Informational | Dinner With Joy

Dec 13

A peek at 2013

It’s nice to be validated, especially by official sources. It means your opinion has worth and kinda makes you want to stick your thumbs in your suspenders and strut a few steps. On the other hand, being able to say;”I told you so!” isn’t always so pleasant. It usually means something unwanted has come to pass. So I have mixed feelings writing this. The report from The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Department is out and I was right about anticipating a larger gain in food prices in 2013 than 2012. Last year they expected a rise of 3% to 4%. This year they’re forecasting price increases of AT LEAST 5%, pending the full effects of the drought, and no reversal in the trend until 2020 at the earliest. So hold onto your hats people, we’re in for a ride. No matter your financial position, you will feel the consequences. Read more

Dec 6

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‘Tis the season for gifting!

Two weeks ago I confessed that Thanksgiving really snuck up on me, but Christmas dosen’t stand a chance of doing that. From the moment I turned on the car radio Thanksgiving Day, I’ve been bombarded by Christmas music, especially in the stores. I hate to disappoint the promo departments, but starting this early on dosen’t put me in the holiday mood so much as it raises my anxiety level, particularly when I’m shopping, by reminding me I’m facing a deadline. So much to do, so little time!! Read more

Nov 29

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After the ball….er…feast

In my first posting on Dec. 17, 2011, I discussed ways to store and use leftovers from holiday dinners and mentioned two of my favorite recipes which are available on this site; one for Hot Chicken Salad and the other for Stuffing Soup. Over the months I’ve offered other poultry recipes, especially for salads, in which leftover turkey can be substituted. In fact I don’t believe there are any in which it can’t. Two weeks ago I discussed stripping and freezing the leftover meat from the cooked turkey and boiling the bones for stock. All of this information can be easily found on this blog site and can be very helpful but would be far too time and space consuming to repeat here. So please look it up. Read more

Nov 15

Let’s talk turkey

When I think of a turkey in its natural setting, I picture colorful autumn woods, falling leaves, pumpkins and acorns. I don’t visualize tropical foliage, sun-drenched fields, blue water and a cactus. We learn, as children, that the turkey is native to North America, but that covers a huge area. It turns out that the Aztecs in Mexico domesticated the turkey years before they introduced it to the Spaniards in 1591. Their counterparts in Massachusetts were still picking them out of trees when the Pilgrims arrived in 1630. To further disillusion you, the birds we prize today for their plumpness, are bred from a Dutch strain. Oh yes! And I saw as a child, when visiting a farm on a class trip, the birds grown for the markets are white, not brown. It seems the common, sedate turkey has a bit of mystique that would make it a good topic for True or False quizzes, from its history, through choosing, to preparing, to cooking to carving one. So let’s start from the top, bearing in mind that this discussion is “Roasting a Whole Turkey 101”. To widen it further would allow enough information to fill a book. Read more

Nov 8

When the frost is on the pumpkin…

In my area more than the frost is on the pumpkin. We’ll have to brush the sand off too! But wherever you live the calendar pages are turning and the path to preparing for the holidays is lighting up. I mentioned back in September, that I was drawing up my master food shopping list for the various “feasts” ahead. No matter what your situation, there are bound to be increased provisions to acquire and increased costs to be faced in the coming weeks. Amortizing both over a period of weeks, even months, reduces the stress on you and on your wallet and helps turn panic to pleasure. Pre-planning also allows you to recognize and take advantage of the best “deals” on different products as they appear. Read more

Oct 11

Facts Of Basics – Part 2, Sugar

To refresh your memory, a friend asked, in view of the rising prices, if she had to buy all of the different types of the basic ingredients listed in the recipes she would prepare for the holidays, or if she could save a bit of money by making some of them do double duty. I realize that “The Holidays” not only means those so many of us celebrate in December, but Thanksgiving and Halloween as well, which for lots of people involves cooking, especially baking, for classroom and organization parties in addition to family gatherings. It has become a long season! Read more

Oct 4

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Facts Of Basics – Part 1, Flour

A friend stopped in while I was writing last week’s posting and read what I was writing. She remarked that she loved, as she termed them ”mechanical tips” that make cooking easier, but would really like to learn more about her options among the ingredients she had to buy when preparing baked goods for the holidays. There are so many kinds of flour available now and types of sugar, she didn’t know if she had to buy everything stipulated in each recipe, or if some could do double duty and save a bit of money. This was true of other basic items required as well. So I promised to do what I could to help. Read more

Sep 22

Up, Up, and Away

In my first posting, last December, I quoted the government projection that food costs were expected to rise in 2012 at a rate equal to that of 2011, about 4%. I was skeptical then, because the price of many items, chiefly dairy and frozen, had risen sharply in the preceding weeks, camouflaged by the holiday sale items. 4% seemed very conservative estimate for that year and, if the trend continued, even more so for this one. By June I was a bit complacent, there had been no drastic spikes and some things had even come down. Then came the drought with consequences that can alter food supplies for years to come. Now there’s been hurricane Isaac, which will definitely hike prices for, at least, the next few months. Read more

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