“But Susan,” you say, “Why would I be worried about
making Christmas dinner more 'festive'? It's a family tradition my kids
are sick on Christmas, my in-laws are staying with us for a week, I
have to work Christmas Eve, and I've promised the maid the week off, ha
ha. What I'm worried about is getting it to the table at all."
Oh,
for many reasons, I reply. Because of the memories, because it's
soothing and fun, if you work it right (read on), because it looks so
nice and is so appreciated it can make up for other things you could
let slip. There are many reasons.
So hang on, here we go. All
these tips are sort of like "sleight of hand." They're things you can
do while you have to be in the kitchen anyway type of things. They're
relaxing even. Trust me!
And the "oohs" and "aahs" will be
oh-so-energizing. They’re affordable, too. This Christmas-tree
shaped butter ( http://www.webstrategies.cc/breakfast.jpg ) cost a
couple of bucks at the grocery and who’s going to notice
what’s sitting next to it?
Here are some ways to dress up the traditional Christmas table.
PIE CRUST
Make
your usual pie crust, 2-crust version. OK, who am I kidding. Buy the
frozen ones. Thaw them and dump them out of their original tins,
combine several (they’re too skimpy I think), roll them out,
begin all over again.
Line the pie tin, put in the filling,
then roll out the second crust and cut shapes using cookie cutters, or
cut out shapes free-form with a sharp knife. First one doesn’t
work? Pie dough is very forgiving. Roll it up and start again. Your
“second chances” are infinite. You could also use something
from a child’s coloring book for a pattern.
If you
don’t have cookie cutters, cut out 3 rounds for holly berries
using a bottle cap, and cut out some spiky holly leaves with a knife.
If
you have the time and the inclination, when the pie is baked and
cooled, then use frosting to decorate your crust. Of course this is
frosting from a can or tube you bought. On another planet, in another
lifetime, you'll make the frosting. Buy the plastic tips and plastic
pastry bag so you can just throw them away.
Repeat after me --
if it's pretty, it, like the well-chosen dress, can hide a multitude of
sins. Get some candies 'n' stuff, like licorice for Santa's belt. I'd
come home from working the Christmas Eve church service, you know a bit
weary, and my sons would come in the kitchen to watch and "help out."
It was cozy. Memories.
Any kind of liquor goes well with any
kind of fruit pie, so splash a little um in the pumpkin pie, or a
little cognac in the cherry.
Or do the
usual-only-very-different. Make a frozen pumpkin chiffon pie. The
virtue of that is -- you guessed it --it can be done so far ahead of
time. Then at serving time, crumble candy canes and sprinkle them on
top. Don't know who helps you at your house, but I had sons, and they
loved to put the canes in waxed paper and then whack it with the
rolling pin. Festive Family Fun at the Dunn household. Me 'n' the boys.
I hope by now you're beginning to see that we are playing and enjoying ourselves as much as anything.
CANDY CANES
Candy
canes go so well with chocolate. You can make a chocolate dessert, like
that instant pudding concoction with dream whip that kids like so much.
Email me if you don't have that recipe. Then sprinkle candy canes atop.
SWEET POTATOES
Mash
canned yams and place in Pyrex. Then whip up meringue nice and stiff,
with lots of sugar. Beating things is therapeutic as well, and the kids
are fascinated by the process. ("Is it ready yet?")
Circle the
bowl with the meringue, and then make dollops on top with peaks. Then
you can (1) sprinkle it with colored sprinkles, or (2) in the center
put 3 maraschino cherries and some pineapple leaves, like holly. Or put
marshmallows around the rim and decoration in the middle. In your next
reincarnation you will make Martha's homemade marshmallows and put them on top.
Use
seasonal ice cream -- peppermint, coconut, eggnog, pistachio. Let the
ice cream soften and scoop it into a round Pyrex® that you’ve
greased lightly with Pam®. Put it in the freezer until well frozen
again. (Don't you love the things you can do in stages? Maybe at this
point you'll need to run the dog to the vet because it ate 2' of
tinsel, like I did one Christmas, oh yes.)
Later ... take it out, soak the dish briefly in larger bowl of warm water till you see the ice cream melting on the edges, turn it over on a pretty serving platter, and out it comes in a dome.
Tear strips of waxed paper and place them all around the plate, under
the ice cream. Now whip cream till stiff, put it in pastry bag, use a
tip such as Wilton 2D and pipe, pipe, pipe, little shaped blobs, each
one next to the other till the mound is completely covered. Gently
remove the waxed paper, wipe the serving platter with a wet rag, and
place the ball back in the freezer till frozen. Once it’s frozen,
cover it with a bowl or wrap until ready to serve. “Boule de
niege” is French for “snowball”!
If you want
to use Redi-whip, you must do it right before serving because it
doesn’t last. How do I know? Well, it was a very sad "learning
experience" involving a Christmas luncheon for my bridge group and I'll
leave it at that.
Want it even easier? There’s an ice cream baking kit available here: http://www.thecompleatgourmet.com/merchandise.htm .
BEEF WELLINGTON
Make
a mixture of Dijon mustard red, green and white peppercorns (available
here: http://www.famousfoods.com/71996.html ). Coat the beef with this
before you encrust it. Put cut-out shapes on the crust as well.
MASHED POTATOES
Mash
them and put them in a serving bowl. Then sprinkle just enough cayenne
and parsley flakes for color. Wait a minute, I forgot we've let the
maid have the week off. Use mashed potato mix, plump it into those
festive individual ramekins (Williams-Sonoma has some pretty bright red
ones) and bingo! Oh wait, place a star-shaped pat of butter atop each
one.
SIMPLE CAKE
Bake your cake in a springform pan with a Christmas base – Christmas tree and holly patterns are available here: http://www.happycookers.com/wc.dll/products/divulge/1-16451.html
PARFAITS
Super easy, cheap, eye-candy, and doaheadable.
X-rated
Version: Fill fluted glasses with any ice cream. Drizzle green
crème de menthe and chocolate over it. Add maraschino cherry
– red or green. If you use red cherry, add green mint leaf.
GP-rated Version:Drizzle with hot fudge sauce and sprinkle crumbled candy cane on top.
TRIFLE
Trifle
is the original LOW MAINTENANCE dessert. There are as many recipes as
there are people making it. We love it because it's like that old "dump
cake" recipe, remember? It just doesn't matter that much. Soak that
cake in amaretto or schnapps, add what you like, layer it ...
it’s got cheap ingredients, it’s retro-new, and the
presentation! It’s so NOT FRAGILE. Put it in a huge brandy
snifter type container. Or put it in a Christmas tureen and smooth a
layer of whipped cream on the top (use warm wet flat spatula). This
makes it look like a lid and people will keep trying to pick it up and
there will be finger prints all over it (and lots of laughs).
VEGIES
Put
chopped red peppers in among the peas, Brussels sprouts or broccoli;
stuff tomatoes with hamburger, cheese, green peppers, parsley. Cut
stars out of processed cheese slices and place atop casserole.
MORE GOOD NEWS
If you did even 3 of these things, it would be "gilding the lily." Choose one or two. That's all!
I'm sure you can tell my philosophy has always been 'if I'm going to have to do it, I'm doing to make a party out of it.'
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