Holiday tipping guide-Holiday Food
What can I say about eating around the holidays? The main reason for Christmas may not be food but all of the good times we seem to have center around it. Food brings people together. It may be a wedding, funeral, reunion, or holiday and you will see families laughing and playing over some sort of vittles.
But, food can get pretty expensive at that time of the year. If you are a holiday baker and a party host, getting the menus together ahead of time will save lots of money. A comprehensive list of ingredients for family dinners, desserts, and party foods allows things to be marked off as they are bought.
Buy ingredients in bulk. Food warehouses are a great place to save money when we need to get large quantities of ingredients. Baking requires a lot of eggs, butter, milk, and such.
Saving money can also save time. If the plan is to bake a pound cake for Sunday dinner and you need a dessert for a church function and a party at work, let that pound cake recipe do double or triple duty. Tripling the recipe allows three cakes to be baked in one mixing. To vary the recipe, one can be chocolate, sour cream, and plain.
With so much going on around the holidays, cooking for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is not always in the cards. Make life simple with casserole dishes appropriate for each meal time. A breakfast casserole will feed the entire house. Bake it at night and each person can heat their portion up as they come in for breakfast.
The same can be done for lunch and dinner. Casseroles are quick and easy. Now, each person can be responsible for getting their food and the cook can concentrate on holiday food dishes and baking. Casseroles keep the fridge from filling up with leftovers.
Don’t forget to buy enough plastic ware and disposable plates for anyone eating at the house. No one wants to wash dishes especially the one who is doing all of the cooking. Give the dishwasher and the hand washer a break by using disposable items.
Also, set the kitchen up for a buffet style meal. Since everyone isn’t ready to eat at the same time, serving a buffet allows each person to get what they want to eat when they want. Now, you can concentrate on other matters.