The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve will almost certainly involve more celebrating – more reasons to gather with family, friends and neighbours, and with the kids off school, more reasons to involve them in kitchen preparations. This week’s menu is more social – I’ve included a link to how to host your own neighbourhood pizza party – a great way to casually socialize while using up some of those turkey dinner leftovers – a cheese fondue that’s great for sharing, and homemade peroghies and ravioli – a great way to spend the afternoon when it’s cold outside and there are extra little hands around.
| MONDAY |
Gather whomever is around and have an old-fashioned peroghy bee – stir up a batch of dough, then roll, fill, fold and freeze – socialize and catch up with friends and relatives the way they did before Starbucks!
Photo credit: Gwendolyn of Patent and the Pantry
| TUESDAY |
Whether it’s just your own family, the extended family, or whomever is occupying your home for the holidays, a cheese fondue is a simple and festive way to feed a crowd. And fun for kids to skewer and dip bread and vegggies!
Cheese Fondue for the Whole (Extended) Family
Photo credit: Aimee of Simple Bites
| WEDNESDAY |
Ravioli makes a great kitchen project for little hands; spend the afternoon rolling dough, stuffing, cutting and sealing, and not only will dinner be done, but a stash for easy meals down the road.
Homemade Ravioli
Photo credit: Brooke of Cheeky Kitchen
| THURSDAY |
Do-it-yourself pizzas are a fun way to entertain, particularly when you have a range of ages around the table. Invite the neighbourhood in, or feed the extended family by setting out bowls of ingredients from gourmet to kid-friendly and let everyone make their own. Buy pitas, pre-made pizza crusts or naan, or make a big batch of dough from scratch.
A Neighbourhood Pizza Party
Photo credit: Brooke of Cheeky Kitchen
| FRIDAY |
Carnitas, or “little meats”, are the new trend in Tex-Mex – similar to tacos, but without the crumbled ground beef and taco shells, carnets are made with braised pork (or other types of meat) and your choice of toppings. It’s easy to buy a chunk of pork shoulder and braise it over the course of an afternoon, then pull it apart and serve it straight from the pot, family-style, with corn or flour tortillas, grated cheese, salsa, avocado, chopped tomato and lettuce and sour cream. It’s a great way to feed a crowd – or a party.