A Very Merry Ancient Fire Christmas!

This time of year is exciting for so many people. Family, friends old and new, parties, food, drinks, presents, decorations and music are everywhere you go. 

Margot and I always look forward to our open house before Christmas. That event gives us one more chance to spend time with our extended family (that’s all who come) and spread some joy before a busy week of travelling, hosting and who knows what else for the holidays!

Another year, and another fun party. There was lots of laughter and mingling. Everyone had a good time and for that we are grateful. That’s why we do it.

The house decorations this year were some of our best. Margot was especially proud of the tree, and rightfully so. Taking some cues from our friends Ed & Jim, the tree sports ribbons and a simple color palette of blue, silver and white.

Every year we pick a beverage theme, it’s what we do if you will, and this year was punch. Last week I shared “I’m Going to PunchYou For the Holidays” and “Here We Come A-wassailing” and the experiments making several new beverages to serve at the party.

( Ready for action! )

Those who left later in the day went home with punch, a token to keep the good cheer rolling with.

The food worked out well as it usually does, and the table looked festive when it was setup. We really didn’t fuss over it this year, and we didn’t make anything special except Margot’s cookies, an orange glazed sugar cookie and a spicy chocolate cookie containing cayenne, black pepper and cinnamon. I did land a new recipe in the bean dip I prepared, taken directly from Giada andthe Food Network.

( Just before guests arrived. Ready to go! )

By the end of the party we noticed that between the wassail and general interest we put back quite a few beers. Most of the wine was opened, but not too much went. The Lamoreaux Landing Estate White Blend resonated with several guests after I gave it taste and shared my positive feedback. The Tarara BossaNoVA was the solid performer that I expected it to be. I finished the night with it, the bold flavors can be savored like port. It’s gonna be a tough week tasting my way through the rest of the bottles…

The Christmas theme continues this week with sparkling cocktails tomorrow and mulled wine on Wednesday. I finish the week with figgy pudding, something I’ve never had or made and is sure to get me in the Christmas spirit! I won’t let you go without some. And then Margot and I will go visit family taking it with us to spread that cheer even farther.

How are you gearing up from Christmas? Shopping, spending time in the kitchen or have you figured out how to get away from it all? Merry Christmas!

Cheers!

Jason

Here We Come A-wassailing!

What are wassail and wassailing? I had to look them up because I don’t ever remember being told of a specific definitions. I recall from Christmas carols, the aptly named “Here We Come A-wassailing” is of course the most famous, that wassailing was some form of social custom designed to spread good cheer. I also inferred that the presence of wassailers at your door commanded a gift of wassail. Hmmmm. Enjoy the carol for a minute while I figure out what’s going on here.

“HereWeCome A-wassailing”

Here we come a-wassailing

Among the leaves so green;

Here we come a-wand'ring

So fair to be seen.

REFRAIN:

Love and joy come to you,

And to you your wassail too;

And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year

And God send you a Happy New Year.

…

Here We Come A-wassailing (audio clip from Wikimedia)

It turns out both of the things I thought about wassail and wassailing are true. But how did that come to be? First the name, and then the custom. The word wassail comes from the phrase Waes Hail, the greeting “good health”, that originated from Middle English as waes hael. Singing that message amounts to caroling to good health. I can dig that.

It seems the custom of singing this refrain was adopted by farmers and their surrounding communities as a toast to the apple trees and a bountiful harvest the next year. Whether it was for eating or making some form of fermented beverage, both things we love here at Ancient Fire, I really see the imagery created here. I love the apple trees I see in my town, the ones on my street are soon to developed over sadly, and look forward to harvest every year and making apple treats with the apples that they bear.

Since then, and likely it was implied originally, the act of wassailing door to door to people’s homes wishing them the same good health was adopted. This brings us back to the mythology we find in our contemporary Christmas traditions. Very few people I know have ever wassailed, but I do know a few who have, which is likely unusual. Maybe it’s something about New England and traditions from the English homes of many of our families here. I honestly don’t know how common it even is in England where it began.

So it is no surprise then that apples show up in one form or another in wassail beverage recipes. There is no recipe that I can find that has widespread support as a classic or the original, and the plethora of them I did find prompted me to make my own. Many had brown ale in them and the prospect of using my homemade maple brown ale locked it in as the first ingredient. Incidentally, many holiday themed beers will express at least the spices present in wassail. I can’t tell which was the chicken and which the egg in this situation. Old school wassail is purported to have been made with ale or mead, but whether either also contained spices or were spiced in the construction of this drink is not clear.

Into the holiday laboratory!

Ancient Fire Wassail

1 pint plus 1/4 cup Ancient Fire Maple Brown Ale

1 cup sweet apple cider

2 cinnamon sticks

2 cloves

Zest from 1 lemon

2 apples

1/2 cups brown sugar

¼ cup demerara sugar

1/2 cup dry sherry

¼ cup Madeira wine

1/4 cup sweet red wine

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground all spice

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

super fine sugar, to sweeten to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large sauce pan, pour in the pint of ale and the cider. Add the cinnamon sticks, lemon zest and cloves and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Core and cut the apples in half. Place in a baking dish. Cover with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup of ale, sherry, Maderira and the red wine.

Cover baking dish and place in oven, cooking for 30 minutes.

Add the demerara sugar and spices into the sauce pan, ensuring it's well mixed.

When the apples are done baking, place entire contents of baking dish into sauce pan. Allow to cook over a low heat for another 30-40 minutes. Serve hot.

Margot and I both felt this was very reminiscent of mulled cider. It has complexity beyond that, but the other liquors don’t leave enough of their own influence to pick them out. It came out balanced a bit too much to the spice side, but that is something that can be handled with some more beer or cider right before serving.

It was drinkable almost immediately, but a short time to cool was necessary. No need to injure those who come to wish you good health!

I stored the leftover wassail in a jar in the fridge. In the photo to the right you can see the apples and lemon zest floating in the brown, spicy punch. It is likely to be even more spicy by the time I drink it again. More beer!

I’ve brought forth another festive and traditional drink today. Yesterday was a more general treatment of punch, with the possibility of producing similar tipples to wassail quite likely. I’d still say wassail is a punch of a different sort, if only because of its own specific story. The vessel it was served from has its own lore as well. Check the lyrics at the link to the carol at the top if you don’t believe me. There are people who specialize in making wassail bowls, something I don’t believe I’ve ever seen. Find one person’s adventure in Making a Wassail Bowl. I broke out the punch cups to ladle Margot and I’s first tastes into, but serving it from a saucepan on the stove wasn’t quite the image you all had here. No picture.

Margot and I wish all of you and your families good health as we hurtle towards the end of one year and beginning of another.

Cheers!

Jason

Godiva Coffee Livens Up Your Holidays

Godiva coffee was a new product for me this year. I’ve had the chance to try it several times both through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program and at the Foodbuzz Festival. Thank you to Godiva and Foodbuzz!

My first tastes came during my Godiva Coffee Cocktail experiments with the limited edition flavors Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark. Living in New England I come across pumpkin flavored coffee quite a bit and my experience is that it can be a really tough flavor to channel well into coffee. Godiva has done a nice job of balancing the pumpkin and spice flavors with the underlying coffee elements, making it smooth and drinkable without being overpowering. The Caramel Pecan Bark wins this race on aroma. The kitchen smelled so good, like we were baking cookies and making chocolates, when I first brewed it and I saw the bottom of the empty bag of this flavor first!

While I write this I’m enjoying a cup of Godiva Hazelnut Crème Coffee, one of the samples I picked up at the tasting pavilion during the Foodbuzz Festival. The hazelnut flavor is very accessible and the underlying coffee is again rich and flavorful. I’ve already taken down about half the mug and am feeling pretty perky for a morning I was moving a bit slow to start with. I wonder how jacked up the folks in the Godiva Coffee test kitchens got while testing out the flavoring to get them just right!

The farewell brunch at the Foodbuzz Festival was sponsored by Godiva Coffee and they served the unflavored Breakfast Blend. Again I was struck by the richness of the coffee. Without any added flavor I was really able to experience the roasted flavors and didn’t detect and harsh or sharp elements that might otherwise be masked in its flavored siblings. It was clearly brewed well, the secret to making sure any coffee has a chance to please, and when prepared with my typical amount of cream and sugar it remained bold and flavorful. Bravo! As I and other festival-goers assembled at the table I mentioned the coffee and how happy it was making me. Everyone else who chimed in was equally complimentary to the coffee, also mentioning the rich, bold flavors and that the coffee was a noticeable and happy departure from everyday restaurant coffee.

Now that I’ve got you all jonesing for a cup of coffee I guess I should try to rescue you. Two lucky blog readers are going to win a Godiva swag pack that includes:

• A full sized bag of Godiva coffee
• Sampler pack of flavored coffees 
• Godiva apron

The apron will come in especially handy to keep your holiday cooking messes off your favorite holiday sweater! Sorry, I had to. For the record I don’t wear a holiday sweater, but I do don an apron to keep myself presentable when entertaining and cooking at the same time.

So how do you get a chance to win? Visit the Godiva Coffee website to take a look their collection. Then come back here and leave a comment with how you would incorporate Godiva Coffee into your holidays. Would the Peppermint Mocha make your special holiday traditions even more special or will you put on your mad scientist lab coat and use a different flavor in the recipe for a new holiday treat? Any way you spin it, you and everyone you share the coffee with will be smiling.

Rules

• You must leave a comment on this post to be entered to win
• You must be a US resident to win
• The drawing ends on Friday December 16^th at 8 PM EST
• The winner will picked randomly using random.org

If you just can’t wait to try Godiva Coffee click here todownload a coupon and use the Store Locator to find a retail location near you. Everybody wins!

Cheers!

Jason


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

Ten Imbibing Ideas for the Holiday Season

Looking for some inspiration for your holiday imbibing? Whoops, how did you end up here? I kid.

This is the season when nostalgia grabs everyone and the occasions to get together with family and friends fill the calendar. Entertaining family and friends can be a challenge any time of year, but with the expectations heaped on gatherings during the holidays it’s no wonder there are so many search hits for “holiday horror stories”! We all have them.

A few years ago Margot and I vacationed to Orlando with friends early in the month of November. The Disney Parks were already decorated for Christmas and after a bit of exposure to the music and decorations our conversations inevitably turned to the upcoming holidays and stories of celebrations past. Many laughs ensued! On one of the car rides to Universal Studios, also decked out for Christmas, we spotted a sign hanging above the door of a liquor store that read “Family gatherings go quicker with liquor!” The wisdom of the person who posted those words can’t be understated. Don’t believe me? Another example comes late in the move National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Clark’s father tells him that he got through the holidays with a lot of help from his friend Jack Daniels. Raise your hand if you can relate.

So get your family & friends together and drink up!

You are going to do it anyway and bringing fresh imbibing ideas to this year’s gatherings is a sure way to guarantee at least some of the conversation won’t be about whose back hurts worse or who gets the best parking spot in front of the house.

Ten Ideas for Holiday Imbibing

1. Serve punch. And I mean a classic punch from the era that birthed it. Recipes in David Wondrich’s book Punch and in his column at Esquire Magazine are the place to go. This cognac-based holiday punch recipe, The Fatal Bowl, from 2007 is a great example of what I mean. Classic punch is not a contemporary cocktail in a bowl, something many of us know all too well…
2. Make simple syrup for simplified cocktail construction. Straight up simple syrup is used in lots of drinks and flavored or spiced versions can help take your mixology in many exciting directions. Check out this NY Times article for cocktail ideas and a recipe for simple syrup.
3. Use sugar and spices to create fun flavors to rim glasses with. Crush up candy canes to rim hot chocolate and spiked coffee mugs. A brown sugar and spiced rim on a Sazerac or a Manhattan takes those drinks for a holiday spin.
4. For cocktail occasions use drink recipes that can be made ahead of time and served out of a pitcher. As the host you can end up spending so much time serving guests that you don’t have fun. Easy drinks mean more conversation! Food & Wine magazine has a slideshow and recipes for several different pitcher drinks, including several with holiday flavors.
5. Take a trip around the world. Assemble a collection of wines and beers from different places around the world. Curiosity about new products and where they come from always creates interesting conversation.
6. Make everything sparkle. Host a sparkling only party. Serve Champagne, sparkling wine, hard cider and beers known for considerable carbonation for an all sparkling affair. Some examples of the beers that would work in this way include Saisons, Sam Adams Infinium or the Weiss beers from Weihenstephaner.
7. Host a blind tasting. Entertainment experts often recommend having an activity at parties to help provide a little bit of structure. Hosting a blind tasting of wines can get everyone talking about what they are smelling and tasting, and the type and origin of the drinks. Wines, beers, meads and ciders can all be tasted blind to add even more fun
8. Drink local. The local small batch production of wines, beers, ciders, meads and spirits is increasing within communities in every region. Stock your holiday bar with products made nearby to celebrate the season. Better yet, make some of your own to share!
9. Give a toast. Pick a drink that you are particularly excited about this season and put a short pour into all the willing glasses. Assemble your guests and thank them for joining you to celebrate the shared traditions for yet another year. This is a moment everyone will remember after the rest of the holiday crush fades.
10. Play a holiday drinking game. This idea is for those less formal parties. Many holiday movies, especially the cartoons, are parables of good and evil. Split the assembled group up into two teams and the each team drinks when their side is mentioned by the narrator of the holiday classic you select. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is an excellent example. Are you rooting for the Whos or the Grinch?

( The holiday beer lineup from 2010. )

A few other thoughts must be stated as a public service. Don’t say I never gave you anything! 

These tips will enhance everyone’s holiday imbibing.

1. Drink more water. Citrus infused waters taste good and hydrate well.
2. Don’t drink and drive. It’s bad for you, bad for me and it sticks with you. Don’t do it.
3. Drink freely, and for whatever reason, but watch the words that come out of your mouth. That’s where the real trouble is.
4. Store leftover wine in rinsed out beer bottles with reusable stoppers. Keeping the air out will ensure you can serve the leftovers within a couple of days without a loss of drinkability.
5. Give wine & beer as gifts. Nothing says “I completely understand” better to a host than something to drink when you’ve annoyed the shit out of them!

With the season in full gear I hope I’ve helped stir some creativity for your holiday imbibing, hosting or whatever it is you plan to do to celebrate for another year. Try something new this year and watch how it makes your holiday gatherings much more than the usual.

Cheers!

Jason


Last year's holiday entertaining series

Holiday Wine Advice
Holiday Pies
Holiday Beer Talk
Holiday Entertaining

Rosemary Cheese Straws

A few months ago Margot and I were watching an episode of Drink Up on Cooking Channel and saw a segment where one of the guest chefs made cheese straws to pair with a featured beverage. We remember the cheese straws, but can’t recall what type of beverage the show profiled in that episode. Oh well, we remember the important part!

We both agreed to tuck the idea in the back of the head for our next wine tasting. When the planning for that occasion rolled around we decided that having all the snacks be cheese themed would add a nice spin to our typical tasting food free-for-all. And, that we would make cheese straws for our contribution.

( How can you go wrong with a big pile of shredded cheese? )

“To the cloud” as the commercials go, in search of a recipe. In the first few search results popped up Cheese Straws from Smitten Kitchen. I knew of this blog through other food bloggers I read so I was sure I would use this recipe. Knowing your source to be a reliable origin for well executed recipes with great pictures always helps.

I doubled the recipe, swapped rosemary for chili flakes and used wheat flour for 1/3 of the flour. I did increase the liquid a bit based on how it came out during the work with the food processor. I used Cabot Private Stock Sharp Cheddar for the cheese. This cheese is one step down from the fresh wheel-cut sharp cheddar you can get in the farmstands all over VT where play on the weekends. I wanted a very rich, super sharp cheese to make the straws pop, and with lots of experience with the Cabot cheeses I was pretty sure it was going to work as expected!

Rosemary Cheese Straws

12 ounces grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary (frozen fresh from my garden)
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream

Set the oven to 350°F.

Place everything but the cream in food processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs appear. Add the cream by the tablespoon and process until the dough forms a ball.

Flour a rolling surface and a rolling pin. Separate the dough into two pieces and form each into a ball. Roll the first dough ball into a rectangle that is about 1/8-inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut 1/3 in strips along the short edge of the rectangle, making as many as can be. Carefully transfer the strips to an parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/4-inch between them. Repeat with the second dough ball.

Bake the straws on the middle oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the ends are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.

( Golden brown and with a super cheesy aroma! )

These didn’t last long at the tasting. I paired them with several of the wines and found they were best with the Petit Verdot and Chateau-du-Roi (Rhone blend) from my collection. They also went well with the Rodney Strong Chardonnay brought by our friend Wayne.

( And now for your close-up. )

I would definitely make these again and would vary the herb/seasoning to use them in different ways. You could definitely add more rosemary to this recipe. Flavors are subject to individual preference and the I amount I used definitely suited a range of tastes. I can't wait to try the chili flake version and can also envision using Indian spices, sage, and chipotle for other interesting variations.

Cheers!

Jason

International Blogger Holiday Cookie Recipe Exchange

( it is too early to leave these for Santa, but it sure is a nice idea! )

What foodie doesn’t love a good cookie swap? But how do you do that amongst food bloggers all over the world? You swap recipes and ask each blogger to post their experience with another participants recipe. When I first saw this I immediately thought “that has to be the coolest idea I have seen in some time.” I threw my cookie chops in and a few weeks later received an e-mail from Joanne from Eat’s Well With Others with the recipe for Maple Brown Sugar Cookies.

Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
Makes 24, adapted from Indulgence Cookies

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup soft brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 egg yolk
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the maple syrup and egg yolk, beating until just combined.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough.

3. Shape the dough into a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (The book tells you to put it in the fridge for 20 minutes. And let me tell you, this was nowhere near enough time. Basically just refrigerate until chilled and slightly hard.)

4. Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 2-inch round cookie cutters. Or if your dough is too soft to do any such thing because you are impatient and refuse to wait until it is cold to work with it. (Not that I would know anything about that.) Roll it into balls and then flatten them slightly with your palm. Place on the prepared sheets 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 8 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Cookies and I are no strangers and this time of year I always make some and I try to make new and different kinds for a little holiday fun. Last week I posted about making cookies with my Mom, something she and I had done quite a bit since I got interested in cooking. I can recall marathon cookie-making days in preparation for swaps that had so many participants we had to bring boxes to cart our haul home. We would end up with so many cookies I swear we could have fed an invading army!

These cookies are spicy, but the cardomom offers a twist that makes them much less like a Snickerdoodle than you might think. The rooty, earthy flavors from the maple syrup makes a New Englander real happy.

For a second serving of the cookies I went with a twist, ice cream sandwiches! I used pairs of the cookies, vanilla ice cream and Demerara sugar to create a treat for a holiday dinner with friends. The sugar was dusted over the edges of sandwiches before letting them rest in the freezer for 20 minutes before serving.

Another holiday season and another successful cookie swap. Lori from Fake Food Free (the organizer of the exchange) was my recipe recipient and posted the story I shared and her experience with my Mom’s recipe for Russian Teacakes last week. I read the post to my Mom while I was down for a visit. She laughed when I said that her recipe and story were making her famous on the Internet. I could tell she was happy and that made the experience complete.

I hope you are taking some time to enjoy holiday foods this year. If you try something new and would like to spread the word, let me know. I’m always up for trying new holiday treats!

Cheers!

Jason

Making Holiday Cookies with Mom

The weekend before Thanksgiving my father found himself in the hospital and as a result my parents didn’t make it up to VT. My mother and I had planned to do some holiday baking during that trip, something we both look forward to and especially when we get the chance to team up. Margot and I went as planned and I cooked the pies for our holiday enjoyment.

Fast forward a few weeks later. Dad is quickly recovering from bypass surgery and I visited today to check in and spend some time with my parents. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my mother had planned to make cookies while I worked. I had my camera with me so this made for a great opportunity for an unexpected post.

My mother subscribes to the e-mail newsletter of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The daily recipe sent to subscribers on December 4th was for Scotch Rosemary Biscuit Cookies created by Andrea Newberry of the Forkable blog.

The recipe is intriguing for a couple of reasons. First off, it contains scotch. I haven’t baked with scotch before so I didn’t really know how much or little of the smoky flavor from the scotch would come through. Secondly, rosemary. Our friend Amy made rosemary shortbread cookies earlier this year, something that was new for me. I have to admit I ate way too many of them, but the rosemary flavors wrapped in butter and sugar were just too much.

The cookies came out fantastically and I have a nice satchel of them to take home. They aren’t going to last long! I couldn't detect any remnants of the scotch, but the rosemary flavor can't be missed. The coarsely grated parmesan cheese creates a chewy texture that really brings these cookies together.

I am participating in the International Blogger Holiday Cookie Recipe Exchange this month. I’ll be posting the recipe I was assigned early next week. The recipient of my recipe, Lori from Fake Food Free, posted her recreation of the recipe and the story I sent along with it yesterday. As you can see there is a history with my mom, me and cookies!

Cheers!

--Jason

Pecan Pies Are Christmas For Me

( Ready to eat, nutty and sweet, a real Christmas treat! )

I don’t make them every year and some years I don’t even come across one to have during Christmas, but somehow one of the images I always think of around Christmas are pecan pies.

I used the same crust recipe from my earlier pie post, but after rolling out the crust and crimping it into the pan I refrigerate the shell before adding the filling and baking.

Pecan pies are very easy to make. One quick scan of the ingredient list for the filling and you can see why they taste so good. When you realize a whole pie has a 1000 calories in it from JUST the corn syrup you might starting debating whether you want to eat a slice though!

Pecan Pie

1 bag shelled pecans
8 oz light corn syrup
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 pie refrigerated pie shell (homemade or god forbid store bought!)

Dump the pecans into the prepared pie shell. I leave mine whole although some people will chop the pecans first. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture over the pecans. Place in a 350 oven and cook for 50-55 minutes or until set. Cool completely before serving. Pies can be frozen and warmed up for future service.

( Waiting for the filling... )

Luckily for us the pies we made were for a friend who would ordinarily buy their pies at the store but heard of my pie crust and asked if I would make them for here instead. It is an honor to make the pies that will be served on our friend’s holiday tables to be enjoyed by their guests this holiday season.

( To the oven with you! )

Because of the intense sweetness of pecan pie finding worthy beverage pairings can be a challenge. A maple liqueur on the rocks or coffee with Irish cream and/or Kahlua are two choices that come to mind from experience.

Keep an eye out this week for posts on a spicy chocolate martini (thanks to Brian at A Thought For Food), a holiday dinner we had with friends to end the week and a 1912 Christmas at Hildene in Manchester Center, VT.

Cheers!

--Jason

Holiday Entertaining

( This is just one of our families! )

Less is more. Less clutter and decorations creates spaces for guests to put plates and cups during the annual open house two weeks before Christmas. Less fussy foods take less time to prepare and are easier for guests to handle. Serving Thanksgiving dinner family style in one room and eating it in another room results in less stuff on the table

The holidays are supposed to be fun! All the parties, food and drinks are the gift to adults. When you are the one hosting you want to be able to make magic and pull it off. There are a couple of tips we have used over the last few years that have worked well:

• Dress up the food table. Make a centerpiece or accent the table with garland and confetti. Draw people’s attention to it.
• Small plates allow people to take just enough food and be able to be on the move.
• Self service beverages really help with the flow of your event. You’ll see later we ignore this tip for cocktails, when used together...

Everything else you do is going to depend on who is coming and whether guests are bringing food.

( Several years ago I hand washed and dusted each of these pieces of fruit.

Settled together on a platter with a vanilla scented candle it made our table stand out! ) 

Holiday food! Can’t beat it and thankfully we all get to carry some of it into the next year with us. Our holiday spreads are always a team effort with our guests. Our family and friends love to bring all kinds of dishes to our house depending on what we need. My mother is one of the best people to take up on the offer to make food for a family gathering. Guests are happy to contribute and find foods they like on the table. The host doesn’t have to be responsible for everything and can enjoy something different as well.

( Clean forks lining up for dessert! )

  

If you want to pick a food theme, like Southern influences, you want to make sure guests are aware of the theme and you know whether they are participating. We used this theme for Thanksgiving dinner one year and had some incredible side dishes like macaroni & cheese, greens and sweet potatoes. We also wanted a wider vegetarian selection for Christmas two years ago and asked our families about what they could make to help out. When Anuarg & Dhepeka arrived they were pleasantly surprised at all the vegetable dishes, including the Indian gobi (cauliflower ) I had made. Additionally the beans, salad, potatoes, squash, Indian dal and rice all went amazingly well with a glazed ham. The variety and a very new combination of flavors were the talk of the meal.

Open house style events are common this time of year and we always have one. We find there is a bit more work on the social aspects of gatherings like this. We use different activities to help our guests get to know each other and interact. We now find some of our friends come for the holidays and are interested in seeing other friends of ours, and more than us!

Last year I led a mixology demo at our open house, making three different cocktails. An Old Fashioned, a Street Pharmacist and a Cool Runnings. (recipes at the end) Cocktails capture people’s imagination. Trying different flavors and textures is a lot of fun, especially with a group and several drinks to try! After demonstrating each drink and letting my guests try them I asked if anyone wanted to try it for themselves. Several takers stepped up and they went to work, asking a few questions along the way. The drinks were good and everyone had fun. I walked away and came back 30 minutes later and there were still people mixing up the different drinks and talking about them.

Several years ago we took family photos on our stair case at several events. The photos weren’t pro and the lighting sucked, but everyone had a good time and loved having the photo to print out or put on the computer. All the holiday smiles were nice to look through on Christmas day. We have even assembled a collection of photos for Christmas showing the different events over the years.

I wrote posts on wine and beer for the holidays earlier in the week. How you decide to pair foods and beverages out for different functions comes down to the people. In those two posts I covered both family dinner and open house settings with simple beverage ideas. Two solid tips are as simple as having diverse selections and the self-service option for busy gatherings. Read the linked articles for more stories and specific recommendations for holiday food pairing.

 Be ready to have fun. I have a playlist of Nu-Jazz, Downtempo and lounge music playing softly in the main room. For Christmas we put cartoons on rotation in another room for the younger kids. We otherwise turn the TV off and put a photo slideshow on the computer. Moving from room to room we get many opportunities to talk to our family and friends and celebrate all we have to be thankful and happy for.

( This isn't the entryway to my house. It is the entrance of the Lobby at the

Sandals Ocho Rios in Jamaica. We experienced Christmas in Jamaica in 2005.

That was a whole other kind of party and not one I had to cook or cleanup from! )

Cleaning up from these types of events is always a pain. People are going to be hanging out in your kitchen so it makes sense to move most everything you don’t need out of it. Put your reserve supplies in another location and go get them when needed. We have used three specific things to make cleaning up less of a disaster:

• Start the day with an empty dishwasher and put stuff in it as you go
• Have separate trash and recycling and keep an eye on them during the party
• Use paper and plastic with large busy and more casual gatherings

Hopefully your holiday gatherings go off without a hitch this year. It’s about the people after all so don’t count out some twists and turns!

Check out the first three posts in this four-part series on holiday food, beverage and entertaining.

Holiday Beer Talk - Post 3 of 4
Holiday Pies - Post 2 of 4
Holiday Wine Advice - Post 1 of 4

Cheers!

--Jason

Mixology Demo Cocktail Recipes

Old Fashioned

2 oz bourbon whiskey
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 splash water
1 tsp sugar syrup (make ahead, more if sweeter is desired)
1 maraschino cherry
1 orange wedge

Mix first four ingredients in a rocks glass. Add ice. Squeeze the orange slightly to add some juice to the drink. Place orange and cherry in glass and serve.

Street Pharmacist

2 oz Appleton 12 year old rum
2 oz Rum Cream
1 oz Amaretto

Mix and serve over ice.

Cool Runnings

Gold rum
Coconut rum
Blue Curacao
Pineapple juice
Simple syrup

You make this in a pitcher like punch. Use whatever quantities you like! Mix and serve over ice

Holiday Beer Talk

In my post earlier in this series on holiday wines I alluded to some potential guests that might not be interested in your finely crafted wine program for the holiday meal. Beer is as food friendly as wine in the general sense. Lighter beers are often less aggressive with food and heavier beers tend to present considerable flavors that must mesh with the food to work well. Acidity and carbonation work together to present different finishes on beers, also significant.

If you have beer explorers around during the holidays you will definitely want to check out some of the holiday beers that come out in November and December every year. I updated my mix this year and have the following items ready for a tasting:

Sierra Nevada Celebration
Rogue Yellow Snow
Rogue Santa’s Reserve Ale
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome

The easiest way to handle the need for beer at a holiday open house is to have a cooler containing a few different commercial lager/ale options for people to grab when they want one. You might have 3 or 4 rooms of different people doing different things and letting your guests decide when and what to grab makes things less stressful for you.

For dinner time pairings I have had great success with two styles of beer. Belgian/abbey ales and freshly hopped unfiltered pale American ales. I think both of these beers have different food pairing assets.

A Belgian white is creamy and has some spices to match with almost any food. A maltier Belgian beer with a thicker body can easily handle roasted meats, squash and stuffing. Some unique aromas from Belgian yeasts can liven up different pairings. The Brooklyn Local 1 is a food friendly Belgian-style from NY. Chimay makes several abbey and Trappist style beers that should be easy to find and great matches with an array of holiday dishes.

Freshly hopped pale ales have lots of citrus and pine that can work well with vegetable side dishes, stuffing and dishes with a lot of herbal flavors. Try this style with aged and flavored cheddar cheeses as well. They are very cleansing with each sip and stay lively for a long time. Sebago Brewing from Portland ME, makes a Local Harvest Ale in this style using freshly picked hops. It is aromatic, very flavorful and very refreshing. The Rogue Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale is a bit bigger, but still a hop monster just in a brown ale form. This will appeal to heavier beer drinkers, but still provide that sold pairing foundation.

If you are looking for an innovative way to get your beer drinkers involved in cocktail hour, consider making shandys. A shandy is a blend with ale that might contain lemonade, lemon/lime soda, ginger beer or other sweet and sparkling beverage. The results can vary. Generally it turns out to be a malty, bready drink with some more citrus and/or spice and a bit sweet. Your choice of beer should be something with a light body, unfiltered and some hop influence, but not too much. Try a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio for first timers. If they like the beer better this drink won’t be a huge shock.

The painting above was painted by a friend of ours Meredith Ingersoll. We were drinking homemade cider up in VT and she asked to take one of the bottles home. She turned that bottle into a beautful painting. We have another of hers depicting  a martini glass on its way.

Here are a couple of beers we tried recently that were fun with different foods:

• Fruili - imported from Belgium. It is a Belgian strawberry beer made with light malts, orange peel and spices. It is a light, sweet, berry flavored sour beer that matched flavors with Brie and Dubliner cheeses.
• Woodstock Inn & Brewery Wassail - I had to mention this beer because of my initial explanation of its flavors, bread pudding. We made pumpkin pies and that was similar in flavor to the beer, and enough to remember it! This beer would work with dessert even though it isn’t at all sweet; the spices should help integrate it a bit.

Check out the first two posts in a four-part series on holiday food, beverage and entertaining.

Holiday Pies - Post 2 of 4
Holiday Wine Advice - Post 1 of 4

Cheers!

Jason

Holiday Pies

( Apple pie makes the holidays for me! )

Every year I make apple and squash pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. About ten years ago I took an online course on pie-making. The course used a Cook’s Illustrated pie-making text and ran for 8 weeks, with a different type of pie for each. I know, tough homework! But I learned how to make a pie dough by hand that can’t be beat!

My absolute favorite is apple pie, but I will gladly eat most others; especially squash/pumpkin and pecan during the holidays. I like my apple pies spicy and I never hear any complaints from my guests with the ones I put out every year!

Double Pie Crust Recipe

2 ½ cups of all purpose flour, sifted
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
11 Tbsp unsalted butter, cool
7 Tbsp vegetable shortening, cool
Ice water

I use a 100% manual process with a pastry blender, wooden spoon and a spatula. Cut the butter into the premixed flour, sugar and salt with the pastry blender.

Don’t blend down too much. Cut in the shortening working to a consistency of coarse crumbs.

Adding 1 to 2 Tbsp at a time use a wooden spoon mix in the water and bring the dough together into a ball.

Remove the dough ball from the bowl to a lightly floured sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Prepare a surface to roll the dough on with all-purpose flour.

Cut the dough ball in half and form one half into a disk. Roll from the center outward flipping several times to reach a size that will fit a pie plate.

My apple filling is really simple and can be made in double sized batches if you have the bowl for it. Take six apples of two different kinds and wash them. The ratio of apples you use is up to you. I used 2:1 Cortland and Zestar this year. Peel, core and slice the apples. Add ¾ cup of white sugar, 1 tsp lemon zest and 1 tsp orange zest. Add two Tbsp of lemon/orange juice, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp ginger and ¼ tsp nutmeg. Mix well. Pour into a prepared pie crust. Add 2 Tbsp butter before placing the top on the pie.

Fill and cover with a second crust rolled out the same as the first.

Crimp the edges, cut 4 slits in the top. . Place the pie in a 350 oven and cook for one hour or until crust begins to brown.

Pumpkin pies are made all over New England this time of year. We grow the vegetables so well around here and we eat them in many ways. I prefer to use a combination of butternut squash and pumpkin which can produce a more gold colored pie with a creamier texture.

Mix two cups of baked pumpkin and butternut squash in a bowl. Mash well. Add ¾ cup of dark brown sugar, 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cloves, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp of salt and one can of evaporated milk. Mix well. Beat two eggs and add to the squash mixture. Mix well. Pour into a refrigerated pie shell. Bake at 350 for 65-75 minutes, or until filling is set.

After my pies cool and I wrap them in plastic wrap and foil and immediately freeze them so that I can serve them as fresh as possible in a few week’s time. From here the possibilities go off in many directions. I also made two blueberry pies today using berries that were picked fresh back in August and frozen. These will make a nice addition to the Thanksgiving table this year.

Check out our first post in a four-part series on holiday food, beverage and entertaining.

Holiday Wine Advice - Post 1 of 4

Cheers!

--Jason

Holiday Wine Advice

( Wine? Why yes I think I must! )

No doubt you have sorted through your share of holiday wine pairing and serving advice this time of year for many years. This year’s articles are making their rounds and there are a couple of things I look for that keep me reading. First, a personal story. Who are the people and how does your holiday table work when they all get together? Second, a range of choices for different foods from different places, different tastes as well as something local. And lastly, first hand feedback on what worked and what didn’t.
 
Why? Because I am looking for things to try at home where I get to be in the experience with my guests.

I make a wide variety of wines specifically to have different flavors around to pair with our meals. We also buy many different local wines that work well with regional dishes. We pull out all kinds of gems for holiday gatherings and often decide on making mulled wines, spiced wine punches or fruity sparklers that taste like holiday desserts as well.

When we get together with family for Thanksgiving we pick several white and several red wines to have with dinner. Margot, Celeste, Chris, David, Eloy and Gerry are all over the wine. Oh, and me too. We might warm up with snacks and cocktails and my brother’s-in-law are usually working on the beers. The larger the gathering the more likely it is to be a traditional turkey, stuffing, potato, bread meal which works with both red and white wine. Last year we opened Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet from Sterling Vineyards. Both were good tasters before dinner and were pleasing with dinner, but not blockbusters. I served Pinot Noir from my own collection and a Chambourcin from Connecticut Valley Winery in CT. The Pinot is fruity with some oak and worked very subtly with the food. The Chambourcin was the best pairing with dinner and sadly we only had one bottle. Something about the spiciness of it worked with turkey and gravy. We bridged dinner and dessert with Diamond from Candia Vineyards. By the time we got to dessert my tastes buds had been tweaked with some light white wine and were ready for more powerful flavors. For dessert I opened bottles of homemade Riesling and plum ice wine and served them with apple and squash pies. I don’t actually remember dessert. I was happy.
 

( Early 2010 vintage white wines being served )

Pairing with diverse meals is the ultimate challenge. This year we are going to try some fruitier white wines like a medium dry Riesling, and adding some dimension with a floral Viognier. I may bring some red wine to where we are going this year, but our hosts are not typically that interested. Easier pairing for me! I am planning on serving the sweet dessert wines with sharp cheeses early in the day as a surprise. Coffee with dessert this year, especially for the driver!

For our holiday open house I am making a mulled wine using the following recipe:

Ancient Fire Mulled Wine

1 bottle red wine, good but inexpensive

½ cup water

¼ cup superfine sugar
2 large cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
3 allspice berries
2 lemon slices
1 orange slice
3 dashes orange bitters

Boil the water, sugar, spices and citrus and then take it off heat and allow it to steep for ½ hour. Add the wine and slowly reheat to below boiling. Add bitters and mix. Strain and serve hot.

The aromas from the mulled wine begin to fill the house as soon as it warms up. The citrus and spices hang in the sweet air. It should be semi-sweet with a good sour tang and some heat from the spices.

 
When you get to choosing beverages for your next holiday meal make sure you keep it personal, explore the local choices and have a range of offerings to be served depending on how the event goes.

Here are several recommendations from recent tastings that can be used throughout the holidays:

• Travessia Vidal Blanc – I felt I got some residual sugar off of this and it was just enough to round out the body and immediately made me think of food.
• Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV – a good bottle of bubbly is a must for some. this was light and fruity with a clean finish
• Si Soave – very light making it a great starter and a good match for lighter creamed dishes and seafood
• Red Truck – Big House Red in a box. 3 L of a medium bodied red blend with fruit, wood and a clean finish. We had this at a party and it worked both socially and with the food. Great value!

Here are a couple of holiday wine links that have great stories, tasty options and things to try at home.

Rick Bakas - How To: Pair WIne With Thanksgiving Dinner and his 2010 Picks

eat. live. travel. write. - Mardi share's wine picks from Neil and great dishes for a Canadian harvest celebration

Cheers!

--Jason

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere - #fni #cocktails

The Foodie Night In TweetUp #fni hosted by Cooking With Caitlin last night was on the topic of cocktails. The tweets were flying fast and furious and the questions provoked a lot of useful AND humorous comments about cocktails, entertaining and party guests! Much thanks to Cooking With Caitlin for organizing these weekly events. Check out the post event wrap-up here.

Last night's event was sponsored by Crispin Cider and the Savvy Host Market both of whom gave away some excellent prizes, including two Crispin Cider Summer Entertaining Gift Packs and a BarBasics-In-A-Box (to the left), which in fact we were lucky enough to take home!!! This is going to be a nice addition to my weekly cocktail experiments and a nice piece to take with me when I head out to tend bar. Hopefully I can give it a good run through on vacation. A big thank you to both sponsors and congratulations to the other prize winners.

I've never had Crispin Cider and several of us asked about where we might find it. Originating from Minnesota, I suspect I'll be able to turn some up eventually. The feedback from several participants who were enjoying it or had had it in the pastdemands a first hand experience.

The night before I made some cider-based cocktails (click for the post) to give me some inspiration for the TweetUp. As the yesterday went on the heat and humidity rose and I started thinking of smooth frozen cocktails and the beach. Jamaica of course! To kick-off my end of the #fni I made some Jamaican Dirty Banana cocktails in the blender. Here is my recipe, which is an adaptation since I didn't have any rum cream available.

Ancient Fire Jamaican Dirty Banana

4 oz fat-free coffee creamer

1 oz Appleton Gold Rum

1 oz Creme-de-Banana

1/2 oz Malibu Coconut Rum

2 very ripe bananas

dash of cinnamon

6 large ice cubs

Add all ingredients except the ice cubes to blender and blend smooth. Add ice and blend until well crushed. Server in a tall glass with a straw. A float of rum on top is customary, but is truly a preference.

I'd also like to thank @cozifamily, @girlfriendology, @intoxicologist, @Cocktails_365, @hoperatives and @winemedineme for helping organize and for offering expert advice to all the participants.

Use the links in the first paragraph to check out this event for yourself. I hope to see you there sometime soon!

Cheers!

Jason