Food Prep - The Holidays are Coming!

15 years ago

I was just thinking about how the holidays are a mere peek around the corner! Like most of you, I run around like a mad woman trying to cook everything I would like.

How about we start a list of food items we can prep NOW that can be frozen, canned, etc. and thrown in the oven, finished, etc. when the holidays are here?

Think of the time we can save!

This got me thinking when I was drooling over Sharon's (Chase) Spanikopita recipe, which can be prepped and frozen for 3 months. Perfect!

Spanikopita

(Sharon-chase)

16 Oz Phyllo dough thawed

10 Oz Frozen Spinach thawed and drained of all liquid

3/4 Lb Feta Cheese

1/2 Lb Cottage Cheese Pressed and drained of all it's liquid *

About 1 Cup1/4 Drained

1lb Cream Cheese Softened

3 Eggs

1/4 Cup Fresh Dill Chopped Fine

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

3/4 Cup Butter Melted

In large bowl combine all ingredients except phylo and butter. Working with one sheet of phylo at a time, brush with melted butter and cut in 5 strips lengthwise.

Place 1 spoonful of mixture at the bottom of each strip about 1 inch from the bottom, fold the bottom pieece upover the filling and then fold up into triangles. Fold like you fold a flag, to the left, up , to the right,up etc. Makes over 50.

These can be made ahead and frozen for up to three months.

When ready to cook: Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until

golden. Serve warm.

* I had Ricotta cheese, so that's what I used

So, what else can we make now?

Comments (19)

ann_t
15 years ago
Wow, your idea of Holidays being just around the corner and mine are two different things. LOL!. I hate even thinking about Thanksgiving or Christmas when I'm still trying to enjoy summer. And our Thanksgiving is about 6 weeks earlier than yours.

When you make Sharon's Spanikopita make some of Alexa's Lobster Triangles at the same time. Both are made using Phyllo.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Phyllo Triangles with Lobster Filling
=====================================
Posted by caliloo (My Page) on Mon, Dec 19, 05 at 16:04

Phyllo Triangles with Lobster Filling
Martha Stewart Entertaining
Makes about 50

1 Steamed Lobster
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 scallions finely chopped
Â¼ cup white wine or vodka
1 Â½ tbsp all purpose flour
Â¼ cup heavy cream
pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 lb Phyllo
1 lb unsalted butter, melted

Remove meat from lobster and chop. Set aside
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a small skillet and sautÃ© the scallions for 2 or 3 min. Add lobster meat and wine or vodka and stir quickly to combine over high heat. Drain the mixture reserving the liquid.

Melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter in another skillet. Add the flour and cook slowly without coloring the flour for 5 minutes. Add the reserved liquid and cream and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Stir the lobster meat back into the cream mixture, add cayenne and season to taste. Cool completely before filling the triangles.

Prepare the triangles as you would sharonÂs Spanikopita. If you need those directions, I can copy them over.

I do not know if these freeze, but I am not going to need all 50 for Xmas Eve, so I am going to give it a shot with the leftovers.
loagiehoagie
15 years ago
Shut yo mouth about the freakin' holidays@! LOL. I still have tomatoes coming in strong and definitely am not rushing cold weather....which lasts FOREVER here in Michigan. I love autumn, but just dread where it heads off to. I don't even mind snow...it's just those long gray days that are really depressing. Okay...back to your topic!

Duane
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wizardnm
15 years ago
Duane, you took the words right out of my mouth!

Nancy
compumom
15 years ago
I don't think so!!!!!
lpinkmountain
15 years ago
Honestly the best thing to do now is freeze and can summer's bounty--stewed tomatoes and salsa, pretty soon applesauce, canned pears, frozen peaches, pesto which I freeze, jardinairre which can be made into pasta salad, frozen raspberries for fancy coffeecake, plum sauce or plum jam, pickles for the relish tray--green beans, beets, cukes. Green cherry tomatoes in place of olives in martinis. Fresh vegetable soup to pull out of the freezer to serve with good rolls when unexpected company comes. Spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes. Fresh tomato soup. Frozen blackberry pie or cobbler. Or put up some fruit in booze. Dry herbs for the turkey and dressing. Freeze some green beans for the famous casserole.
dedtired
15 years ago
I do hope you are talking about Rosh Hashanah.
centralcacyclist
15 years ago
I saw people buying Halloween decorations today and shuddered.
Lisa_in_Germany
15 years ago
The Christmas cookies and specialties were in the stores on Sept. 1st here.
Lisa
mitchdesj
15 years ago
What's ideal for freezing times ? even if a recipe says it may be frozen for up to 3 months, is that to be trusted as a guideline for optimum freshness ?
I've always wondered..........
triciae
15 years ago
For decades, I've started Holiday preparation the first or second week in October. Stuff that freezes well,

Dressing/stuffing (I mix everything together & freeze raw)
All cookies
Quick breads
Sweet potatoes (we like them slow roasted until caramalized & then mashed with a bit of butter & they freeze beautifully)
Granola/trail mix (this is our favorite munchie to have out during the Holidays & I actually made this Monday & it's in the freezer now)
Pie crust dough
Fillings for fruit pies (I freeze the filling separately & assembly/bake the pies on the morning of the Holiday)
Filling for pumpkin pies (frozen raw - it keeps beautifully...thaw & bake the morning of the Holiday)
Gingerbread & Lemon Sauce (maybe a bit surprising but Lemon Sauce freezes just great)
Plum Puddings (will be made next week...I shopped for ingredients last weekend)
I order the meats the first couple weeks in October.

By the time the Holidays arrive I've got most of the cooking already done.

Things I also do well in advance are take the linens to the cleaners, polish silver, wash the china/crystal if it's not been used for awhile, check decorations to see if anything's self-destructed since last year & replace, if necessary (how does that happen anyway??), & I order my fresh floral decorations from the florist we've used for years very early...like around Halloween (then, I can just forget about it & they arrive right when I need them).

There's lots of other stuff I do very early also but it's only 6:30 a.m. & I can't think yet! I'm limited physically & hurrying around last minute doesn't work for me.

I also have my Holiday shopping done & wrapped before T-day. Components for business gifts are prepped early so all I have to do is assemble for DH the night before he delivers. We don't send out as many Holiday cards as we used to but there's still a couple hundred cards & I've been working on those since July.

We start putting up the Christmas village the weekend after Halloween because it takes forever. I'd like to stop putting it up but the g-kids would freak.

This year, we're serving dinner at the food bank on T-Day so much less cooking. I'm just going to make a roast chicken dinner for the 2 of us & include stuffing the Friday after T-Day...maybe one pie, probably pumpkin.

Also, no business gifts this year. Instead, we are donating one turkey to the food bank in lieu of those gifts & just sending cards notifying people of the donation. Our food banks are in dire need of support this year. Actually, it's at critical mass levels.

/tricia
triciae
15 years ago
Geez, I just read my post & it sounds like we're donating one lousy turkey for all of the business gift, lol. What I meant was one turkey per gift. We did this last year & then I put together homemade recipe collections of our family's favorite holiday goodies to include with the donation card. This year, we're cutting out even the token gift & just making donations. These business gifts are ridiculous. Those people do not need another plate of cookies or a loaf of bread. I can take that money & purchase lots of bulk food items for the food bank. Even DH's staff will not be receiving personal gifts from us this year. Hopefully, everybody's mature enough to realize that resources need to be redirected. If not, too bad!

We're also making our donation very early because last year the food bank was scrambling around 3 days before T-day trying to get turkeys. They came up 800 meals short! It made us sick to our stomachs & we were completely unable to enjoy our T-day feast. It was just terrible. We live in what's generally considered to be an affluent area & knowing that 800+ people went without a meal on T-day is NOT OK. Gads, imagine how bad it's going to be this year?!

/t
gardengrl
Original Author
15 years ago
Triciae, you sound like my kinda girl!!! I'm an organization nut, so I love planning stuff ahead. At any given time, I have a list of some sort either in my purse or at home. I think I would be great as an event planner, but I would probably self-combust from the non-stop thinking and planning.

I have a Dept 56 Christmas village too...but our current house is very small (starter home), so I don't have a very convenient/safe spot to set it up. I keep telling myself that one day we'll move into a bigger home and I'll have space. But there's another voice that tells me I should sell it and save all the space those boxes take up in storage (I store the boxes in Rubbermaid tubs).

I'm in Florida, so the weather makes the holidays part of some sort of time capsule. We start our second growing season right about now, so at Christmas we have more food to harvest!

I love the idea of getting the sweet breads & pie doughs ready. Never thought of doing the stuffing early...won't the bread get soggy (I make a bread/sausage stuffing)? I usually make my fruit...um...holiday "rum" cakes in October, so they're ready at Christmas.

Do you freeze your pie filling raw or cook it before freezing?
eileenlaunonen
15 years ago
Fried eggplant (to become parmesean) Meatballs, Marinara or Sunday gravy,pie dough, sausage and peppers,cheesecake (without the topping) cookies...etc........ Scarey I went to Party City today to get Confirmation announcements for Johhny Boy and people were buying Costumes...UGH!!! needless to say Paddy boy was having a hissy fit because i wouldnt purchase his Fireman costume!
annie1992
15 years ago
Nope, I don't allow any Christmas decorations anywhere around me until after Thanksgiving. I LIKE Thanksgiving, all I have to do is eat and be thankful and I think I should be allowed to have it without the ghastly specter of Christmas hanging over me! I dread Christmas and dislike it more each year and have already informed the office staff that any of the "Christmas Cr*p" they hang around the place had better be kept out of MY office.

After reading Tricia's post, I have even more to be thankful for. I don't do fresh flowers, I don't have china or silver, I don't use linens. I don't set up a Christmas village or other assorted "stuff" and I don't send cards. The commercialism of Christmas has pushed me to my threshold of disgust. I just cook dinner for 40 people and we use disposable plates, there is no way I'm washing all those darned dishes.

As for Christmas shopping, I give my kids cash and for everyone else we draw names. I hate to shop and there's that commercialism thing again...

Maybe, though, when I get all this "wedding" food out of the freezer this weekend, maybe I'll start on Christmas cookies. Cookies, Christmas songs and Christmas Eve church services, along with the family meal, are about the only things I LIKE about Christmas.

Like lpinkmountain, I spend this time of year canning tomatoes, making jam and pickles, pressing cider. The holidays can wait a while longer.

Annie
stbonner
15 years ago
Triciae, my hat's off to you. Really, I am SO impressed. Every year I swear I am going to get organized for Christmas and get things done early, and I rarely achieve my goal. I've e-mailed your post to myself so that I will have it as inspiration towards a relaxed and well-planned holiday.

Martha Stewart has nothing on you:)
triciae
15 years ago
gardengrl,

No, the bread doesn't get soggy. I prep the stuffing/dressing just as if I was going to cook it immediately but instead of cooking it into the freezer it goes. It take 2 days to thaw in the frig.

My stuffing is bread, celery, onion, carrot, sausage, apple, cranberries, & seasonings plus a couple eggs as binder. I use stock as the liquid. It's a huge time saver to prepare in advance & freeze.

Our Christmas village is huge...takes DH 3 weeks to get it wired. I handpainted all of the houses & people then use Dept 56 for accessories. We've got a train, a 'snow' machine hangs above it & drops fresh snow, Santa & a Goodyear blimp fly overhead, & we've even got fireworks complete with sound effects. The grandkids absolutely LOVE the village. Ours also is in Rubbermaid tubs (lots of them!).

I freeze all pie fillings raw & separate from the dough. I freeze fillings for pumpkin, apple, chocolate pecan, & cherry pies. Just roll the dough, fill, & bake the morning of the Holiday. I freeze the fillings in a 9" pie dish & then when they're frozen pop them out & vac pac. Then, I roll my dough to fit a 10" pie dish...pop the frozen filling into the crust & into the oven it goes! Note: All of these pies are one-crust (my family only likes Dutch apple). I don't know if you could put a top crust over a frozen filling? It sure works great for one-crust pies though! Don't forget to use one size larger to bake in though or the filling won't fit!

/tricia
craftyrn
15 years ago
The only early prep & save I do (food wise)is get most of the cookie doughs in the freezer the middle of Oct--& the homemade jams,pickles & relishes for family/close friends gift baskets.

As far as decorating etc-- hate it the last few years & if I can (hopefully this year )talk one of the kids into having the family gathering at their home-- I won't do more than hang a couple stockings-- and then the grandkids will disown me!
gardengrl
Original Author
15 years ago
Triciae, you're village sounds AWESOME! My Dad used to have Lionel trains. He had one whole room set up as an entire city, complete with flowing waterfalls and moving cars. As kids, we used to stand there fascinated for hours.

I think that's where I get it from. I call it the "Miniature Gene". :-) Your grandkids will remember what you do for the rest of their lives!

O.k., for you cookie dough freezers...do all cookie doughs freeze well/the same, or are some better at freezing than others?
sheshebop
15 years ago
Kathy,
I don't start quite this early. I have just finished my canning. I did 104 (Mostly quarts) jars of stuff this year: pcikled beets, tomato sauce, tomatoes whole, pasta sauce, pears, nectarines, and peaches. Plus I froze 1-1/2 bushels of courn and got 40 pints.
I just cleaned the stove today. (It was pretty yucky)

I usually wait until October to start stuff ahead for Christmas also. However, like Annie, I am liking Christmas less and less each year. Last year, for the first time ever, I did not prepare any food for Christmas, but took the family out to a family style restaurant. I only did a few cookies and candies.
This year, well, I am not sure what I will do. I guess I could freeze some cookie doughs.
Let us know what all you do ahead. I like to hear about it.
Sherry

Food Prep - The Holidays are Coming!

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