Time to Give Thanks
Melissa’s wants to celebrate with you, by offering some serving suggestions to enhance your current day Thanksgiving Day feast; Try mixing in grains with your favorite stuffing recipe to add some nutrition.
Winter Squash
November is a time to give thanks for everything around us. We enjoy our families and friends and show our appreciation on Thanksgiving. Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November (this year it is November 28th), annual tradition brings families and friends together for a feast of thanks. Originally a thanks to God by the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony who survived a brutal winter safely, the first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days and provided food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. Today’s Thanksgiving feast has many similarities in the foods that were served: berries, fruits, pumpkin and squash.
Cranberries
Melissa’s wants to celebrate with you, by offering some serving suggestions to enhance your current day Thanksgiving Day feast; Try mixing in grains with your favorite stuffing recipe to add some nutrition. Add fresh Cranberries or Dried Cranberries and you have a delicious healthy side. Other fun appetizers are dragon fruit slices placed on top of a Starfruit slice, then topped with a dollop of yogurt. Try simple Melba toast rounds topped with Melissa's Sun Dried Tomato Pesto mixed with cream cheese. Everyone will love it and it is fast and simple to make.
Organic Baby Yam
Planning ahead is important for a successful holiday meal. Prepare your turkey early in the morning and cook it all day to get the aroma in the air. Use a turkey "bag" to insure a moist turkey and it basically takes care of itself (no basting). You can even toss your veggies in the bag with the turkey. Use plenty of Baby Fingerlings, Baby Carrots and even Pearl Onions or Boiler Onions to serve as a tasty side dish. Organic Baby Yams are always a hit served casserole style topped with marshmallows! Fresh cranberry sauce and fresh mashed potatoes will be perfect sides, along with the green bean casserole that everyone loves and looks forward to every holiday season. Make is simple and easy, but tasty and filling.
After Thanksgiving, Hanukah and Christmas follow. However, this year, Hanukah begins on November 27th at sundown. This is the first time this has ever happened. Here’s why: Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November. Since the Jewish calendar is on a 19 year cycle, and Thanksgiving is on a 7 year cycle, it would have been possible to overlap in 1861, but Thanksgiving has only been around since 1863, therefore, this is the first time they are overlapping.
Hanukah lasts 8 nights. Hanukah is celebrated with the Festival of Lights. Each evening, the family gathers for a candle lighting ceremony where one candle of the menorah, an eight-branched candlestick, is lit each night until all eight candles are burning. The festive evenings are filled with games of dreidel, an ancient ancestor to today’s spinning top, and Hanukah gifts are exchanged. The feasts of Hanukah are abundant with Jewish specialties such as Brisket, Matzo Ball Soup and Potato Latkes.
Christmas is Wednesday, December 25th this year. The night before Christmas is also a very popular family gathering when many families go to church together. Christmas Day families gather for fun and food, and often a large feast similar to Thanksgiving.
Be sure to serve plenty of fresh vegetables before and during your holiday meals to help offset all the wonderful foods you will be eating!
Winter Squash
November is a time to give thanks for everything around us. We enjoy our families and friends and show our appreciation on Thanksgiving. Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November (this year it is November 28th), annual tradition brings families and friends together for a feast of thanks. Originally a thanks to God by the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony who survived a brutal winter safely, the first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days and provided food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. Today’s Thanksgiving feast has many similarities in the foods that were served: berries, fruits, pumpkin and squash.
Cranberries
Melissa’s wants to celebrate with you, by offering some serving suggestions to enhance your current day Thanksgiving Day feast; Try mixing in grains with your favorite stuffing recipe to add some nutrition. Add fresh Cranberries or Dried Cranberries and you have a delicious healthy side. Other fun appetizers are dragon fruit slices placed on top of a Starfruit slice, then topped with a dollop of yogurt. Try simple Melba toast rounds topped with Melissa's Sun Dried Tomato Pesto mixed with cream cheese. Everyone will love it and it is fast and simple to make.
Organic Baby Yam
Planning ahead is important for a successful holiday meal. Prepare your turkey early in the morning and cook it all day to get the aroma in the air. Use a turkey "bag" to insure a moist turkey and it basically takes care of itself (no basting). You can even toss your veggies in the bag with the turkey. Use plenty of Baby Fingerlings, Baby Carrots and even Pearl Onions or Boiler Onions to serve as a tasty side dish. Organic Baby Yams are always a hit served casserole style topped with marshmallows! Fresh cranberry sauce and fresh mashed potatoes will be perfect sides, along with the green bean casserole that everyone loves and looks forward to every holiday season. Make is simple and easy, but tasty and filling.
After Thanksgiving, Hanukah and Christmas follow. However, this year, Hanukah begins on November 27th at sundown. This is the first time this has ever happened. Here’s why: Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November. Since the Jewish calendar is on a 19 year cycle, and Thanksgiving is on a 7 year cycle, it would have been possible to overlap in 1861, but Thanksgiving has only been around since 1863, therefore, this is the first time they are overlapping.
Hanukah lasts 8 nights. Hanukah is celebrated with the Festival of Lights. Each evening, the family gathers for a candle lighting ceremony where one candle of the menorah, an eight-branched candlestick, is lit each night until all eight candles are burning. The festive evenings are filled with games of dreidel, an ancient ancestor to today’s spinning top, and Hanukah gifts are exchanged. The feasts of Hanukah are abundant with Jewish specialties such as Brisket, Matzo Ball Soup and Potato Latkes.
Christmas is Wednesday, December 25th this year. The night before Christmas is also a very popular family gathering when many families go to church together. Christmas Day families gather for fun and food, and often a large feast similar to Thanksgiving.
Be sure to serve plenty of fresh vegetables before and during your holiday meals to help offset all the wonderful foods you will be eating!
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