Come Home to Cooking

Refresh Your Self and Your Leftovers

We all know that aftermath turkey sandwiches are one of the best parts of Thanksgiving. Both simple and delicious. But clearing out the refrigerator gridlock of side dishes is more of a challenge. Especially when our minds and bodies are just as overloaded. So here are three casual soup recipes to easily combine and revive all the odd bits before either you or they get lost in the muddle. One for right now, and two to save for when the cupboard is bare. 

Tease & Appease Your Appetite

Need something simple, delicious and festive looking to help celebrate the New Year?  Here’s an idea.  If you’re feeling tired and uninspired, but still trying to make it through the season with some kind of style, this adaptable recipe is both chic and transportable... 

Give a Gift Certificate to Someone Special

Can’t think of anything for even some of the nearest and dearest on your gift list? Here’s a simple and satisfying solution for everyone involved.

Cooking classes are one of those gifts that truly keeps on giving—both to the recipient and then to the people they cook for in turn. Treat your friends and family to the joyful experience of learning how to Come Home to Cooking. They'll have a whole new schedule of classes to choose from in the New Year. You can arrange to either come by to pick up gift certificates or have them mailed to your specified addresses. Please call or email me (Contact Info).

Season with Sugar 'n' Spice

 

Ever notice how desserts equals stressed spelled backwards? Is that why we reach for sweets when we’re frazzled? Or perhaps it’s a subliminal reminder that we are the ones getting it backwards. That usually when we most need to take good care of ourselves is when we’re least likely to. Which is why it was so nourishing to steep ourselves in the recent winter soups and seafood stew class. And also why I plan to start off the New Year with a restorative series on Mother Stocks and Broths. 

But right now in this season of soulful treats and merrymaking, I hope we all find a way to slip into the light of our childhood night kitchens. To feel the enchantment. To make it and bake it and eat it and share it. To be dazzled instead. To come home to cooking for sugar and spice and everything nice. To stay in that place where nothing’s the matter. 

At least for a while.

Wishing you comfort and joy.

Holiday Revels

Traditions both reassure and renew us. Scroll down to the 13 Desserts of Provence posted last year at this time to provide yourself with a deliciously luminous link to past and future clelebration possibilities.

 

Kay's Turkey & Stuffing Recipes

in November 2009 Santa Rosa Press Democrat articles by Diane Peterson

Both my comments and recipe for Autumn Harvest Stuffing were covered in her full article [A Trio of Different Approaches to Stuffing] in the Nov.18, 2009 Food & Wine section, and she inlcuded both that recipe and another of my favorites, Stuffed Pumpkin with Wild Mushrooms, in her Nov.17 Kitchen Talk blog at: http://kitchentalk.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10157/a-full-bodied-stuffing/

 

Please find my traditional outdoor cooking tips in her feature Turkey Techniques article in the Nov.25, 2009 Food & Wine section at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091124/LIFESTYLE/911239930?Title=Turkey-techniques

 

Cooking Class Gift Certificates

With more and more of us re-discovering both the economic and soul-noursihing benefits of gathering around the table to eat at home, cooking classes are a timely gift that truly keeps on giving--both to the recipient and then to the people they cook for in turn.

So why not support your friends and loved ones with gift certificates to Come Home to Cooking! All you have to do is send me your list of names, send-to addresses (whether to you or them) and corresponding registration fees. I'll take care of the rest. Your giftees can then select the class(es) of their own choosing and deal with me directly to enroll. This is a gift that will bring them joy for many years to come. Please refer to the Contact page for my email, phone, and postal address.

Kay's Carefree Thanksgiving Menu Recipes

in the November 19, 2008 issue of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Don't miss Diane Peterson's feature Thanksgiving article this Wednesday if you'd like to find out how to both cook for this holiday and get to enjoy it too. I've contributed a simple make-ahead plan along with some of my favorite family recipes, like Turkey and Apple Stew with Herb Biscuits and an updated version of my grandmother's Steamed Persimmon Pudding with Buttercream Sauce. These are just plain delicious any time you're longing for the wholeness of hearth and home. Please see online at http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081119/LIFESTYLE/811190301/1316/LIFESTYLE12?Title=Feast_and_fun

The 13 Desserts of Provence

After a much anticipated, long and lively Christmas Eve dinner in Provence [le gros souper], celebrants are treated to a dazzling array of basically natural desserts, which include fresh and dried fruits, nuts and confections—each one laced with ancient symbolism. Many hours later before heading out the door for midnight mass, in some homes it is still the custom to arrange all of the remaining thirteen desserts on a clean table, where they are left out for neighbors, beggars or the souls of their ancestors to feast on while everyone is gone. Then the last of the wine is poured over the Yule log fire, the blessing of which had hours before toasted the beginning of dinner along with high hopes for the new year. 

Living as we also do in the bounty of our countryside, it’s easy to embrace the warm spirit of this seasonal offering to create our own traditions for celebrating with loved ones on just about any cold winter night or festive holiday. Below please see a list of typical selection possibilities as well as some alternative suggestions and harmonious embellishments for your gathering.

FRESH FRUITS:
Oranges
Tangerines
Mandarin Oranges
Wintermelon
Pears
Apples
Pomegranates
Fuyu Persimmons

DRIED FRUITS and NUTS:
Grapes [still hanging from the branch]
Raisins
Figs/Fig Paste
Golden Prunes
Dried Apricots, Cherries, Pears
Dates
Almonds [raw or roasted]
Walnuts
Hazelnuts
 
TRADITIONAL CONFECTIONS:
Honey and Almond Nougats
Almond Candies
Quince Paste
Candied Fruits and Citrus Peel
Pâte de Fruits
Fruit Tarts or Galette
Apple Doughnuts
Pompe à l’huile or Gibassier: a sweet bread enriched with olive oil, anise and
orange blossom water  [Could Substitute Challah or Panettone or a
Sweet & Salty Focaccia with Raisins or Orange Zest & Sliced Almonds]

NICE ADDITIONS:
Fromage Blanc drizzled with lavender honey or
Mascarpone doused with minced crystallized ginger and Grand Marnier
Soft Cheeses like: Mt. Tam, Red Hawk or Crescenza
Bleu Cheese [to go with the pears]
Currant-Walnut Bread
Biscotti
Plain Cookies: Sablés, Shortbread
French Macaroons
Nut Tarts/Tortes
Gingerbread/Pain d’Epices
Steamed Persimmon Pudding
Pound Cake
Panforte
Crystallized Ginger
Jams: Black Cherry, Apricot, Marmalade
Brandied Fruits
Chocolate Truffles