Plan the Perfect Wedding Shower

by: ARA

(ARA) - A wedding shower should be fun for everyone involved: the bride, the guests, and even the hostess. A little advance planning ensures that happens.

First, a bit of etiquette: the shower is usually hosted by the maid or matron of honor, or a close family friend. The guest list should include only people who have been invited to the wedding, unless the shower is hosted by co-workers. Showers are traditionally held a month or two before the wedding; this can be a very stressful and busy time for the bride, so make sure the date fits into her schedule before making all the arrangements.

Showers are supposed to help the bride and groom equip their new home, so they’re often planned around a specific theme: recipe showers, camping showers, linen showers, etc. In choosing a theme, consider things that are important to the bride. Does she love to cook? Consider a recipe party. Does she like to entertain? How about a “stock the bar” shower? Is the couple moving into a new home after the wedding? A tool shower can help them collect the essentials they’ll need. Once you decide on a theme, you can use it to tie in decorations, gifts, even the food and games.

* Invitations

The theme starts here. For a cooking shower, send invitations written on recipe cards, or cut out leaf shapes for a garden shower. Make it clear if guests are expected to bring a certain type of gift.

* Decorations

Your local party supply store is a good place to start, and the Internet is also a great resource. Look for paper goods that carry out your theme -- a floral design for a garden shower, for example. Another good option is to decorate for the shower in the colors the bride has chosen for her wedding.

* Food

Showers usually involve a light lunch or appetizers. Tastefully Simple sells gourmet food products that make it easy to put together an impressive menu. Most of the company’s products require only one or two ingredients to prepare, or can be enjoyed right out of the package. For example, the Creamy Wild Rice Soup mix can be used to make a delicious wild rice casserole that can be the main course of your menu. Or spread softened cream cheese on flour tortillas, top with Tastefully Simple’s Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Jam, roll tortillas, chill and slice into spirals for beautiful hors d’oeuvres.

The company’s Web site has a complete selection of products and more serving and menu ideas. You can even choose Tastefully Simple as your shower theme. A consultant will organize a home taste-testing party, offering samples, easy meal ideas, recipes and serving suggestions. Guests can order for themselves and for the bride.

* Games

People tend to be split into two camps where shower games are concerned -- either they think no shower would be complete without them, or they’d rather visit the dentist than play them. Take your lead from the bride on this one; after all, it’s her party. Check your local bookstore, library, or the Internet for party game ideas. Chances are you’ll be able to find a game that ties in with your theme. For example, if you’re having a recipe shower, you could play the apron game: attach a variety of kitchen utensils to an apron and have the bride put it on and model it for a couple of minutes, then leave the room. Have guests write down as many items as they can remember; the person with the longest list wins.

* Party favors

While party favors are not essential, they are a nice touch. Choose wisely, and your party favors can double as part of your decorative theme. For example, for a garden party, use small potted plants with guests’ names painted on the pots as a place card on the table. When the party is over, guests can take the plant home as a memento. You can also use personalized photo frames, champagne flutes or candles in the same way. If you’re throwing a kitchen shower, send guests home with a tasty treat such as Tastefully Simple’s Spinach and Herb Mix, or their Garlic Garlic and Bacon Bacon dip mixes.

Use these tips to plan the perfect shower. You’ll be a relaxed, gracious hostess and the bride will have a very special day to remember.

Tastefully Simple products are sold through home taste-testing parties. To find a consultant in your area, or for more information on products, visit www.tastefullysimple.com or call (866) 328-6673.

Courtesy of ARA Content






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Sandwich Rolls

by: News Canada

2 3/4 cups (675 ml) Five Roses All Purpose White Flour or Never Bleached, or with Wheat Bran

1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar

1 tsp (5 ml) salt

1 tbsp (15 ml) Instant yeast

1 cup (250 ml) water

1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil

1 beaten egg

Reserve 1/2 cup (125 ml) flour. Mix remaining flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. Heat water with oil until warm to touch (50ºC/125ºF). Stir warm liquid into dry ingredients. Mix enough reserved flour to make soft dough that does not stick to bowl. Turn out onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic about 8 min. Cover; let rest 10 min. Divide dough into 10 or 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into small elongated loaves. Place in tight rows onto greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in size about 30 min. Brush with beaten egg. Bake at 190ºC (375ºF) for 15 to 20 min.

For "free" recipes call Five Roses at 1-800-561-3455 or visit www.fiveroses.ca.

- News Canada

About the author:
News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

www.newscanada.com
admin@newscanada.com

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Cooking for a Holiday Crowd Made

Easy (Peasy)

by: ARA

ARA) - The holidays. A time for loads of family, gifts and good cheer. Unfortunately, the holidays also can be a huge headache when it comes to cooking a holiday dinner for a house filled with people. Plus, you’re probably sick to death of turkey and wish you could serve something a little different to your holiday guests. Here’s the thing: you can!

They call me the Naked Chef because I like to prepare easy, no-fuss meals. I reckon the same should go for holiday meals. The perfect holiday dinner can be prepared pretty easily, without a whole lot of extra steps -- especially when you have the right range to work with. Lucky for me, Amana has given me one of their new ranges, and it works just great. You should see it -- this range is the largest one for its size on the market, with 5.22 cubic feet of capacity -- which is large enough to let me prepare an entire holiday meal at once. It’s the size of Royal Albert Hall! On the outside, though, it’s a standard 30-inch range so it fits perfectly in your kitchen with no problem. It’s also easy to use, which is terrific when your kitchen is crazy and overflowing with holiday guests. The U-shaped EasyRack oven rack keeps you from getting burned when taking out a pizza pan or cookie sheet, while the self-cleaning oven makes clean-up a piece of cake. There’s also a warming drawer where I can heat up plates before serving the great meal. Brilliant.

Here’s one of my favorite holiday meals. It’s got it all -- a nice piece of pork, loads of veg and a tasty dessert. Thanks to my Amana range, I cooked the entire thing at once . . . and it was delicious.

Pork Loin with a Great Herby Stuffing

This pork recipe is great for holiday entertaining. You can serve it as a conventional roast, or let it cool, slice it and serve it as part of a buffet. Here’s what you’ll need.

Serves 8-10

1/2 a pork loin, preferably the rib end, off the bone

1 small handful of rosemary leaves, picked

3 heaping teaspoons of fennel seeds

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound, 2-ounces sourdough or rustic bread

2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced

1 small handful fresh sage leaves, ripped up

1 handful of pine nuts

Extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place your pork loin in front of you and score across the skin with a sharp knife about 1/2-inch deep and about 1/2-inch apart. Using a mortar and pestle, pound up the rosemary and fennel seeds with a tablespoon of salt -- bash the mixture up until really fine and then rub it into all the score marks on the pork. Remove the crusts from the bread and slice it up. I like to toast the bread in a toaster or on a griddle until lightly golden, as this gives the stuffing a really fantastic smoky flavor. While the bread is toasting, slowly fry the onions, garlic, sage and pine nuts in a little olive oil for 10 minutes, until the onions are sweet and soft. Season with salt and pepper, add the balsamic vinegar and put the mixture in a bowl. Rip your bread into pieces and add to the bowl. Squash everything together, really squeezing the onions into the bread. Have a taste -- it may need a little more seasoning. Put to one side and allow cooling.

Insert your knife into the eye meat of the pork loin and make a cavity for your stuffing. Pack in the stuffing, then roll the pork over and tie it with a few pieces of string. Place the pork on a roasting pan and cook in the oven for just over an hour, until crisp and golden or until pork reaches 160 degrees.

Now, as your pork begins cooking, you can prepare these terrific veg dishes. Once you’ve prepared them, pop them in your range alongside the pork and allow everything to cook at once.

Stir-fried Savoy cabbage with garlic and Worcester sauce

This is a really simple and amazingly tasty thing to do with a Savoy cabbage. Worcester sauce (pronounced ‘Wooster’ in England -- don’t ask me why!) is worth looking for. You can find it in the States, but if it’s not in a store near you try using a strong spicy steak sauce instead.

Serves 4

1 head of Savoy cabbage

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons of Worcester sauce

Cut your cabbage in half and cut out the stalk. Place the halves ‘cut side’ down on a chopping board and slice the cabbage up as finely as you can.

Heat a large flat low-sided pan or a wok and add the oil. When the oil’s hot, add the garlic, fry for a few seconds until it turns light brown. Add the shredded cabbage and stir-fry for a minute coating all the pieces of cabbage in the garlicky oil.

Add the Worcester sauce, lots of salt and freshly ground black pepper and continue to stir-fry for another minute or two until the cabbage has wilted slightly and soaked up all the lovely sauce, but it should still have just a little crunch.

Wicked roast vegetables

Roast veg has never been so good! If you can’t find parsnip, try using wedges of pumpkin instead.

Serves 4

4 medium size potatoes

2 carrots

2 parsnips

2 red onions

A handful of garlic cloves

Some rosemary sprigs

Olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel or scrub all the root vegetables and cut them in half, lengthways. Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with salted water and place on the heat. Peel the onions, cut them into quarters and toss them with the carrots and parsnips in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper and spread out in a roasting tray. Cover tightly with foil and place in the pre-heated oven.

When the potatoes come to the boil, carefully lift them out and place in a colander to drain. After the vegetables have been in the oven for 30 minutes, take the tray out of the oven and take the foil off. Add the potatoes, garlic and rosemary and shake everything around a little. Return to the oven without the foil and roast for another 30 minutes or until cooked through and crispy brown.

Baked Pears Stuffed with Almonds, Orange and Chocolate in Flaky Pastry

Last, but not least, the holiday dessert. Here’s one your guests will come back for next year.

You’ll need:

Serves 4

4 perfectly ripe pears

1-1/2 ounces blanched almonds

5-1/2 ounces butter

1-3/4 ounces sugar

Zest of 1 orange

Seeds of one vanilla bean

1-1/2 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate

16 sheets of filo dough, defrosted if frozen

Carefully peel the pears and carve out each core from the bottom. This will give you a hole about 1-1/2 inches deep. Put the pears to one side.

Put your blanched almonds into a food processor and whiz up until really fine (or bash with a rolling pin). Put them in a bowl with 5 tablespoons of the butter, the sugar and the zest of the orange. Add the vanilla seeds to the bowl, then mix everything up until nice and smooth. Bash up the chocolate into small pieces, adding these to the mixture as well. Divide into 4 balls and put to the side.

Melt the rest of the butter in a little pan for brushing onto the filo dough. Dampen a clean dish towel and wring it out -- use this to cover the unused filo dough so it doesn’t dry out. Working with one piece of filo dough at a time, spread it out in front of you and brush the sheet with melted butter. Lay the next sheet of filo dough on top and repeat until you have four brushed layers of filo dough. Cut the layered pastry down to an 8-by-8-inch square.

Take a pear and one ball of almond mix and fill the hole in the base, packing the excess filling around the base of the pear. Place in the middle of the filo square, then gather up the pastry around the stalk and pinch tight. You can leave it looking nice and rustic and flopping all over the place, as this will look really good when it’s cooked. Repeat this process with the other pears. Brush the outside of the pastry with any remaining melted butter, then bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp. Serve with the rest of your lovely holiday meal.

Visit www.amana.com for more practical appliance solutions from Amana.

Courtesy of ARA Content






About the author:
Courtesy of ARA Content

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Submitted by Dr.Shoukath.ND

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