Archive for May, 2008
Pumkin Pie?
Thursday, May 29th, 2008Stress Free Thanksgiving Dinner
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Stephanie Maggio asked:
What Every Cook Should Know About
Hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner.
By, Stephanie Maggio owner/chef of Maggio’s Personal Chef Service.
Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner can be quite stressful. The holiday season is already upon us and it seems we are busy even before the day gets here. First Thanksgiving, then Christmas, with New Years Day to follow. First, calm down. Here are some tips to relieve some of the stress so you too can enjoy the day with your guests.
First, decide how you want your Thanksgiving dinner to be set-up. Do you want buffet-style? With this set-up you would need a fairly large place to set the food. Your guest would then serve themselves and sit where you have provided. This is a very casual dinner and works well with a large guest list. Another way to serve your holiday meal would be pot-luck style. This way is much less stressful on the host as each of your guests would be bring a dish and usually a dessert. The host usually provides the main dishes such as the turkey, stuffing and gravy. So a sample way to work this would be to let each guest know what items to bring such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls and such. Make sure your specific though so you do not end up having tons of greens beans! And yet another way to serve Thanksgiving dinner would be a more formal dinner setting at the table. This is my favorite and is a more intimate setting. To have a formal setting you would need a large table and smaller guest list. What we do at our home is set up two tables next to each other. One for the adults, and one for the kids. The kids can chat amongst their selves and the adults can visit with each other without everyone being separated. So deciding now what kind of Thanksgiving dinner style you want lets you plan accordingly.
The second thing you should do is start you baking now. Most baked goods freeze quite well. You could make and freeze pies, nut breads, unfrosted cakes and cookies. You can freeze fruit pies uncooked, wrapped in plastic wrap then cover in foil. To bake, place frozen pie in center oven at 375 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or until bubbly and golden brown. To freeze nut breads, you will need to bake as usual and let cool completely. Wrap cooled bread in freezer bread according to size of loaf. To thaw just place on counter for about an hour, then slice as usual. To freeze unfrosted cakes, cool cake layers completely and wrap separately in parchment paper and then in foil. Let thaw on counter completely before frosting. Cookies freeze very well. Just bake according to recipes and cool completely. Store cookies in freezer bags or freezer containers such as lock-n-locks. Just thaw on counter until ready to display and eat. Doing this now will certainly help take a load off.
Plan your guest list. This may seem simple, but as you think about who you want over at your home, your list can grow to impossible numbers! Do you have a large family? If so, you may not be able to have many friends over. This is where you need to decide who you want to spend the day with. Traditions also play a part in this. Maybe you have the same people year after year, such as Grandma and Grandpa. If so, this will be easy because you already know. Ok, you now have your guest list ready.
Start your grocery shopping early! Don’t wait until the week of Thanksgiving to buy what you need. Not only are you risking empty shelves, but it is expensive to buy at the last minute. There are great sales starting around Halloween for baking supplies and such. Stock up now. If stuffing mix is on sale when you are at the market for milk, pick it up. You are going to need it anyway. You can also get cranberries cheap way before the big day. Cranberries freeze well too. As you buy items you know you will need, mark them down so when you get the rest of what you need, you do not over buy items. Turkeys also are on sale sometimes weeks before. You can get great deals like $5 turkeys limit 1. When you see this, go back again and pick up another to freeze!
Plan your cooking day. This will most likely be the day or two before. Decide what you have left to do and prep as much as you can. Mix up the stuffing for the bird and put into bowl and store in fridge. Also, you can make your rolls ahead. Cook up those cranberries. They will be much better the next day anyway after setting. You can also make your molded salads the day before as they also will need setting up. This is when you will defrost all those baked goods you froze the weeks prior to now. So if you need to frost the cake, now is the time. You can also bake up those pies you froze. Doing as much as you can on this day will help you to have more time with friends and family.
And Finally Thanksgiving Day! Your turkey is in the oven. When your guests start to arrive you need to enlist help. You may want to do it all and get all the glory for the hard work you have put in, but it is much better to let others help out and enjoy your day. Delegate tasks such as setting the table, organizing serving dishes and setting out appetizers for your guests to enjoy while the meal is being prepared. Snacking is an important part to hosting a party. This is a must when entertaining. So set out the appetizer trays and mingle with your guests because you have planned for this day and you will now enjoy it too!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Stephanie Maggio
928-503-4922
www.maggiospersonalchefservice.com
A sample Thanksgiving meal menu:
Roasted Turkey with Herbs
Cider Crusted Baked Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan topping
Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Pan gravy
Cranberries with Grand Marnier Sauce (YUM!)
Molded Raspberry/Cranberry Salad
Homemade Rolls with Honey Butter
Green Bean Casserole (kids love this)
Bread Stuffing with Italian Sausage,Pecans,Raisins and Apples
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Pecan Pie
Elizabeth
What Every Cook Should Know About
Hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner.
By, Stephanie Maggio owner/chef of Maggio’s Personal Chef Service.
Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner can be quite stressful. The holiday season is already upon us and it seems we are busy even before the day gets here. First Thanksgiving, then Christmas, with New Years Day to follow. First, calm down. Here are some tips to relieve some of the stress so you too can enjoy the day with your guests.
First, decide how you want your Thanksgiving dinner to be set-up. Do you want buffet-style? With this set-up you would need a fairly large place to set the food. Your guest would then serve themselves and sit where you have provided. This is a very casual dinner and works well with a large guest list. Another way to serve your holiday meal would be pot-luck style. This way is much less stressful on the host as each of your guests would be bring a dish and usually a dessert. The host usually provides the main dishes such as the turkey, stuffing and gravy. So a sample way to work this would be to let each guest know what items to bring such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls and such. Make sure your specific though so you do not end up having tons of greens beans! And yet another way to serve Thanksgiving dinner would be a more formal dinner setting at the table. This is my favorite and is a more intimate setting. To have a formal setting you would need a large table and smaller guest list. What we do at our home is set up two tables next to each other. One for the adults, and one for the kids. The kids can chat amongst their selves and the adults can visit with each other without everyone being separated. So deciding now what kind of Thanksgiving dinner style you want lets you plan accordingly.
The second thing you should do is start you baking now. Most baked goods freeze quite well. You could make and freeze pies, nut breads, unfrosted cakes and cookies. You can freeze fruit pies uncooked, wrapped in plastic wrap then cover in foil. To bake, place frozen pie in center oven at 375 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or until bubbly and golden brown. To freeze nut breads, you will need to bake as usual and let cool completely. Wrap cooled bread in freezer bread according to size of loaf. To thaw just place on counter for about an hour, then slice as usual. To freeze unfrosted cakes, cool cake layers completely and wrap separately in parchment paper and then in foil. Let thaw on counter completely before frosting. Cookies freeze very well. Just bake according to recipes and cool completely. Store cookies in freezer bags or freezer containers such as lock-n-locks. Just thaw on counter until ready to display and eat. Doing this now will certainly help take a load off.
Plan your guest list. This may seem simple, but as you think about who you want over at your home, your list can grow to impossible numbers! Do you have a large family? If so, you may not be able to have many friends over. This is where you need to decide who you want to spend the day with. Traditions also play a part in this. Maybe you have the same people year after year, such as Grandma and Grandpa. If so, this will be easy because you already know. Ok, you now have your guest list ready.
Start your grocery shopping early! Don’t wait until the week of Thanksgiving to buy what you need. Not only are you risking empty shelves, but it is expensive to buy at the last minute. There are great sales starting around Halloween for baking supplies and such. Stock up now. If stuffing mix is on sale when you are at the market for milk, pick it up. You are going to need it anyway. You can also get cranberries cheap way before the big day. Cranberries freeze well too. As you buy items you know you will need, mark them down so when you get the rest of what you need, you do not over buy items. Turkeys also are on sale sometimes weeks before. You can get great deals like $5 turkeys limit 1. When you see this, go back again and pick up another to freeze!
Plan your cooking day. This will most likely be the day or two before. Decide what you have left to do and prep as much as you can. Mix up the stuffing for the bird and put into bowl and store in fridge. Also, you can make your rolls ahead. Cook up those cranberries. They will be much better the next day anyway after setting. You can also make your molded salads the day before as they also will need setting up. This is when you will defrost all those baked goods you froze the weeks prior to now. So if you need to frost the cake, now is the time. You can also bake up those pies you froze. Doing as much as you can on this day will help you to have more time with friends and family.
And Finally Thanksgiving Day! Your turkey is in the oven. When your guests start to arrive you need to enlist help. You may want to do it all and get all the glory for the hard work you have put in, but it is much better to let others help out and enjoy your day. Delegate tasks such as setting the table, organizing serving dishes and setting out appetizers for your guests to enjoy while the meal is being prepared. Snacking is an important part to hosting a party. This is a must when entertaining. So set out the appetizer trays and mingle with your guests because you have planned for this day and you will now enjoy it too!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Stephanie Maggio
928-503-4922
www.maggiospersonalchefservice.com
A sample Thanksgiving meal menu:
Roasted Turkey with Herbs
Cider Crusted Baked Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan topping
Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Pan gravy
Cranberries with Grand Marnier Sauce (YUM!)
Molded Raspberry/Cranberry Salad
Homemade Rolls with Honey Butter
Green Bean Casserole (kids love this)
Bread Stuffing with Italian Sausage,Pecans,Raisins and Apples
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Pecan Pie
Elizabeth
Delicious Sugar-free Desserts
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
Rachel Jackson asked:
Baking is a popular past time enjoyed by many people around the world. The main benefit of baking is the enjoyment and satisfaction of creating your own desserts. Everybody has their favorite dessert, but it is important to eat these baked goods in moderation. To many, desserts seem unhealthy because they contain a lot of sugar. However, this is not always the case because there are several healthy sugar free alternatives available. When you decide to bake a treat for yourself, first consider what you would like to bake and add sugar-free ingredients. There are many possible choices when it comes to sugar free snacks such as cookies, muffins, cakes and pies. You can eat much healthier while enjoying the same great tasting snacks. These delicious sugar-free desserts can be created in the comfort of your home or purchased at your favorite local bakery.
Sugar free desserts offer several benefits. The main benefit of choosing sugar-free snacks is the fact that most contain either low calories or zero calories, depending the on the chosen sweetener. Low calories can help prevent obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Switching to artificial sweeteners provides many benefits and all of your favorite snacks can still be created.
Finding sugar-free desserts at your local bakery
A bakery is an excellent location to satisfy your craving for a delicious snack. Most bakeries have several options available for you to choose from and you can either order your food made fresh or purchase something pre-made. This is a great place to find cakes, pies, cookies and muffins, and, depending on the bakery, may come sugar-free. These are all great desserts, but are healthier if made with sugar-free ingredients. A bakery can also help you find the perfect goodies to fulfill your craving because of the many sugar alternatives available on the market. If your favorite sugar substitute is Splenda, the bakery should have cakes available that use that product, and if they do not you should be able to request a custom baked treat.
Sugar-free Baking Products
Muffins, cookies and pies are an excellent dessert to choose when beginning to learn how to bake sugar free. Muffins provide a tasty snack, which requires less than an hour to prepare and bake. Muffins also require minimal preparation due to the simplicity of the resulting product. Cookies are very similar to muffins as they are easy to bake and do not take long to create. Holidays are an excellent time to bake because there are many delicious seasonal snacks available. The fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving are a time of year when pies are popular desserts. You may also want to consider baking a healthy pumpkin pie with Splenda.
Once you get used to baking some simpler products such as pies, muffins and cookies it is time to take a step further and begin baking a cake. Cakes are also easy and should not take very long to master. You may want to consider baking a sugar free cheesecake because sugar substitutes like Splenda work best when the main purpose of sugar is to sweetness to the finished product.
Splenda as a Sugar Substitute
The recommended alternative to using sucrose is a product called Splenda. Splenda, also known as Sucralose, is 600 times sweeter than your standard table sugar. This granulated sugar alternative scales perfectly with the amount of sugar requested in the recipe. One tip to remember when cooking with Splenda is that it causes your snacks to bake faster. Keep an eye on your snacks to help prevent it from burning. Another important tip to consider is not to replace ingredients such as brown sugar, honey, molasses and fructose as these are necessary in their natural form. Splenda has a brown sugar substitute, which serves as an excellent substitute to brown sugar but remember not to substitute brown sugar with Splenda.
Enjoy Baking while Eating Healthy
Baking is an enjoyable process, and you can bake while eating healthy at the same time. There are many excellent treats to be made which fulfill your sweat tooth while helping you stay healthy in the process. Several options are cakes, pies, muffins and puddings. These sugar-free products can be purchased at your local bakery or created in your own kitchen. The sugar substitutes replace table sugar, which is also known as sucrose. This helps prevent several major diseases, which can be caused consuming too much sugar. A few tips to remember when starting to bake sugar free are to discover the substitute you like best and stick with that until you perfect your recipe. Splenda is best when added to a recipe as a sweetener.
Next time you decide to bake yourself a delicious snack, remember that you artificial sweeteners like Splenda are a perfect substitute to your standard table sugar. Splenda provides the same sweetness as sucrose with added health benefits. When you begin baking sugar free, these tips should help you learn the basics of sugar free baking along with some desserts you may want to consider baking.
Christina
Baking is a popular past time enjoyed by many people around the world. The main benefit of baking is the enjoyment and satisfaction of creating your own desserts. Everybody has their favorite dessert, but it is important to eat these baked goods in moderation. To many, desserts seem unhealthy because they contain a lot of sugar. However, this is not always the case because there are several healthy sugar free alternatives available. When you decide to bake a treat for yourself, first consider what you would like to bake and add sugar-free ingredients. There are many possible choices when it comes to sugar free snacks such as cookies, muffins, cakes and pies. You can eat much healthier while enjoying the same great tasting snacks. These delicious sugar-free desserts can be created in the comfort of your home or purchased at your favorite local bakery.
Sugar free desserts offer several benefits. The main benefit of choosing sugar-free snacks is the fact that most contain either low calories or zero calories, depending the on the chosen sweetener. Low calories can help prevent obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Switching to artificial sweeteners provides many benefits and all of your favorite snacks can still be created.
Finding sugar-free desserts at your local bakery
A bakery is an excellent location to satisfy your craving for a delicious snack. Most bakeries have several options available for you to choose from and you can either order your food made fresh or purchase something pre-made. This is a great place to find cakes, pies, cookies and muffins, and, depending on the bakery, may come sugar-free. These are all great desserts, but are healthier if made with sugar-free ingredients. A bakery can also help you find the perfect goodies to fulfill your craving because of the many sugar alternatives available on the market. If your favorite sugar substitute is Splenda, the bakery should have cakes available that use that product, and if they do not you should be able to request a custom baked treat.
Sugar-free Baking Products
Muffins, cookies and pies are an excellent dessert to choose when beginning to learn how to bake sugar free. Muffins provide a tasty snack, which requires less than an hour to prepare and bake. Muffins also require minimal preparation due to the simplicity of the resulting product. Cookies are very similar to muffins as they are easy to bake and do not take long to create. Holidays are an excellent time to bake because there are many delicious seasonal snacks available. The fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving are a time of year when pies are popular desserts. You may also want to consider baking a healthy pumpkin pie with Splenda.
Once you get used to baking some simpler products such as pies, muffins and cookies it is time to take a step further and begin baking a cake. Cakes are also easy and should not take very long to master. You may want to consider baking a sugar free cheesecake because sugar substitutes like Splenda work best when the main purpose of sugar is to sweetness to the finished product.
Splenda as a Sugar Substitute
The recommended alternative to using sucrose is a product called Splenda. Splenda, also known as Sucralose, is 600 times sweeter than your standard table sugar. This granulated sugar alternative scales perfectly with the amount of sugar requested in the recipe. One tip to remember when cooking with Splenda is that it causes your snacks to bake faster. Keep an eye on your snacks to help prevent it from burning. Another important tip to consider is not to replace ingredients such as brown sugar, honey, molasses and fructose as these are necessary in their natural form. Splenda has a brown sugar substitute, which serves as an excellent substitute to brown sugar but remember not to substitute brown sugar with Splenda.
Enjoy Baking while Eating Healthy
Baking is an enjoyable process, and you can bake while eating healthy at the same time. There are many excellent treats to be made which fulfill your sweat tooth while helping you stay healthy in the process. Several options are cakes, pies, muffins and puddings. These sugar-free products can be purchased at your local bakery or created in your own kitchen. The sugar substitutes replace table sugar, which is also known as sucrose. This helps prevent several major diseases, which can be caused consuming too much sugar. A few tips to remember when starting to bake sugar free are to discover the substitute you like best and stick with that until you perfect your recipe. Splenda is best when added to a recipe as a sweetener.
Next time you decide to bake yourself a delicious snack, remember that you artificial sweeteners like Splenda are a perfect substitute to your standard table sugar. Splenda provides the same sweetness as sucrose with added health benefits. When you begin baking sugar free, these tips should help you learn the basics of sugar free baking along with some desserts you may want to consider baking.
Christina
Would you use sugar or Splenda in a Pumpkin Pie?
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
wackadoo asked:
My family and I have been invited to a Thanksgiving Dinner. I offered to bring the Pumpkin Pie. My host responded, “Use Splenda, not sugar”. Personally, I find Splenda repulsively sweet. I asked my host if sugar is restricted in her diet. She said no, but that she doesn’t like it too sweet. (Doesn’t make too much sense to me). So I told her that I didn’t think P.P. uses much sugar, but if my recipe did, I would halve the amount. She said, “or, you can use Splenda”. What would you do in my sitch?
Ray
My family and I have been invited to a Thanksgiving Dinner. I offered to bring the Pumpkin Pie. My host responded, “Use Splenda, not sugar”. Personally, I find Splenda repulsively sweet. I asked my host if sugar is restricted in her diet. She said no, but that she doesn’t like it too sweet. (Doesn’t make too much sense to me). So I told her that I didn’t think P.P. uses much sugar, but if my recipe did, I would halve the amount. She said, “or, you can use Splenda”. What would you do in my sitch?
Ray
