Holidaze!
As usual the holidays were a whirlwind of lots of cooking and eating. I made several batches of pralines, chocolate fudge and apple cakes for gift-giving. I, in turn, received homemade barbecue sauce (fabulous), divinity fudge(marvelous) and a duckling, which I roasted a couple of days before Christmas. The duckling, brushed with a mixture of honey, soy and sesame oil, was delicious. Steamed broccoli and cauliflower from a friend’s garden were the perfect sides along with a wild rice dressing tossed with dried cranberries plumped up with brandy, and toasted pecans.
On New Year’s Day we’ll have black-eye pea jambalaya and several cabbage dishes to bring us wealth and good luck in the coming year! Accompaniments will be skillet cornbread, roast pork and sweet potatoes. I was introduced to a great alternative to regular sweet potato casserole. Chunks of peeled (uncooked) sweet potatoes were tossed with chunks of onions, several garlic cloves, salt and pepper, olive oil and baked at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Wow! When cooked toss the mixture with bits of crispy bacon!
I wish all of you a great New Year!
