menu plan – In Good Taste

Back to Me Time: Fall Meal Planning

Maris Callahan — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 14:00:27 +0000

There was a time before I spent all of my waking hours on the internet when I would spend my “me time” reading the stacks of magazines that I’d impulse buy while standing on line at the grocery store. In today’s digital world, there is something extra special about receiving a handwritten note in the mail, flipping through a paperback book or settling in for some “me time” with a few favorite magazines and a chocolate chip cookie or a glass of wine. Last week when I was waiting to check Jewel-Osco, I picked up a copy of People StyleWatch, an old favorite title, and Real Simple, which boasted a feature about “instant meal planning” that included a month of family dinners. As much as I love to read about fall fashion colors and fall decor, it’s a good food or recipe feature that will really hook me. Though some people criticize magazines for setting impossibly high standards of perfection, I love that the articles and recipes inside are aspirational, but not out of reach. In the 30 minutes that I spent flipping through Real Simple with the television off and my phone out of reach, I felt inspired to create my own meal […]

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Planning Your First Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Maris Callahan — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:04:30 +0000

So, you’re planning your first Thanksgiving dinner. You need an amazing Thanksgiving dinner menu. The meal of all meals, the marathon of holiday dinners. If you’re a beginner cook or if you don’t have a lot of experience cooking large meals, preparing a Thanksgiving dinner is no doubt, a daunting task. If you’re new to the game of cooking for crowds in the double-digits (and aren’t we all at some point?) follow some simple planning tips and look to the menu ideas below to dazzle your dinner guests and welcome the holiday season with gusto. Prep Ahead Plan your menu at least five days before Thanksgiving. Once you know what you’re going to serve, pull all your recipes together in one place – either an Excel spreadsheet or print them out. From there, you can identify what else you need and fill in menu gaps accordingly. Make a shopping list of everything you need to minimize trips to the store for “one more thing.” Stock your pantry with essentials – you won’t want to run out of chicken stock, butter, olive oil, salt or pepper on the big day and most stores close early, if they’re open at all. Plan to serve a […]

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