Your tree should be decorated. Your presents should all be wrapped. Your holiday food should be ready to go. What’s left to do? Enjoy the holiday!
May your guests be on time, your gifts be all the right size, and your dinner be perfect.
From my family to yours, here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Art (aka “Mr. Food”)
P.S. If you need some last-minute recipes for Christmas Eve, Christmas morning breakfast, or Christmas dinner, we’ve got plenty of easy ones to help you at MrFood.com!
Mr. Food's homemade quiche is a perfect make-ahead Christmas breakfast recipe!
From Helayne Rosenblum, Mr. Food Senior Writer
Our family and friends celebrate all the December holidays, including a few extras like birthdays and anniversaries that arrive at this time of year, too. This year, we’ve been invited to our friends’ home for Christmas morning and they’ve asked everyone to bring something along for the breakfast buffet.
We’re going to have to leave home really early to drive there on Christmas morning, so I need a make-ahead breakfast recipe. I refuse to give in and buy store-bought for Christmas breakfast, so I’ve decided to make one of my favorite bed and breakfast-inspired quiches. I’ve been to quite a few really beautiful B & B’s, many of them along the California coast where, years ago, an innkeeper told me her secret to a custard-like quiche was to always use heavy cream. Let me tell you, her advice was spot on. It never mattered what other ingredients have gone into it…the eggs, the veggies, the ham or bacon…it was that cream that made the difference, plus no low-fat anything. Forget it — not the cheese, nada.
I’m going to bake off my “Helayne version” of Quiche Lorraine the day before Christmas. I’ll do the usual “wrap it tightly and store in the fridge routine” and, on Christmas morning, I’ll keep it in an insulated bag for the car ride to our friends’ house. I already checked with them about needing 15 minutes of their oven time to simply reheat the quiche, and they said that would be fine.
Mr. Food has a bunch of super quiche recipes you can put to good use at this time of year, whether you’re entertaining on Christmas morning or you need a good bring-along. Two of my all-time favorites are his Spinach Quiche and Tomato Basil Quiche.
Besides the quiche, another easy idea that I like to do at my place whenever I’m making a breakfast for company is to have sliced bananas, strawberries and blueberries on hand – along with confectioners’ sugar. It’s like my garnishing arsenal. All you do is sprinkle them over store-bought or homemade pancakes, French toast or waffles…and people go crazy over them. It makes your breakfast dishes look like something you’d get at a restaurant…and all it is is pieces of colorful fresh fruit and some sugar.
The most important thing now is not to knock yourself out in the kitchen. Take shortcuts where possible, and always check our Mr. Food recipe search box first. It’s a treasure chest of great-tasting, easy recipes! Enjoy your time with those you love – in the end, that’s all that really matters. I want to wish all of you a happy holiday season, and I look forward to sharing lots more with you in 2011…so stay tuned!
Order the Mr. Food Double Glazed Stuffed Pork Roast today for the easiest Christmas dinner ever!
You know we have lots of easy and elegant Christmas recipes for you at MrFood.com for edible gifts, cookie exchanges, Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner, and quick meals on those hectic days and nights before and after the holidays.
But something even easier is our Double Glazed Stuffed Pork Roast. Wow! It’s ready to cook, so you don’t have to do anything to have a great main course for Christmas dinner…no hassles, no preparation! Check it out and order soon for delivery by Christmas. It’ll guarantee lots of “OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!” at your holiday table.
Polka Dot Cookies from Mr. Food are a fun twist on traditional chocolate chip cookies, and they make a great holiday gift!
From Mr. Food Team Member Jodi
When my kids were younger and each had only one teacher, I used to spend time shopping for that just-right gift for the holidays. Now that they’re both in high school, and each has 7 teachers, plus the dance teacher, plus the college advisor, plus friends who they want to give a little gift to, there’s just no way I have the time (or the money) to shop for something special for each person.
A few years ago, I started making edible gifts. A dozen cookies in a pretty holiday-themed container (there are some really cute Chinese take-out shaped boxes) makes a great teacher gift. I really like to use the Polka Dot Cookies recipe here on the Mr. Food site. They only use 4 ingredients, and being a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips, they’re a nice change from your typical chocolate chip cookie.
Last year, my daughter helped me make Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels to give to her friends. We had fun shopping for different decorations. We used white chocolate and light blue decorating sugar for her friends who celebrate Hanukkah, and milk chocolate with a red and green candy drizzle for those who celebrate Christmas. The ways to decorate these are endless! How about crushing up candy canes and rolling the dipped pretzels in those? We found really cute holiday-themed cellophane bags to put them in, and tied them with pretty ribbons. It was fun, and much less expensive than buying all those gifts!
Need a hostess gift for a party? Why not try Chocolate Wreath Fudge? You can buy an inexpensive plastic holiday-themed platter to put the fudge wreath on, and give it as part of the gift. Or how about baking up some quick-breads, like Chocolate Chip Cranberry Bread? Homemade breads are very holiday-festive wrapped in pretty cellophane.
I’m always looking for new edible gift ideas, so if you have any to add, please let me know! Happy Holidays!
We did it! My amazing team and I just finished work on our newest cookbook, called Mr. Food: Christmas Made Easy. The subtitle really explains it: Recipes, Tips & Edible Gifts for a Stress-Free Holiday.
And that’s gonna be my gift to you this year – recipes for a stress-free holiday! We worked really hard on this book but it was worth it, ’cause we developed and tested more than 150 scrumptious, quick ’n’ easy recipes for not only Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but also for holiday parties, edible gifts, and even survival dinners for those busy days leading up to the holidays. Of course, most of these no-fuss recipes will work for you throughout the rest of the year, too!
Early version of the photo of Clams Casino and Saucy Cola Meatballs -- easy recipes that are great for holiday parties!
And, oh, what mouthwatering photos we took for this book. Honestly, Hal and Frank of the Hal Silverman Studio are just the best at food photography…and they take pretty good shots of me, too, especially considering what I give ’em to work with!!
Butter Pecan Fudge is the perfect homemade holiday gift from the heartWe’ll be introducing this book on QVC in September, so watch MrFood.com for details on how to place your advance order. I can’t wait to bring more ho-ho-ho into your holidays this year.
From Summer Team Member Rachel
At eighteen, I never expected to be working as an actual photographer. When I was in high school, I was known as “that girl with a camera,” shooting photos for the yearbook and drama productions, but I could only dream about using my artistic talent for an actual job. Most of my friends are working at Jo-Ann Fabrics or Steak ’n Shake this summer, but here I am, the newest, and youngest, addition to the Mr. Food staff!
Here at Mr. Food, I get to help photograph recipes, edit my shots, and upload them to www.MrFood.com. I even have my own desk! I have learned so much this summer about food photography but the most significant experience was the arrival of the fabulous photographer Hal Silverman to take pictures for the upcoming cookbook Mr. Food: Christmas Made Easy.
You might have thought John Mayer walked into the room by how excited I was! To my delight, Hal brought at least eight studio lights, a Nikon D200 and an impressive set of lenses, transforming our TV studio for the on-site photo shoot. I loved watching Hal and his assistant Frank work, and assisting them and the rest of the Mr. Food team in cooking, styling and shooting then editing more than thirty recipes and recipe photos in three days.
The fabulous photographer Hal Silverman at work
Besides doing photography work at Mr. Food, I have started to sharpen my cooking skills, too. Working with Patty and Jaime in the test kitchen is quite an experience! I have to stay on my toes and follow strict instructions. But I have to say that my Linzer Tart Cookies turned out so beast!
At the end of the week, I named the Reindeer Crunch Salad and the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cups from the upcoming Christmas cookbook as my new favorite recipes. Of course, I’ve brought home many stories about my job to share at my own dinner table.
One of the 30+ food shots I helped work on for Mr. Food's upcoming Christmas cookbook
Later this month, I’ll be going off to college to begin my studies in graphic design, photography and communications, and I will take what I have learned here with me. “Ooh, it’s been so good” working at Mr. Food this summer!
It amazes me that so many people forget to say “thank you.”
The Best of Mr. Food: Dinner on the Double cookbook
Maybe I grew up with an old school mentality, but I was raised to always say “Please,” “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” when appropriate. It’s common sense to me.
When someone does something nice for me, like giving me a gift, helping me out while I’m traveling, or whatever it is, I make sure that I follow up with a thank-you note, usually hand-written, to let them know how appreciative I am.
I was on QVC yesterday, presenting a special two-cookbook set just in time for the kids heading back to school. You know, this is the time when everybody really needs fast recipes that’ll bring the gang to the table. Well, in just about 4 minutes, these books sold out!
The Best of Mr. Food: Cookin' Quickies cookbook
Please consider this my big thank-you note to all of you who picked up the books and made this day a true success. You don’t know how good it feels to know that so many of you will be able to get dinner on the table in minutes, and that I’ve helped relieve some of your dinnertime stress. To me, that’s what it’s all about.
Sure, I was thrilled with yesterday’s response, but I was also disappointed that so many more people wanted these books and we didn’t have enough at QVC to go around, so to those who missed out, I’m sorry. On the other hand, if you really want those two books from “The Best of Mr. Food” series, Dinner on the Double and Cookin’ Quickies, then you can get them (while supplies last) from my site, www.MrFood.com, but not at the special value price that QVC was able to offer. However, these and every one of my own cookbooks that you get from www.MrFood.com are personally autographed by me, so check them out.
The last thing I want to say today is to ask you to please be patient. We are working on new cookbooks all the time to help you get in and out of the kitchen fast. And next month we are planning on releasing what I think is a must-have for this year’s holidays. It’s my new cookbook Mr. Food: Christmas Made Easy , and it’s packed with loads of mouthwatering, fancy-looking but easy recipes and tempting photos.
Thank you to all of you who keep coming back for more of my quick & easy recipes. You’re gonna love the books you just ordered, and the ones coming soon. Keep watching MrFood.com for news of my next QVC appearance and cookbook releases and, while you’re waiting, be sure to sign up for my Free eCookbooks and eNewsletters. I just love giving you more reasons to say…”OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!®”
