NBCD Journal 20 Holidays

NBCD Journal 20
Happy Holidays Everyone and Welcome Back!
Holiday Menu
It has been a pretty busy year and the holiday break will give us all a chance to rest and restore positive energy. The menu for this Christmas will be a combination of homemade and special order.
This year, I decided to keep things light and make Leek Soup for Christmas Eve. It reminds me of a bowl of Leek soup I had at a California Kitchen Restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California several years ago. I like to add sage, turkey ham and a few more golden potatoes to my soup. One of the ingredients in Leek Soup is white wine so I chose Sandy Cross Vineyards Muscadine wine that is bottled in Mount Airy, North Carolina. The Duplin Carolina Bald Head Red Sweet Table wine works well with punch drinks. I am going to try my best to venture to Raleigh/Durham to try the California Kitchen’s new Moroccan Salad or Baja Fish Tacos with Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. I will let you know how it turns out. As a base, I chose Knorr Leek Recipe Mix and just follow the directions on the package. Speaking of special orders, I will be picking up a Whole Cajun Turkey and a mini ham from the Honey Baked Ham store. My menu side items will be scalloped potatoes with reduced fat cheddar cheese. My main vegetable will be the underrepresented Cauliflower. Once I lightly steam my cauliflower, I plan on adding sautéed corn, orange bell pepper, and onions to it. This should give me a colorful dish. I am adding a side of corn bread stuffing for the kids. Homemade stuffing is great but if you are in a hurry, Stove Top stuffing will do fine.
One of the favorite deserts in our house is Pecan Pie and Peach Cobbler so I will have that on hand for everyone to consume. There are also good pecan pies at the Honey Baked Ham store, Food Lion, Kroger, Harris Teeter and Sams Club. I decided to purchase pie crust for the canned peach pie filling and picked up a jar of Delmonte fresh peaches to lighten the taste of the canned filling. You will notice I am bias to the texture, taste, sight and smell of the food I eat which makes cooking more enjoyable for me. For New Years I plan on a seafood menu of crab salad, shrimp, black eye peas and rice for good luck and the addition of Chinese food. As a child, my family would go to our favorite Chinese food restaurant for New Years Eve and come home and ring in the New Year.

Stress Release
The holidays can be stressful on the cook so I de-stress by playing holiday music of old school, new school, jazz and classics. Some of the holiday classic songs I listen to while I cook were my father’s favorite singers such as Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis. Natalie Cole is unforgettable also.
The Luciana Souza/Romero Lubambo Duos II acoustic jazz CD is wonderful. Luciana’s voice is crisp and melodic. Lately, I have been burning up the Al Jarreau song “Brite N’ Sunny Babe”. Yep ladies, I consider myself a Brite N’ Sunny Babe for the New Year. I hope you do too.
Thanks Natalie Cole for making us fabulous 40 and up women of today look good. A Class Act.
Meanwhile, my kids and I are listening to everything from the Black Eye Peas, Lupe Fiasco, Barcelona, Beyonce’, Shakira, The Fray, Mary J Blige, John Legend ,Alicia Keys, The Avett Brothers and many others.
Don’t forget to dance to the music while cooking. It’s a fun way to burn off those holiday calories.

Check it out:
You can find other health and cultural commentary by visiting the blogs:
http://innervoice-rise.blogspot.com
http://culturalcommentaryartist.ning.com
Web Tip: http://www.nataliecole.com
I wish you a positive, energetic and bright New Year.
Keep the faith and stay mentally, physically and spiritually healthy!
Gloria J Harden-Bailey