Hello everyone! It is hard to believe that the holidays are here. This is one of my most favorite times of the year. There is so much excitement and expectation. It is amazing how time gets away from you when you have so many things to do and so many meals to prepare.

My husband's family is getting together at Thanksgiving time this year instead of Christmas. We usually alternate holidays - Thanksgiving one year and Christmas the next. This means that the holiday rush is one month early for us this - especially since Thanksgiving is early this year! We have been shopping for Christmas gifts, planning family activities, and preparing meal plans for the seven days that we have guests in town. 

One of our favorite family activities is to visit the Columbus Zoo. They light up the zoo with over one million lights. They have a fully restored carousel, ice skating, visits with Santa, and lots of wonderful animals. We love looking at all of the different light displays. In the past they have had ice sculptors make fabulous sculptures right in front of you. It is amazing what they can do with a block of ice! One of our favorite family traditions for the zoo is to drink hot chocolate and eat roasted nuts. We sometimes make our own toasted nuts at home. You can try the recipe for Cinnamon Toasted Almonds from the website. They also make a nice Christmas gift.

Cooking Gadgets

Last month I asked all of you for suggestions on what kitchen gadgets you would recommend to the first time freezer cook. There are several items that I would not cook without. These are items that I would recommend to a new freezer cook.

• A large mixing bowl - This may sound strange but I use the top of an old Tupperware® cake carrier. It is one of the old carriers that you can stack three pies in when you are traveling. It is a wonderful bowl to mix up large batches of meatballs or meatloaf and Salisbury Patties.
• Glad® Ovenware - These are great for freezing. I use the 8x8 size pans for most meals but I also use the 9x13 pans to freeze bags of soups together. I assemble my recipes using the pans and when I am ready to thaw the meal, I pop it out of the pan and put it in a regular glass or metal pan defrost and bake it. They work great! They stack in the freezer nicely.
• Smart Spin storage system - You have probably seen these advertised on TV. I was a little skeptical at first but these are nice to have when you want to freeze things in specific quantities. The containers come in one, two and three cup sizes. I like to use the two cup size for chopped chicken. It's the perfect amount for stir-fries or chicken salad sandwiches. The three cup size is great for freezing rice and pasta. I use the one cup size for packing fruits and vegetables for lunch.

I also received some very helpful suggestions from some of you.

• Plastic Trays - I heard from several people who cook for just one or two people. They like to use freezer trays to make their own "TV dinners".  Rubbermaid® makes a divided container in TakeAlongs series. I have also used a divided plate from Nordicware®. They last a long time. I have had mine for over 10 years.
• A Good Paring Knife - (submitted by Diane) "I think my most indispensable is my really good paring knife.  It is Cutco brand and I use it all the time.  I have only had to sharpen it a couple times since we got married 16 years ago."
• Space - (submitted by Diane) "While I was looking around the kitchen trying to think of something, though, I thought how much I appreciate space.  When we moved last year, I did a deep clean of the kitchen, getting rid of all the things that I had rarely or even never used!  I couldn't believe what I had accumulated. I pared down a lot, especially odd shaped pans and dishes that made storage awkward.  Now, everything has an easy to get to place and the counters are almost always clean.  That makes it so easy to whip up those extra dishes and of course it is not so formidable to do a big kitchen cook like I did this weekend!"

BONUS RECIPES

Crab Rangoon

I love seafood. I first tried Crab Rangoon at Mark Pi's, the Chinese take out restaurant down the street from our house, and it was love at first bite. They have a daily special where you get a dinner sized portion of one of their dishes, Crab Rangoon, and a drink for five dollars. When they make them they are in the shape of a pot sticker but deep fried like an egg roll. This recipe is very close to theirs except I bake them instead of frying them. I think it is fun to try and duplicate recipes! 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Pumpkin Pudding Pie

We have been making this recipe for years. It is one of my husband's all time favorite recipes and it always comes out great every time. Of course he likes the regular pumpkin pie that everyone serves at Thanksgiving but this is a nice alternative especially if you are trying to watch you calories during the holiday. I usually make this recipe with light or fat free whipped topping and sugar free pudding. 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

 CLOSING COMMENTS FROM CAROL

One of our family traditions is going around the table and telling everyone what you are thankful for this year.  One year we wrote what we thankful for on paper "feathers" and decorated a paper turkey. Familyfun.com has a similar activity called a Garland of Gratitude. It is a great activity to do with a large group of people. 

Do you have any other topics that you would like to cover? Do you have any nagging questions that need to be answered? Email me at carol@30daygourmet.com. I enjoy hearing from you!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

          Carol