage. (optional, Boca Brand frozen Vegetarian Dinner Sausages work well)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Cook macaroni in salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
While the macaroni is boiling, sauté the vegetables in the olive oil until tender.
In a saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour. Cook and stir for one minute. Gradually stir in milk and then sherry. Add sour cream, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and mustard. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce bubbles and thickens. Stir in half of the Cheddar cheese until melted.
Pour a little hot sauce into the whipped egg and fold in to temper the egg, then pour the egg mixture into the hot sauce and stir. Pour all of the sauce through a china cap or mesh strainer if you have one. If not, it’s not absolutely necessary.
Toss macaroni with 1/2 of the remaining Cheddar cheese and all of the sautéed vegetables. Pour sauce over macaroni and mix thoroughly. Layer sausage links on top of casserole.
Bake, covered, for 45 minutes.
Sprinkle remaining Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses over sausage links and return to oven, uncovered.
Broil for 15 minutes, or until sausage links brown and cheese melts.
Yield: 6 servings.

This is a favorite for me to bring to pot lucks and picnics. For those occasions, I double the recipe and bake it inside my oven safe 6.5 quart crockpot insert. When done, I put it into the crockpot itself, attach the lid lock, put on the thermal cover and transport it that way. If there is an electrical outlet at the location, I take off the thermal cover and lid lock and, using an extension cord if necessary, plug the crockpot in and set it on LOW. If my crockpot had a WARM setting I would use that instead, but so be it. It's a hit everytime!

[onewyteduck]

Well here you go, Duchess....


STUFFED GARLIC BREAD

1 (1 POUND LOAF FRENCH BREAD)
6 TBS. BUTTER OR MARGARINE
6 CLOVES GARLIC, MINCED
3 TBS SESAME SEED
1 1/2 CUPS SOUR CREAM
2 CUPS MONTEREY JACK CHEESE, GRATED
1/4 CUP PARMESAN CHEESE, GRATED
2 TBS PARSLEY, MINCED
2 TSP. LEMON PEPPER
1 (14 OZ) CAN ARTICHOKE HEARTS, DRAINED AND CHOPPED (NOT MARINATED)
1 CUP CHEDDAR CHEESE, GRATED
PAPRIKA

CUT BREAD IN HALF LENGTHWISE; PULL SOFT CENTER OF BREAD OUT IN CHUNKS, LEAVING CRUST WHOLE. PLACE ON FOIL COVERED BAKING SHEET. MELT BUTTER IN LARGE SAUTE PAN; STIR IN GARLIC AND SESAME SEEDS. ADD BREAD CHUNKS AND COOK UNTIL GOLDEN AND BUTTER IS ABSORBED. REMOVE FROM HEAT. COMBINE SOUR CREAM, MONTEREY JACK AND PARMESAN. STIR IN ARTICHOKE HEARTS AND BREAD. MIX WELL. SPOON INTO BREAD CRUSTS. SPRINKLE WITH PAPRIKA AND CHEDDAR. BAKE AT 350 FOR 30-45 MINUTES.

MAKES 20 BREAD SERVINGS OR 8 SERVINGS FOR A LIGHT MEAL.

That's the original recipe as we got it......we've had a lot of fun with this one substituting various things such as black olives or chives. Sun dried tomatoes with some crushed red pepper thrown in. A little bit of dill and some fresh spinach (actually my favorite). We've added bacon, shrimp.....the possibilities with this are endless.

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Oh, and we have also found that it works out better if the bread isn't fresh, fresh.

[Menolly]

STUFFED GARLIC BREAD

Oh gosh, does that sound awesome! I can imagine the fun trying different combinations.

I'm in the midst of preparing menus for Rosh HaShannah. It's a two day holiday starting the night before, so we need to plan two dinners and two lunches; breakfast is whatever.

I came across these menu plans for the holiday on another website. If i can get the recipes for some of these dishes that I don't have yet, I amy just follow these.

First night:
Sweet challah with honey
Apples and other symbolic foods(e.g., pomegranate, dates, fish head)
Potato-leek soup (also symbolic, especially with some leek and carrot floating in it)
Glazed corned beef
Israeli style couscous
Roasted peppers and onions
Pumpkin kugel (also symbolic)
Apple cake, coffee/tea

First day:
Sweet challah with honey
Ambrosia
Garlic-wine pot roast
Mini potato knishes
Simanim salad
Fresh & dried fruit, coffee/tea

Second night:
Sweet challah with honey
Apples and other symbolic foods, plus a new fruit
Potato-leek soup
Chicken Wellington
Apple noodle kugel
Sugar snap peas
Pumpkin kugel
Honey cake, coffee/tea

Second day:
Sweet challah with honey
Split pea soup
Baked salmon fillets
California rice trilogy
Mandarin orange lettuce salad
Apple crisp, coffee/tea

[Sunbaneglasses]

I didn't see a thread with this topic, so here it is for all upcoming holidayand celebration feasts.

Thursday night I'll prepare a Mabon feast, consisting of Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin, Fall Dinner in a Pumpkin, and Pumpkin Pie in a Pumpkin (I serve the same meal for Hallowe'en). While I am not Pagan, I like to acknowledge the turn of the seasonal wheel.

After that, it is time to plan the two day feast for Rosh HaShannah, followed 10 days later by the break-the-fast meal after Yom Kippur. Then the meals to be served in the Sukkah during Succos, to be wrapped up with the Simchas Torah party.

And then the Hallowe'en meal and the planning for the 'holiday season.' I hope others will join me in sharing menus and ideas.

Menolly-you are going to turn orange.

[Avatar]

Wow Ducky, that sounds great. I'm definitely gonna try it, except I'll subsitute things, 'cause I don't like sesame seeds, parmesan or artichokes.

The olives especially sound good to go in there. Will let you know how it turns out.

--A

[Menolly]

Menolly-you are going to turn orange.

:::snort:::

Nah...haven't yet.

[Menolly]

Wednesday is Erev Yom Kippur, with Thursday being Yom Kippur itself. To prepare for the 27 hour complete fast, I'll serve a full meal around 4:00 PM of soup and roast chicken with side dishes, but I'll most likely leave out a lot of salt to try and stave off excessive thirst.

Thursday night I'll more than make up for that by serving what smoked fish I can find here in Gator town (the selection is not very good). With that I'll have bagels and bialys, various cream cheese spreads, polish dill pickles, lettuce, tomato, and onion. One of my favorite meals of the year!

[mrsnull]

Since Sarge turned vegetarian on me, holiday menus have become a challenge.
We did traditional at Thanksgiving:
I found Sarge a Tofurky and made the stuffing with vegetable broth and bought a turkey breast and a ham for me and our company (and the dog - thank goodness he still eats meat!). We did a fabulous sweet potatoe bake with a pecan topping, holiday potatoes (see cream cheese thread), green bean casserole and all the traditional goodies (all cooked after I took our grandchildren to the morning parade in Houston).
We made it to several parties - most of which had a Mexican menu. The police department even made cheese enchiladas with a vegetarian meat sauce for Dennis!
We hosted a Posada at our house on the 19th and I made a Potato Leek Soup with rye and pumpernickle breads and Christmas cookies.
Christmas Eve, we had a meal after midnight mass at a friends house - veggies for Sarge and Seafood Gumbo for the rest of the gang.
For Christmas Day Dinner, I made German food -
and for the day after, I made Lasagna with bread and Carrot Cake for dessert.
I am not sure what I will be doing for New Year's. I want to find something new and exciting.
New Year's Day, ya gotta have black eyed peas and corn bread and cole slaw. If you don't, then you have bad luck all year long.
Julie

[Menolly]

Julie, that all sounds great!

We did
standing rib roast
Yorkshire pudding
broccoli-artichoke casserole
carrot souffle
southern-style green beans
potato latkes (it was also the first night of Hanukkah)
an home made oconut cream cheese layer cake

[Menolly]

If anyone is interested, the pictures from the Dessert Delight I did on Valentines Day are now up on the website.

Tanglewood Dessert Delight

(I'm the fat broad in gray...)

The spots you see on the walls are from the mirror disco ball. It was much darker in the commons room than the photos show, because of the flash on the camera.

[Menolly]

Moadim l'simcha! (Happy holiday when it's not a Holy Day)

:::doing the happy dance:::

Albertson's has Aaron's Glatt Kosher Whole Turkeys on sale for 99 cents a pound. These usually sell for at least $2.39/lb. here. We defrosted one, and I found a box of k4p couscous made from matzah meal I'll give a try with the turkey. Add on some sauteed broccoli, and dinner is done for tonight!

[Lorelei]

My brother made poppy seed bread for Easter....for those that have never had it..it's shaped like a struedel but with dough instead of pastry and filled with poppy seeds.....traditional Ukranian Easter dessert....yummy!!

[sgt.null]

for Easter Julie had Ham
I had Wham, I ham substitute.

we shared potato salad and pan roated spinach with tomatoes.

[Menolly]

...time to bump this thread for Ms.Mary...

[Menolly]

Per GolfNerd's request in the Shabbat Shalom thread.

Orzo Salad
from Chanie Goldman
Rebbetzin, Lubavitch-CHABAD Jewish Center at the University of Florida

1 16 oz. package orzo
Brown in 1 TBS oil. When browned, add 2 1/2 cups boiling water and salt and pepper to taste.

Blend:
3 cloves garlic
2 TBS honey mustard
2 TBS sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder

Mix into orzo. Add one cup craisins and 1 cup sugared nuts.
Serve at room temperature.

I'm almost positive the recipe is from the Spice and Spirit coobook Lubavitch published several years ago. But, I don't have a copy myself to verify that.

Shana tovah!!

[aliantha]

Hey, that looks pretty good, Menolly!

I made stuffed squash from Jane Brody's Good Food Cookbook yesterday, in honor of Mabon. I was trying to whittle down the points so I used fat-free cheeses and left out the raisins/currants. In retrospect I think I'll put the raisin/currants back in next time.

It still seems a little early in the season for pumpkin to me, even tho I saw them for sale at Safeway yesterday. I might make pumpkin & white bean soup this coming weekend if it continues to be cool outside.