$10
off any
any service
with this
coupon!
Expires 12/
31/18.
Doggie Day Care
225 D Pinehurst Ave.
Southern Pines
695-DOGS (3647)
Gift Certificates Available
www.dogsbestfriendinc.d
com
email: do
dogsbestfri
dogsbestfriend@embarqmail.com
or BEST d
est. 1948 Bakehouse
For all your holiday goodness:
Gingerbread houses,
European specialty cookies,
www.thebakehouse.biz
& much more!
T-S: 8a-3p
Sun: 11a-3p
120 N. Poplar St. • Aberdeen
Yule logs
HOME SWEET SOUTHERN HOME continued
Mary Beth Voelker is a writer, a mother,
a cook, a gardener, and a crafter. Though
originally from Pittsburgh, she and her
family kept coming back to North Carolina
until God let them stay. She likes to say that
while she has often been bored at work she
has never been bored at home.
HOME SWEET SOUTHERN HOME continued
rejuvenation
hair removal
body wraps
waxing
facials
botox
Combine
a facial &
massage
& receive
10% off. exp. 12/31/18
Forever Young Med Spa • 692-0882
160 Turnberry Way • Pinehurst
HOME SWEET SOUTHERN HOME con't. next column HOME SWEET SOUTHERN HOME con't. next column
For the BEST time a dog ever had in Mo. Co.
European Artisan Bakery and Cafe
Celebrating
Anniversary!70thour
Special Occasion Cakes • Wedding Cakes
Baked Breads • Pastries • Breakfast • Lunch
Holiday Season
by Mary Beth Voelker
Holiday season means party season, and for a
lot of us that means potluck season. Sometimes,
even if there isn’t a formal potluck, we want
to spread the holiday cheer at work, at a club
meeting, at a Bible study, or whatever. But this
is also one of the busiest seasons with family
obligations, rush jobs at work as companies try
to deliver on their commitments before taking
time off, and all the shopping, decoration, and
events we’ve got going on in our lives, so it can
be challenging.
Do we bring something quick but tasty?
Something we can make ahead? Or go all out?
Here are a few ideas for each:
Quick But Tasty
The embarrassingly-easy cheese tray. Buy 3-4
kinds of cheese and cut it up. Buy 2-3 kinds of
crackers. When you arrive at the event, arrange
cheese and crackers on a platter. You can even
buy cheese already cut and
boxes of assorted crackers if
you’re seriously pressed for
time. It seems uninspired,
but people LIKE cheese and
crackers. Add sliced pepperoni
and/or cracker-sized piece of
ham to give it some personality.
The embarrassingly-easy
veggie tray. Buy an assortment
of your favorite vegetables
and cut them up. Buy or make
hummus, salsa, onion dip, or
whatever you like best. When
you arrive at the event arrange
veggie piece on a platter around
the dip. The dip options make
the dish here so I recommend
getting beyond the basic bowl
of ranch. Add olives, pickles,
and pepperoncini to give the
platter some personality.
Cream cheese with jelly. In its plainest form
this is a block of cream cheese unwrapped
on a plate with store-bought hot pepper jelly
poured over it and a sleeve of crackers beside
it. However, cream cheese goes well with many
different jellies and stands out nicely next to the
other things-with-crackers. You can use plain
old grape (especially if you’re proud of your
homemade muscadine jam), but for a party
it’s nice to vary the expected fruit. Plum jam,
ginger jelly, orange marmalade; purchase sturdy
crackers or bagel chips for this one.
Make Ahead
Garlic Bread. It takes preparation ahead of
time and the use of an oven at the event but
isn’t particularly time-consuming. You’ll need
an uncut loaf of Italian bread, butter, olive oil,
garlic powder or minced garlic, and Parmesan
cheese. Slice the bread thickly, cutting almost
but not quite all the way through. Melt butter
together with about half as much olive oil and
as much garlic as you like. Brush into the cut
surfaces of the bread, sprinkle with Parmesan,
and wrap in foil. At the event, heat in the oven
until it’s as toasty as you like and serve.
Sandwich spreads. Egg salad, tuna salad, or
chicken salad are always welcome. Surround
the bowl with little dinner rolls, bread triangles,
mini-pitas, small tortillas, or the ever-useful
assorted party crackers and let people make
their own tea sandwiches. If you don’t already
have favorite family recipes for these basics,
I suggest adding a pinch of curry powder to
your mayonnaise for the egg salad, putting dill
weed and lemon juice into your tuna salad, and
adding chopped cucumber as well as celery to
your chicken salad. If it’s after Thanksgiving,
substitute leftover turkey for the chicken.
Parsley potatoes, for when you just can’t look
at another pasta dish. Choose redskin potatoes
or the thin-skinned, round, white potatoes
because russet baking potatoes will get soggy
and fall to pieces boiling. Cut the potatoes into
bite-sized chunks then simmer them until just
cooked. Toss with melted butter, parsley flakes,
fresh-ground black pepper, and a little salt.
These reheat well in the microwave. I suggest
under-salting them then offering sea salt, a
pepper grinder, and Parmesan cheese alongside.
All Out
Crockpot pork roast with onions. Growing up,
this was done in the oven with a loin roast. I’ve
adapted it to the crockpot and a piece of Boston
butt to suit my budget and time constraints. In
the morning rub the pork with Kitchen Bouquet.
Put it in the crockpot and cover it with halved
onions. Cook on low all day. Cut/tear the roast
into serving portions and put on a platter with
the onions. Keep warm while separating the
grease from the juices and making gravy.
Salad bar. This is more all-out in cleanup
than in prepwork, but it’s a nice option if you
know you have vegetarians and/or dieters in a
group. A bowl of chopped iceberg and a bowl
of mixed greens form the foundation. Surround
with small bowls of cucumbers, tomatoes,
pepper, sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, and
other salad favorites. I suggest three kinds of
dressing, one of them a plain vinaigrette.
Homemade soup. Canned soup really
doesn’t compare, and people are often too busy
with work and other life-events to make soup
from scratch, so it’s something nice to have
when you get the chance. Homemade chicken
noodle, homemade turkey rice, homemade ham
and potato, homemade beef barley, homemade
vegetable, the choices are endless, and they all
get better simmering in the crockpot while you
wait. Just remember to bring bowls and spoons.
Potluck Tips
If you are organizing the meal either
assigning categories by alphabet or having
everyone communicate what they’re bringing
with no duplicates allowed works to make sure
that you don’t end up celebrating Eat More Mac
and Cheese Week.
If you use “secret ingredients” such as nut
flours, dairy in dishes that don’t normally
contain it, or unexpected spices such as the
curry in my egg salad, then it’s courteous to label
your food with an allergy warning.
It’s also a good idea to label low-salt, lowfat,
vegan, or other special-diet dishes so that
people can be surprised by a dish they didn’t
think they could eat.
If you’re bringing the drinks it’s nice to have
the choice of something sugar-free and caffeinefree
other than tap water. Additionally, if there
are going to be a lot of kids present mothers
appreciate juice as an option instead of just soda.
It’s always nice to bring a few extra serving
spoons. You can get those, and also some
inexpensive serving dishes that you can give
away with the leftovers, at dollar stores, thrift
stores, and yard sales.
No. 132 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. p.11
/www.dogsbestfriendinc.com
/www.thebakehouse.biz
link