Foods for the Holidays

Seeing as we are finally on break, hopefully for most people, the only proper way to enjoy the holidays is of course : food. Here are three different foods you should try at home over the break. These are recipes from Food Network that I tried at home. These are my top favorites.

1.Pancake Casserole

The ingredients you will need:

• Sugar
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Butter
• Buttermilk
• Eggs
• Pure vanilla extract
• Maple Syrup or any choice of topping once the meal is served
• Strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc
• Half-and-half cream

Steps to make it:

1. Begin by buttering the baking dish
2. Microwave a bowl of 3 tablespoons of butter for half a minute to a minute
3. In a large bowl, put 1.75 cups of all-purpose flour, a teaspoon of baking soda, 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 0.5 teaspoons of salt. Whisk these all together.
4. In another bowl, put 1.75 cups of buttermilk, 2 eggs, and the butter that was melted in the microwave. Whisk these all together.
5. Begin to heat a pan on medium heat, and melt a teaspoon of butter in this pan. Let’s start making pancakes!
6. With the batter, pour about a fourth of it into the pan, and cook until the golden-brown color appears on both sides. Make a good dozen pancakes for the enjoyment of the entire family.
7. Take a bowl, and pour 2 cups of half-and-half cream, a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, 5 eggs, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 0.25 teaspoons of salt. Whisk these all together.
8. In a big dish that will be presented at the dinner table the next day, place all the pancakes together, and pour the egg mixture slowly and well over the pancakes. Cover this dish with plastic wrap, and let it stay in the fridge for about 8 hours.
9. The next day, preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, take away the plastic wrap, and bake the casserole that was left over night. This will most likely take an hour or less.
10. Add syrup and some fruit on top, and even serve with a small side dish to make it extra special. Enjoy!

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pancake-breakfast-casserole.html?oc=linkback

2.Strawberry Claus(very easy)

The ingredients you will need:

• Mascarpone Cheese
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Powdered Sugar
• Strawberries
• Small chocolate chips
• Piping tip if you have means to buy it

Steps to make it:

1. To make the frosting: Beat the .25 cup of mascarpone cheese and .25 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract until it is smooth. While it becomes smooth, put in the cup of powdered sugar to make the mixture thick but still smooth.
2. Cut off the leaves of the strawberries to make them flat. Flip it over so the top is the pointy part of the strawberry and not the flat surface.
3. Using a piper, or a butter knife, put a small bit of frosting on the tippity top to represent the hat.
4. Spread some frosting near the center of the strawberry. You also could’ve cut the strawberry a bit above the half of the fruit to create a top and bottom, so that the top represents a hat. However, you can simply spread a lot of frosting on the middle. Look at the picture to understand how much frosting to put on the strawberry. Put two small circles of frosting, one above the other, to represent the buttons of Santa’s shirt.
5. Put two small chocolate chips in the frosting running in the center of the strawberry to represent the eyes.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/strawberry-santas.html?oc=linkback

3.Sugar Cookies

The Ingredients you will need:

• Eggs
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Granulated sugar
• Butter
• Confectioners sugar
• Salt
• All purpose Flour
• Milk
• Food coloring, sprinkles, candy, chocolate, etc(for decorating)

Steps to make it:

1. In a bowl, whisk one egg and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
2. Cream one cup of butter using a hand-held mixer, until it’s fluffy. Add .5 cup of granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating for about 2 minutes. Then add the egg mixture from Step 1, and continue for a minute.
3. Mix .25 teaspoons of salt with 2 cups of flour in a separate bowl. Add it to the ingredients being mixed in Step 2, and mix everything until they are all blended.
4. Take out waxed paper or some paper you have in the kitchen, and place the dough on that paper. Cut it in half. Flatten the dough, don’t make it too thin but don’t keep it extremely thick.
5. Put the dough on a cookie sheet, and refrigerate it for two hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the dough and cut the cookies as circles or using a cookie cutter make them different festive shapes. Transfer them to the baking sheet.
7. Bake until it’s light golden, approximately 15 to 20 minutes, take them out and let them cool.
8. Whisk a cup of confectioners’ sugar and a tablespoon of milk, or however much you believe will allow it to create thick icing once whisked. You can put this in a plastic bag, cut off the corner, and push and pour this icing onto the cookie, forming whatever pattern you choose. Use food coloring if you wish. Decorate with sprinkles, candies, chocolates, or whatever you’d like. You’re done!

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/sugar-cookies-recipe.html?oc=linkback

HAPPY HOLIDAYS