Yesterday we celebrated Easter with our family at my sister’s house. Now, even though as adults we should know better, we still start the holiday digging into the kids baskets with them. Well, we actually eat some of the candy that didn’t make it into the baskets rather than taking their candy. It’s a bit of gorging of course, but we figure it’s only one time a year so why not. Then after we rest and read the morning paper, we treat ourselves to a big breakfast of French toast or pancakes with bacon and lots of syrup and juice. After Church it’s off to the big family get together, where we eat again.
So the family dinner includes ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, biscuits, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, and more. After sitting around chatting and stuffing ourselves we usually try to get some fresh air and make room for dessert- a perfect time for the kids to do an Easter egg hunt. Why do so many holidays revolve around food? Of course along with dessert there is usually a second round of Easter candy to go around. After all of the sugar and food, it’s no wonder we all crash early for the night.
So who’s coming to your Thanksgiving feast? Or maybe you’re the one hitting the road and visiting friends and family at their place instead. That’s the easy part. But if you’re the one hosting the dinner at your home, it takes a bit of planning and shopping to make a nice holiday meal. The first thing to do is figure out what size bird you’re going to need, so you’ll need to get a solid idea on the number of people you’ll be feeding. Once you know that, you’ll want to pad the pounds a bit so you can enjoy some leftovers during the week. If you’re doing all of the cooking you certainly deserve to have some extra food to eat throughout the week
Now the tricky part is trying to please everyone. For instance, you might have a few vegetarians in the family, so you’ll want to make sure you have some dishes they’ll enjoy during the meal - you can ask them what they like or they might even prefer to make them at their homes and bring it over for the holiday. You probably also want to make sure you have a few favorites that everyone enjoys, so everyone get a taste of their favorite side dish or dessert.
I know I’m dating myself by saying this, but when I went trick or treating as a child we were given things like candy apples, homemade candy, and loose candy packaged in a small paper Halloween bag. Now of course it’s all pre-packaged candy for safety reasons. If you’re having a small get together at home for the kids or friends you can still have some fun making homemade goodies. The Food Network has some great ideas for treat recipes that would be a lot of fun to try, and they don’t look too difficult to try to make either.
I love their ghouly cupcakes, covered in a froth of icing with floating eyes on top - cute idea! Then there are other goodies like a witch’s hat cake and a delicious looking creamy pumpkin cake roll. You’ll find everything from cheese ball ideas and pumpkin seed roasting tricks that you might want to try. There’s something for everyone at every level of cooking. A little homemade fun can make any holiday special, especially for the kids. It makes for great memories too! So while they can’t get candy apples going door-to-door anymore, they can still enjoy them right at home. And they can even help make them.
