Last Minute Holiday Ideas To Keep Your Season Sane

Need something quick for a Holiday Exchange?  Would you like to stop by the neighbors to say hello and drop off a thoughtful and tasty gift?  Want to offer a small treat to thank your co-workers? In need of a quick host or hostess gift?

Here are some ideas I gathered. Cheers!

Rum and Coke! This cost me about $20 and that includes our Washington state liquor tax.

Bring Holiday Cheer!

Wine and beer are gifts that can make a party festive and fun!

A little booze can be a great ice-breaker for the season. Dress up bottles for a quick gift idea to add something special under the tree or to take to a party.  Please check out my alcohol themed ideas to get the holidays started.

Bark, The Herald Angels Sing! Fa La La La etc...

Holiday bark is a quick and easy treat to give to your friends and family.

The trick to making bark is to not make them too thick. They break easier and are less "fudgie" tasting. You also need to watch when you are melting white chocolate, because it melts at a different time and temperature than dark chocolate.  Here is a link about how to melt white chocolate that you can read before trying these recipes that have a bigger bark than their bite.

Quick Ideas for the Host or Hostess

Keeping things simple is smart when hosting during the holidays.

Holiday are a busy time and calendars fill up fast with all the parties and get-togethers.  Here are some ideas for appetizers and gifts that are easy to make, so you don't show up empty-handed.

Mason Jar Gift Ideas

Mason jars are a pretty way to present gifts to all your Jar Heads.

Homemade gifts can be put in a mason jar or recycled glass to look nostalgic and crafty.  Every year, my mom makes sugar nuts, she can just put them in a jar, tie a ribbon tied around it - and call it good.  You can also make caramel sauce, which is nice to have on hand.  Warm caramel sauce can be drizzled over pancakes or poffertjes (Dutch pancakes) to please kiddos on Christmas morning. Get gift ideas that you can put a lid on.

It's Starting to Look like Christmas!

Simple ideas can add a festive flair.

I love the holidays, but my job keeps me busy and I have to keep my decorating and shopping to a minimum.  Next time you are at the grocery store, pick up holly, cinnamon and other ingredients to make your home festive and smell nice.

Let's Wrap It Up!

Items found in nature are an inexpensive resource to make environmental friendly packaging.

Why do mummies like Christmas so much?  Because it is all about the wrapping.  I tend to love the wrapping more than the gifts, however, as the season carries on, wrapping gifts can start to feel overwhelming.  Don't get too wrapped up and keep it simple.  Here are some quick and easy ideas to wrap the season up!

Dear readers, please send me your ideas on ways to keep the holidays sane and simple.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Make Ahead Recipe: Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Thanksgiving is coming! I am up early on the Sunday morning before Thanksgiving. My philosophy and strategy regarding Thanksgiving is that it is fun when done in small doses. I try and make as much as I can ahead of time.


This morning, I am making Roasted Acorn Squash Soup.  My plan is to freeze the soup and then defrost it the night before Thanksgiving. The day of, I will throw it in a crockpot, which will allow me to have one more easy vegan dish, to make my vegan and health-conscious guests happy.

Yesterday, my mixed doubles tennis partner said: "If you live in Seattle, you have to know how to cook for vegans."  Another great option in Seattle is to order a vegan take-out for Thanksgiving dinner; which is what he and his wife are doing this year.

Since pureed soup is vegan, it is good soup to freeze and I may save some for myself to bring to work for lunch.

I sliced the acorn squash in half, using a serrated knife.  Then I added olive oil, Kosher salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

You can save the acorn squash seeds for a nutritious snack for your Thanksgiving guests. 

While the acorn squash was cooking, I rough chopped carrots, shallots, yellow and red onions and a granny smith apple. If you are in a rush, take the time to cut the carrots into smaller pieces.

I took all the scraps from the apples, carrots and onions and threw them into a stock pan to make basic vegetable broth. Since this is a Thanksgiving make ahead dish, I have time to make the broth while the acorns are roasting and cooling off.

Thanksgiving is a great time to make stock. I raided the refrigerator and gathered celery bottoms, leaves, more onion peels, and garlic peels.  I peeled extra carrots and prepped vegetables that have for other dishes I need to make this week.  I threw this "waste" in the stock pan to make vegetable broth.

For the soup, I sautéed the rough chopped items in dutch oven with some olive oil.  After everything was starting to look translucent, I added my spices and gave them extra time to toast.  It is starting to smell like Thanksgiving!

Since I don't have the broth ready yet, I added about a quarter cup of water to simmer on low for
about 5 mins and then covered the pan and turned off the heat.

After the squash has cooled and the broth was strained, I scooped out the flesh of the squash and added 3 1/2 cups broth to the dutch oven pot.

I let this cook for 20 minutes and then pureed the ingredients using my immersion blender. I skipped the step to add salt and pepper, because I will season this on Thanksgiving while this is being heated up in a crock pot.

Since the ingredients were mostly cool, I poured them in containers and put them in the freezer to be ready to go for Thanksgiving day.

Making this soup ahead of Thanksgiving is easy.  I modified this Roasted Acorn Squash Soup recipe from Lacey Baier's blog.

OMG! Take a breath! Ohm! Since writing this blog post on Sunday morning, my oven died - just 3 days before Thanksgiving.  At least the burners work!  I cannot bake or roast and we have guest coming.  The repair man is set to come out today.  I am so glad that I got one recipe done. Stay tuned and see how I adjust my plan for Thanksgiving to handle this - or if my oven can be repaired!

---

My blog is about living in the Pacific Northwest.  Here is photo of my view this morning.