I have three ceramic canisters on my kitchen counter. The smallest is filled with Splenda packets, which I use to sweeten my coffee. The largest is filled with tea bags. And the middle canister holds individual flavoring packets for water. J. adds them to his water bottles a few times a week, and I use them a little less. Accepting the offer to try new Crystal Light Pure was a no-brainer for us. This is already a category of product on which we spend our money. (more…)
I have been mulling over Thanksgiving 2010, a holiday that went smoothly overall, but fell a little short of what I thought I could have put together. I have mentioned various elements that bugged me to friends, acknowledging that I am being a bit of a loon to have been bothered by things like my mismatched but at least color-coordinated (and slightly wrinkly) tablecloths. These things sound so silly coming out of my mouth that I am reluctant to repeat them here and give them more power over me. Still, I think it’s good to make notes of what did and didn’t work for next year. Plus I deeply missed my sister and her husband, who moved to Australia at the end of the summer and couldn’t be with us. Their absence made me think even more about grandparents no longer with us, and especially after our families went home Thanksgiving eve, I was preoccupied with missing people instead of being thankful for what was in front of me. What a mess I am!
The meal turned out well. I was seriously on the ball with prep beforehand, but then made a rookie error: I had no plan for reheating any of it, and had not thought to put my stove top and Crock-Pot into service on the day of the feast. Everything needed to go in the oven all at once to be warmed for the meal, so all my glee at being extra-prepared on Wednesday went out the window. I’ve written notes to myself in the past about including a cold item as a side (such as the Celeriac and Apple Salad I made in 2009), but didn’t do that this year and should have. I also failed to locate infrequently-used items before the holiday, so I was scrambling to find our gravy separator at the last minute (still can’t find it). I would guess none of our guests (we had 20 people in total) had any idea we were flustered, though, and that is fine with me.
I tore this recipe for Watermelon Margaritas out of Cooking Light magazine, and it was as icy, refreshing, and delicious as I thought it would be.
The original recipe calls for just 2 cups of watermelon but I think you need more. I doubled the watermelon and only barely increased the alcohol, and also used less ice. Lots of lime juice and eliminating the small amount of sugar the original recipe called for made this drink perfectly, mildly sweet with a bit of tang from the citrus and tequila.
On the second batch, I think I was too heavy-handed with the tequila and none of us liked it as much. Be careful measuring!
Tuesday night I went to a farewell dinner for a friend who is moving out of town. I was given the fun task of bringing the sangria, since I’d told pretty much anyone who would listen how delicious Susanna’s Sangria was when I made it. This time, though, I decided to try a white wine based version. I wound up basing it on a recipe for White Sangria from the New York Times.
Even our guest of honor, who tends not to like alcohol, liked this version. That’s why it’s a little dangerous — it doesn’t taste alcoholic, and it’s easy to gulp down. Look out! The club soda adds a bit of fizz, but most of all I think it is important to temper the sweetness of the juice and schnapps a bit.
Peachy White Sangria
Adapted from White Sangria, in the NY Times
1 plum
1 peach
1 orange, similar in size to the plum and peach
6 oz. raspberries
1 c. peach schnapps
1½ c. white grape juice
1 750 ml bottle chilled sparkling white wine, such as cava
1 c. club soda (make sure it’s cold)
Wash and cut the plum, peach, and orange into bite-sized pieces (make sure to remove the peel from the orange, so it’s easy to eat the fruit out of your glass if you’d like to). At least 2 hours before serving, cover fruit with the schnapps and white grape juice, and refrigerate.
Just before serving, mix in the bottle of wine and club soda. Serve cold.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Moroccan Chicken Tajine: I recently had a chicken tajine dish at Fig & Olive in Scarsdale, and wanted to recreate something similar at home. This is an Ina Garten recipe, and she never fails me.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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