Tag Archives: holidays

Food

Holiday Cooking for People Who Think They Can’t Cook

December 20, 2013 Liz Bohinc Leave a comment

Shit! You have three days to come up with a holiday dish and you have no idea what you are going to make. You start questioning why you even agreed to provide something in the first place. Never fear, there are a few easy dishes you can turn to throughout the winter festivities that require little to no actual cooking skill. I swear!

Soup

First, meet your new best friend: the blender. No really. With the magic of your blender, you can make delicious soup!

I don’t know why soup is so impressive to people, because it’s not actually hard to make at all, but I’ve found it to be quite the crowd pleaser.

There are so many variations so my advice is to start with one element at a time and taste each step of the way.

The process is pretty simple:

Take some veggies that seem like they would be good together in a soup (or whatever you have in your refrigerator)
Pulverize them in the blender.
Then heat up the puree with veggie stock. (I like my soups thicker so I prefer to see the veggie puree and slowly add broth until I get the consistency I want. It ends up being about ¼ stock and ¾ puree most of the time but this is not a science, there is flexibility.)
You can add various spices for flavoring. (I liked adding cayenne pepper because it gives it a kick. Some people really like nutmeg for sweet potato and squash.

That’s it.

You don’t have to worry about “messing it up” if you just go pinch by pinch and taste test as you go. If you think it tastes good, it probably tastes good.

I’ve made it’s pretty easy to make fancy soup while binge watching Breaking Bad, i.e. you can totally split your focus and not panic.

My suggestion: Butternut Squash soup. It’s in season right now, super simple, and very tasty. Try this recipe from BlenderBabes. And don’t worry, you can totally skip the cream and keep it completely vegan. You won’t even miss it. No need for dairy substitutions.

No-Bake Baking

If soups aren’t your thing, I recommend looking to dessert. Even if you constantly burn things, there are many no-bake recipes that work for the holidays (but, if you do want to try your hand at baking, read this). Both Banana Pudding or No Bake Nutella Cheesecake don’t even require turning on an oven. Plus, you can even make the Graham Cracker Crust with your trusty blender.

Graham Cracker Crust:

Turn graham crackers into dust using blender
Add butter until it looks like “dough.”
Then press the crust into a cake pan.

Voila, crust.

Things you don’t want to skip: You have to make sure you have time to refrigerate both the Banana Pudding and the cheesecake or else they are goop. I also don’t recommend skipping the heavy cream in the cheesecake. I tried using a substitute this year and it didn’t work well. The cream cheese and the nutella just didn’t set as well and it was more blob than cheesecake (though they still tasted delicious).

Breakfast Strata

I love this recipe. It’s so simple and so delicious.

The Process:

Take any amount of the following:

Eggs
Cheese
Bread
Veggies and/or Meats options

Put it in a glass-baking dish and cook for 20 minutes. Done. I’m serious, there are no ratios, just add those three things. You can’t possibly screw it up and people will think your like Jacques Pepin!

If you’re sure you can’t cook…

My next best suggestion is to look up some special cocktail recipes. Liz Kerin tested some of her favorites for the holidays here!

But, if all else fails; there’s no shame in buying something. I’m not a big fan of faking it but if you have to, go for something that will inspire nostalgia in your guests. For me, that’s picking up some Magnolia cupcakes to remind my friends of our time in New York. If I was in my hometown, I would die if someone brought a fruit tart from the bakery by my house. While I appreciate someone’s home-baked goods, one surprise dish from a place I love can brighten up the meal.

Whatever you decide to do, I promise that as long as you are excited about what you are bringing, you and your food will be welcomed with open arms. You’ll make new friends when everybody asks you how you made it and even if you didn’t, you get to tell them about a cool new restaurant or bakery in your hometown. You will still be part of the life of the party, no matter what your cookery skill level is. Promise.

By Rob Adams

DIY

It’s Not Too Late to Decorate!

December 19, 2013 Christina M. Tedesco Leave a comment

For as long as I can remember, I have been in love with Christmas. Not just the day, but the entire holiday season—there’s something so special about this time of year that puts me in a jolly mood. I love the giving and loving spirit of people during this time, I love driving through neighborhoods, seeing them all lit up. I love getting together with family and friends. If I were to continue, it would go on for pages! But aside from spending time with my loved ones, my favorite thing to do is decorate.

As we grow up and move away from our childhood homes, there may be holidays we have to spend away from family and friends—for me, this is my first Christmas away. And even though it will be difficult, I know I can still enjoy Christmas and Christmastime by surrounding myself with beautiful embellishments to lift my spirits. One thing that always brings me such joy during the holidays is sitting in a room lit with Christmas lights with the scent of a fresh Christmas tree. Add some hot cocoa and a Christmas movie, and I couldn’t be happier!

Since those of us in our 20s usually don’t have buckets of money to throw at things like Christmas decorations, especially during this time of year, this is how I plan to decorate and save money while doing so.

For me, one essential decoration is, of course, the Christmas Tree. I’ve found that real trees are far cheaper short-term than artificial trees if you shop for a good deal, even though they only last one season. You can go to a hardware store and find real trees as cheap as $25 for a 6’ tree. Now, if you’re planning on investing in a tree to continue using year after year, then artificial is the way to go, but expect to pay more upfront. I personally prefer to get a real tree. It’s so much fun going and picking one out, even though I just go to Home Depot and not the forest to chop one down, but hey, it’s still fun. And oh, how I love the scent of a real pine tree during Christmastime—why spend money on buying sprays and candles when you can get the natural pine smell for free from your tree!?

This time of year, practically every store you go into has aisles and aisles of Christmas decorations—I’ve seen stores selling Christmas decorations since September! But if you’re looking to decorate on a budget, be aware of where you are shopping. It may be easiest to go to Target and get everything there, but they do not always have the greatest deals: I also check out places such as IKEA and the dollar store… yes, the dollar store! You can find some great things like wrapping paper, bows, garlands, stockings, and great little stocking stuffers that other stores tend to mark up. Michael’s is always one to have great sales during this time of year for quality products. If you’re more of a DIY type, Michael’s is definitely the way to go.

If you enjoy decorations but aren’t much of a decorator, invite friends and make a night of it. Every year, my family would put our Christmas tree up together. We would make a big fun evening out of it, with snacks, eggnog, music and Christmas movies. Last year when I moved to LA, it was the first time I wasn’t home to decorate my family tree, so I decided to keep that idea going by inviting my friends over. I got a bunch of ornaments and paint pens, and we spent the night designing our own ornaments, stringing popcorn, and hanging them on the tree. Creating your own ornaments is not only inexpensive, it’s a perfect way to personalize your tree. Year after year you will hang the ornaments and think of the memories creating them. It’s really simple and fun—and for those of you who think you wouldn’t be good at it, it’s really a lot easier than you think. You can buy glass balls or plastic (plastic is cheaper, but I prefer glass). Grab some permanent markers, paint pens, glue, fake snow, glitter pens and really anything else you can think of! One of my favorite ways to decorate an ornament is to draw a design, like a snowflake, with glue and sprinkle artificial snow on it. It takes a plain decoration and makes it much more festive. I also love taking off the top of the ornament and pouring artificial snow or Epsom salt in it. Or simply use permanent markers, glitter pens, or paint pens to draw designs on it. Last year, my friends and I signed one of the glass ornaments and dated it. That one puts a smile on my face every time I see it.

I also love to hang garland around the house, but instead of plain bows of evergreen, I like to spruce up my spruce by twisting them with sets of lights. I also like to add extra Christmas color to my garland with berry garland. The little red berries pop, adding a nice festive touch.

If you don’t want to go all out, you can always add small accent pieces scattered around your place. Candles and hand towels add a little something extra that’ll get your holiday spirit up! They even make Christmas cookie candles, so you can make it smell like you just baked, even if you haven’t gone near your oven in months. (But, like with the smell of a fresh pine tree, you can always opt for the real things and bake some fresh cookies instead!)

Decorations can be subtle or extreme, but all are fun. It’s a chance to express yourself, so go out there and get creative with it!

Photo by Rob Adams

Relationships

My Thanksgiving

November 21, 2013 Kelly Danver Leave a comment

When I think of Thanksgiving and the holidays, many wonderful things pop into my head. Even though Christmas music is not allowed in my presence until exactly one day after Thanksgiving, once it’s on I definitely crank up the radio. December 1^st is also the start of the “25 days till Christmas” on ABC Family (which usually includes a Harry Potter weekend). But, in my life, the holidays mean more than just these commercialized pastimes, they mean time with my family, delicious food, and (hopefully!) a reprieve from homework. It’s also a time when our family breaks out certain traditions to get us into the spirit of the holiday, and Thanksgiving is where it all starts.

For some, this holiday time could be all about the food or the people or some odd tradition that involves paintball and a bagpipe player. But, for me, Thanksgiving had always been about the specificity: a certain way that the holiday was destined to go. There always had to be this kind of stuffing, and that kind of turkey and this kind of pie (for my family it’s a brined and roasted turkey with a wild mushroom and rice stuffing with apple pie…I am getting hungry just writing this). We had to play this music and drink that wine, or else, how would we know it’s Thanksgiving?! In part, this was because the one thing that always did change was where we would spend the holiday. This changed almost every year: when I was five, we spent Thanksgiving with our grandparents, when I was twelve, we went to the Outer Banks with some family friends, and for the past couple of years, our family has gathered with some cousins who live close to us. All of our ever-changing lives always turned the question of where we would go into a last-minute juggle. Eventually, because we never had a set plan, our Thanksgiving became rooted in traditions surrounding food and family. It became a time for sharing, for catching up with people we hadn’t heard from in a while, and for spending time with people we love. The host would cook the turkey and the rest of us would bring dishes. We laughed and drank and everyone helped each other when it came to cooking and eating. It was great, if a little exhausting.

However, when my sister and I were both studying abroad, we didn’t get that big fancy dinner or the time with our friends and family. Instead, that holiday became more about who was around us at that time. My sister and I spent one Thanksgiving while she was in Scotland at a pizza restaurant, having a wonderful chat about college and traveling. When I was living in England, I spent my holiday in the library before cooking with some friends in our dorms. It was the first time I realized that the holidays and Thanksgiving could be something different than what I had always experienced.

This year, most of our other family members have branched out, so we decided that this Thanksgiving would just be about us as a nuclear family. Instead of gathering with extended family and friends, we have decided to focus on us as a family. Though this will be very different from the hectic holidays of the past, it will be a nice break from having hoards of people all gathered in a tiny space.

Not only was it a good idea to try something different this year for practical reasons, but it’s also my last year at university and I have no idea where my life is going to take me in the next year and whether I will be able to spend this time with my family again. The same goes for my sister, who just moved to Boston. Before her life becomes too settled, she wanted to come home and spend one last year at home with the four of us. Neither of us really knows how to feel about this or how to approach future holidays. But if this year has taught us anything, it’s that one should do whatever they want for the holidays, regardless of what they feel that they “should” do.

Now that I’m in my last year of college, I’ve begun thinking about my life outside of my hometown and outside of my family. I always knew at some point I would have to but I’ve never really thought about defining myself outside of my parents and our traditions before. And though I am very happy to be spending the time with my parents and sister this year, it is not because I feel like I need to for tradition’s sake. It’s simply because I want to. And I realized, for me, that’s what the holidays need to be about: spending time with the people I love because I want to. So, whether that means time spent with your own family, the family of your significant other, your newfound friends, or all by yourself with six hours of Netflix, spend the time that you have on this earth with those you care about (or those you will grow to care about!) and make the most of the time you have together. Traditions only make up the surface of a holiday. What matters is the core: the love you share with those around you.

Photo by Rob Adams

Money

(Cheap) Holiday Gifting

December 17, 2012 Liz Bohinc Leave a comment

Gifting can be tricky: Who is on your list? Can you afford to gift with all your friends? What about your coworkers? Here is a quick guide to holiday gifting from someone who is young and broke.

A good place to start with gifting is to make a list. Who is on it? Do some of them get more expensive gifts than others?

Try splitting your list into groups. I broke my list into A, B, and C and assigned each group a budget range. This helped me budget the entire cost of my holiday shopping before I started looking.

Making Sure the Perfect Gift is the Cheapest Gift

Once you find the perfect gift, make sure to Google it before you buy it. There are so many retailers out there, you never know if you are going to find your gift on sale on a different website. I unexpectedly saved 75% on a gift this year because Neiman Marcus’s Last Call had a one-day sale I stumbled across in a last minute Google!

Gifting with Friends

Let’s say you have made your list and there is just no way you can give each of your friends a substantial gift this holiday season. Consider banding together for a Secret Santa (or Secret Snowflake) gift exchange. You can set a cost ceiling ($20 max is a good idea) to keep anyone from outspending anyone else but still devote your attention to one perfect gift. Additionally, you and your friends will probably get more thoughtful gifts. It’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to find the perfect gift for one person than five.

Also consider gifting an experience. If you are a good cook, gift a home cooked meal. Or a movie night. It’s thoughtful and you get to spend more time with your friend.

What About the Co-workers?

Office gifting can be super awkward. One way to share the love is to host an office White Elephant gift exchange. My office hosts one every year and we reward a “trophy” to the best White Elephant gift each year. The goal of the gift exchange is to re-gift an item, usually one with a story behind it. You are not supposed to buy things! These are just our rules but the basic idea is the same and everyone goes home with a gift.

But what about your boss? Should you get them a gift? First off, good boss etiquette says they should be gifting you something—especially if you don’t qualify for a bonus of any sort. You have worked hard all year and you deserve that recognition. I personally am getting my bosses gifts because they are pretty solid people. But last year I had only been working at my office for a couple weeks–I had no idea what to do! My advice today would be to ask around and find out what the precedent is. Maybe the office pools together funds and buys everyone the same gift. Or maybe everyone is chipping in $5 to buy the department head (or front office manager) a gift card to his or her favorite restaurant. Be aware of the office culture around gifting and if you do decide to go against the norm, try to be discreet about it.

Photo by Anastasia Heuer