Showing posts with label Boxing Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boxing Day. Show all posts

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Boxing Day Brunch

While most people tend to celebrate the holidays on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, for the past 10 years I've been celebrating Boxing Day on December 26th. 
There are many reasons for doing so, the biggest one, I suppose, is that it's very convenient to get everyone together on the day after Christmas, rather than try to work around so many families and schedules in order to have a gathering on the 24th or 25th. The Boxing Day celebration has become a tradition in my house, everyone is happy to be beyond the stress of the holidays, they've gotten their gifts, they've relaxed, and now they can get together for conviviality and a great meal.
 I've been mixing things up a lot this year, doing things differently, in order to make new traditions in what will be Chapter 3 of my life. In the past I've always had a Boxing Day dinner. This year I decided to have a Boxing Day brunch. Prior to her passing, my mother had always been the queen of the Christmas brunch. She served brunch on Christmas morning every year of my life. When she passed away, it left a tremendous void. I wasn't sure that I'd be able to fill her shoes, but have been told by all of the attendees, that I did it in spades. The tree candle holders here are very special. My dad made them, and my mother painted them. She used them for years, and now I am honored to have them as my own.
I tried to pay homage to both my mother and husband, by serving some of their dishes. I honored Jim, who hailed from New Jersey, with a New Jersey Coffee Cake; I served my mother's Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake as well. The other recipes were all new. A lot of people, I'm told, would in no way feel comfortable serving a meal of all new recipes to a crowd, but I'm fearless, so I dove right in.
I knew it was a success when the children in the group went back for seconds on green beans. Have you ever heard of children getting seconds on the vegetable? Huge success! I also developed a new potato casserole that got thumbs up all around, based on the ubiquitous party potatoes, but so much better. 
This post is to give you a look at the two tables that I set for the brunch; in the upcoming week, I'll be providing you with the recipes.
 
Stay tuned, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or sign up to get email notifications of my blog. You are not going to want to miss any of these delicious recipes.
Happy New Year!

(As a side note, I'd like to mention that the little rocking chair by the tree was my dad's when he was a little boy. He used it, I used it, and now my granddaughter gets to use it. The Santa pillow is one that I stitched, and my mother sewed together. Lots of family memories here.)

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Monday, December 31, 2012

Holiday Bread

 

For the past three years, my big holiday celebration has been a dinner for Boxing Day.  An English holiday, it falls on the 26th of December, the day after all of the American festivities have come to an end, leaving people generally available, and only too happy to sit down, put their feet up, and enjoy a good meal.  Children bring the toys that they received from Santa, and play happily while the adults visit in a convivial atmosphere.  

It’s a general rule in our family that any party held three times becomes a tradition, so I suspect I’ll be having this dinner for as long as I remain in an upright position, and that’s fine with me.  It’s also fine (and a bit flattering), that a young member of the family chose Boxing Day as a holiday to discuss in his first grade classroom, illustrating his talk (literally) with a picture that he had drawn himself.  Don’t ever think children aren’t watching and emulating what we do!

It’s expected that the meal will be roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans, so I always fix these dishes so as not to disappoint.  Sautéed corn with bacon and scallions made a repeat appearance this year, but I mixed things up a bit by making my own bread and rolls.  Both recipes were new, and both a huge success. 

The first recipe I’m going to tell you about is this one for Holiday Bread that was featured on the Taste of Home website.  I imagine that it’s called Holiday Bread because it makes the entire house smell like Thanksgiving.  I don’t care for the rather oddly shaped loaves that bread machines tend to yield, so I used the dough setting, and then formed a loaf when the dough process had completed, put it into a standard loaf pan, brushed it with an egg wash and sprinkled the top with Kosher salt.  It rose beautifully and made one tasty bread.  I didn’t have quite enough poultry seasoning, but it was still delicious. I have already decided that this is going to be the bread I use the next time I make dressing to accompany a roast chicken or turkey. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be when used to make turkey or chicken sandwiches.

Holiday Bread
Adapted from a recipe by Tasteofhome.com

1-1/4 cups warm water
1 egg
3 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

In the pan of your bread machine, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select the dough setting, and allow the process to complete.  

When it has finished, remove the dough to a lightly floured cutting board.  Deflate, and knead 5 times.  Preheat with oven to 350°F.  Meanwhile, form dough into a loaf and place in a greased, standard-sized loaf pan.  Bake for 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Rosette Napkin Fold

As I mentioned in this blog post, the Holiday Home Tour came upon me before I was quite ready, and I forgot to put napkins on the table.  I was eager to try the rosette napkin fold that I saw on Yvonne’s Stone Gable blog (now, sadly, no longer being written, but still available online for viewing).  For our Boxing Day dinner, I did manage to add the napkins, and not only did they draw raves, but this is the easiest napkin fold ever! I knocked out ten of them in about 15 minutes, and the beauty of this particular fold is that the napkins don’t need to be ironed beforehand.
  Yvonne provided a wonderful tutorial, so have a look.  I can see how this fold would work for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter (think of the gorgeous pastels), or any type of spring luncheon. 

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Monday, December 27, 2010

A Boxing Day Dinner

As the family grows, so do their commitments, and it becomes more and more difficult each year to pack visits with everyone into the day-and-a-half that comprises the Christmas holiday.  So this year, in an effort to make things more enjoyable and relaxed, I opted to celebrate the day after Christmas with a Boxing Day dinner.  It was a huge success!  Twelve were in attendance and everyone enjoyed the event.  I served my traditional buffet roast beef dinner at a table bedecked with live greens, snowflake candles, Santa, and apothecary jars full of Christmas candy that delighted guests both young and old, all of whom had to have a sample (or two).  The young ones were allowed to reach into the jars at evening's end and select some candy to fill a bag and take home with them.  In addition, each guest was given a small house-shaped box with caramels inside that I'd used as place cards.  The name was on the front of the tag, and the explanation of Boxing Day was on the reverse, as follows:


Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St. Stephen (after the first Christian martyr), is celebrated in the U.K. on December 26th.   It originated in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria as a holiday for members of the merchant class to give boxes containing food and fruit, clothing, and/or money to trades people and servants. The gifts were an expression of gratitude similar to the bonuses many employers offer their employees today. These gifts, usually given in boxes, gave the holiday its name, "Boxing Day". Today, Boxing Day is a time for family and friends to gather with lots of food and fun. 

Apothecary jars full of candy delighted the children (and young at heart) at the table.
Place setting with place card box.
Each guest had his or her own bottle of water.  I liked this extra addition of green.
Apothecary jars contained M&Ms, bell-shaped gumdrops, mini Hershey bars, Kisses, peanut butter cups, and Twizzlers all in red and green.
The mantle in the dining room above the Franklin Stove glowed with soft candlelight.
The frosted trees at either end, gave the table a Northwoods look.


Santa oversaw the event and was pleased.



This is linked to Tablescape Tuesday and Seasonal Sundays.