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Preparing More Than One Meal at a Time
Say Hello to Jell-O
There are so many things you can do with jell-o, and a jell-o recipe to go with almost any food you cook.
First, here are a few tips about working with jell-o:
*To remove from a mold, allow it to set until firm, if possible several hours or overnight.
*Run a small moist knife around the edge or release edges from mold with moist fingers before removing from mold.
*Dip the mold in warm water for about ten seconds, only to the rim of the mold.
*Chill the plates or whatever it will be served on.
*Moisten gelatin and place a moist serving plate on top, turn upside down and shake slightly.
*Gently remove the mold leaving gelatin on plate.
There is an entire language involved with making jell-o, and it pays to know what it means. Chill till slightly thickened means to chill for about 1 hour, or until it is the consistency of unbeaten egg whites.
Chill till set but not yet firm means to chill about 2 hours, it should stick to your finger if you touch it and move from side to side when the mold is tipped.
Chill till firm takes about 3 hours for 2 to 4 cup molds or 4 hours for 5 to 6 cup molds, the jell-o wont stick to your finger and will not mound or move if the mold is tipped.
Here are a few ideas for different types of foods, with pork chops try a salad made with strawberry jell-o, apples, celery, cinnamon and chopped nuts.
If you are having steaks try a fruit mix made of fruit cocktail and a touch of lemon juice. Fried chicken could call for a salad made of fruit cocktail, orange jell-o and lemon juice.
With ham prepare a pineapple lime delight made with pineapple juice lime jell-o and a ¼ teaspoon of ginger.
Whatever you are having for dinner tonight, prepare a luscious jell-o desert or salad to go with it.
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Efficiency will save you lots of time in the kitchen, to accomplish this, learn to do more than one thing at a time. Increased preparation time before cooking is another way to become a faster cook.
Read your recipe before starting, this will save you many headaches, like getting a dish ready and finding out you need bat wings and you dont have any! Just kidding, I dont stock bat wings in my kitchen either, but you get the idea.
Get everything you will need together, follow the order they are used in the recipe, this allows you to be sure that you have everything you will need. Once you are sure you have everything, measure out the ingredients according to the recipe.
Organize all of your ingredients on one side of the work area, as you use something, move it to the other side, lessens confusion as to whether you used it or not.
Use the cutting board for all of your non-meat items first, this avoids cross contamination. If you have to prepare the meat first, wash the cutting board thoroughly before using it for any other food items.
Keeping a sink of hot soapy water will help cleanup later on, just drop used utensils in the water and allow them to soak.
Sometimes it is better to use your hands to mix something than it is to use a utensil; it also saves time washing up later. I for one loved making mud pies when I was a child, the only difference is the mud is now hamburger and the crushed leaves are now herbs.
Salads are always mixed more evenly if they are tossed with your hands. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly, inexpensive plastic gloves will help if you didnt like playing in the mud!
Coat measuring cups, spoons and molds with non-stick spray before putting anything sticky in them, the ingredients will slide right out. To prevent having to clean a burned on, sticky mess from your boiler pan, line the pan with foil and spray the rack with non-stick spray.
Re-sealable plastic is great for marinating and coating foods with flour or cornmeal.
Planning in advance can save you a lot of time in the kitchen opening up your evenings to spend more time with your family. |
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Planning Food for a Party
The foods you choose for your party will be decided by several considerations:
*What kind of party is it, a childs birthday, graduation, anniversary or many other celebrations?
*What time of year it is, can you get the kinds of foods you are planning?
*The number of people you will be inviting.
*Your budget.
*The kinds of food your guests enjoy.
*The theme of the party.
These are just a few of the things you will need to think about when planning your party.
A childs party can be simple or elaborate; they usually dont care as long as they have a lot of fun.
Cakes, cupcakes, pizza or any other favorite food is a possibility, making sure you have enough is the main consideration.
A graduation party for a teen can be a little more complicated when it comes to food, but again pizza is a pretty safe choice.
Poor-boy or submarine sandwiches (depending on where you live) are another hit for teens, this could also involve the ingredients for them to make their own sandwiches, a little messier, but a lot more fun for them.
An anniversary party will be planned around the couple who are celebrating their anniversary.
Usually catered, they can also be a pot-luck; each person invited brings their favorite dish. The holidays are a great time for a party, but remember that most people will be tired of turkey and maybe even ham.
Seafoods are a good alternative if you can get them in your area, always have something else available for those who cant eat seafood.
Ive heard it said that a party is only as good as the food, plan to provide a good selection to meet the tastes of those present.
Related Topics: Cooking With Teflon,
Hamburger-So Many Ways, So Little Time, Halloween Fun Foods
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