December 2016 – Luv Cooks

SIX New Years Eve Party Tips +Hormel Holiday Party Hacks Video!

A beautiful Holiday Gatherings spread with something for everyone at your table!

It’s here!! The most sparkly day of the year!! Which makes it one of my favorites- only second to Valentines day in the amount of glitter, goody bags and streamers you can get away with.

I also ADORE a fresh start. I mean, let’s be honest- 2016 was a hard year. Lots of things happened in our world that made us feel rough. But you know what? We made it. And not only did we make it, here on the blog and in your kitchens there was lots of great food that happened along the way. I think this is cause for celebration, and for throwing the most fun New Year’s Eve party ever. Lucky for us, Hormel has made it EASY to put together a holiday party worthy of the sparkliest of occasions!

In honor or this special party day of the year, I’m going to share with you my SIX (in honor of 2016) NYE Party Tips with coordinating recipes featuring Hormel ready-to-eat products. I think New Year’s Eve is one of the easiest parties of the year to make people feel celebrated and special!

Let’s do this! New Year’s Eve Party Tips:

Keep it simple. When your hosting a later-in-the-evening shindig, most people have already eaten a full meal, so keep the snacks easy to hold and access!

Hormel roast beef au jus makes it easy to create your sliders!

Solution: French Dip Roast beef sliders au jus. The Hormel Slow Simmered Beef Au Jus is perfect for this. All you have to do is toast some slider buns, warm the beef au jus, and pile the beef on top of a bun with a slice of Pepperjack cheese (one of my favorites!) Drizzle some au jus on the beef and cheese, and sandwich the the two buns together. Sandwiches are one of nature’s perfect foods, and making them bite-size means they are the perfect party snack. Plus, you can hold a slider in one hand and a fancy beverage in the other.

2. Give appetizer options! For example- at my New Year’s Eve party tonight we will have everyone from vegans to carnivores to vegetarians. Hormel even makes it easy and quick to feed people on veggie friendly diets- or those who just want a lighter option!

Veggie skewers a plenty with choice of guacamole dips.

Solution: Veggie sliders with Wholly Guacamole dip: I suggest including classic and spicy guacamole for this app; Wholly Guacamole has a ton of flavors to choose from! Just thread fresh veggies like cucumber, cherry and yellow tomatoes, broccoli, etc. on wooden skewers and serve alongside bowls of delicious guacamole to dip.

3. Plan a party playlist! One of my biggest party pet peeves is a lack of music. I went to a baby shower once at a swanky space and there was NO MUSIC. As in, dead silence! It was so awkward! Music helps set the tone for a great night and keeps people energized. You can even look online for suggested NYE playlists- and use those as a starting point to create your own. The great thing about hospitality is that you get to think about the people at your party and what they will vibe to. Like Carlton below, I’ll dance to that!*

4. Increase the flavor! Music plays a huge role in creating a festive mood, but so does the food! I like to keep things interesting and upbeat by making sure I bring the flavor.

Solution: Create-your-own cracker stacks by serving a Hormel Gatherings Party Tray with fresh dip options. In the video, we used the hard salami and pepperoni party tray. I love that these trays come ready-to-go with your meat and cheeses already sliced! The prep work is done for you. Just add the flavors you like for your guests to create-their-own sandwich cracker stacks. I like to offer spicy mayonnaise, high quality mustard and fresh pesto alongside. You can even slice up some fresh apples for a gluten-free snack option!

Another styling tip: serve your dips in complementary (either colored or textured) bowls to complete a pretty look for your tray. Fresh herbs (like basil and rosemary) also add to the visual of it all!

5. Make your guest list special. And by that I mean- have an intention behind why you invite each guest to your celebration. Think about their personalities, how much they mean to you, their interests. By keeping this in mind, it makes for easy conversation starters between friends- and gives you the chance to tell them how grateful you have been for them this year. To me, there is nothing like words of affirmation to make someone (myself included) feel loved! For example- “Emily! I am so glad you made it. I was thinking this year about how much I’ve enjoyed working with you and you totally deserve a chance to celebrate tonight!”

6. Think outside the box. I love a sweet treat, and my husband can tell you that I literally plan my days around when I can have ice cream! But not everyone is quite as thrilled about super-sweet desserts as me. Thinking outside of your normal dessert repetoire by creating something savory and sweet gives party goers the chance to get their hit of sweetness while savoring the moment.

Goat cheese stuffed dates for the win on the marble platter. LOVE! — Goat cheese stuffed dates on the white marble platter, in the mix with all of our yumminess!

Solution: Bacon-wrapped goat-cheese stuffed dates. These are such a brilliant party food! And Hormel is awesome because using their Black Label Fully Cooked Bacon cuts your prep time way down! Just cut a small slit in each date, fill with goat cheese, then wrap each date in a half slice of bacon and secure with a festive toothpick. Put your dates on a parchment-lined, or cooking-sprayed, baking sheet and drizzle with a bit of honey. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes, or just until the dates are cooked through.

Also, a styling tip on serving those: Put them on a white marble or other light surface platter! That highlights the rich tones of their bacon-y goodness!

Y’all, parties are all about having fun, and with Hormel ready-to-eat products you can get out of the kitchen and celebrate with the ones you love!

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My wonderful friends!! Thank you for being a part of Luv Cooks in 2016. I believe 2017 is going to be our best and most fun year yet. From the bottom of my heart- go get your sparkle on tonight and have a blast! Love y’all!

**This image is from Reddit.com:)

2016 Top 5 Kitchen Fails and Successes + Video!

Whew!! Y’all-2016 is almost behind us, PRAISE!

For me, this was a year of a lot of highs, and some lows. My husband and I bought a house together (a dream of mine since I was a kid), I got to work with more amazing food styling clients than I could have dreamed, and I rediscovered my passion for being on camera and helping people navigate this journey we call home cooking.

But 2016 also had its frustrations- recipes that FLOPPED hard in our kitchen; cooking burnt food for some of our first-time dinner guests; and a fight against all-out frustration throughout the year that life wasn’t perfect (in lots of areas) like I had envisioned and wished for.

Then, lightbulb moment. I realized-thank you Lord- that the imperfections- the things that go wrong, my own lack of knowledge, my zoodle FAILS and the frustrating feeling that nags me daily to err on the side of perfection with food and forgo the real relationships that should be fostered instead- those are the things that I hope to share, and help you, work through.

And that’s what I want 2017 to be about for Luv Cooks. Sharing honestly about what didn’t work, what DOES actually work and the tips that have helped me along my journey toward thriving in the kitchen. And I’d love your input! Please comment or shoot me a Facebook message on what questions you have and what you want to see on the blog.

With that, I give you my Top 5 Cooking FAILS and TRIUMPHS in 2016:

Let’s give the bad news first: FAILS!

Trying new recipes with “company”: Growing up in a Southern household, whenever we had friends and family over my parents always referred to them as “company.” For the longest time I questioned this- “Why on earth are business people coming over? This is just Harvey from down the street.” But what they meant by that was “These are people that deserve love, respect, and taking the time to make them feel special while they are with us.” Now that I am older, I appreciate and treasure that lesson. So, don’t be like me and attempt to make vegetarian curry for friends that you’ve never tested and it turns out feeds TWO instead of SIX. Also, make sure you have ice cream in the freezer for “company” and that your apple crisp doesn’t actually taste like lemon juice surprise.
Zucchini Noodles: For the LOVE, I can not figure out how to make these work. I have tried Paleo style, Blount family style- and geez louise every time I make these they taste like soupy veggie water.

A better use for cucumber and/or zucchini than what I made this year.

3. Water in chocolate: I was cooking for an event this year that required lots of my Gluten Free Toasted Pecan and Coconut Brownies, which I love. Well, you know what chocolate doesn’t love? WATER. Batch after batch was seizing (turning into a crumbly mess) and I had no idea why. I would make a batch, throw it out, wash my bowl, and start again. Lightbulb. Because of my frustration, I wasn’t taking the time to fully dry my bowl and water was wreaking havoc on the melting chocolate step. KEEP YOUR BOWLS DRY!

4. Flax Eggs. Y’all, flax rhymes with AXE. That’s what happened to every recipe that I tried to use flax eggs as a substitute for the aviary variety. Literally, my blueberry coconut pancakes looked like coconut mush dog food.

5. Inadequate cooking spray: **Embarrassment alert** I was on a food shoot this year making Vivian Howard‘s (who I loooveee) pecan pie. Well, I diligently stirred together the homemade pecan crust, carefully patted it into my pie pan and filled it with yummy pecan filling. Fresh out of the oven, it was beautiful. I arrive at my shoot and go to slice the pie- not happening. It felt like a brick had hijacked the spot where my crusty pie should be. In response, I began hacking at that pie like a deranged sugar addict. Yes, you guessed it, the pan was improperly sprayed/greased and the photographer ended up having to PHOTOSHOP the crust on the pie. Yep, I’m that professional.

Heed Elevated Kitchen's advice and your pie WILL come out of the pan. — Heed Elevated Kitchen’s advice and your pie WILL come out of the pan.

Hope abounds! Successes WERE had and here are my top 5 favorites:

Coconut flour. I love, love coconut flour. It’s a great fit for gluten free recipes. It tastes rich, is great for you, and has a nice texture. It’s also awesome to “bread”/toss veggies in before you roast them, and I like to add about a tablespoon of coconut flour to my smoothies to give them a coconut flavor.
Kerrygold butter: One of my dreams came true this year as I got to work on a commercial for Kerrygold Butter! Praise. The theme of the commercial was holiday baking with Kerrygold butter, and before this shoot, I wasn’t very particular about my butter. I am now changed. THIS BUTTER IS AMAZING. It’s a totally different shade of yellow, makes all the difference in shortbread cookies, and makes things so wonderfully tasty and flaky, especially when a recipe only calls for a few ingredients. Love it!

3. Homemade broth: Making homemade broth has become both therapeutic and stress-relieving for me. It’s also an amazing use of leftovers. Just throw some chicken or turkey bones and skins in a slow cooker or large stock pot (preferably bones you have pulled from a roasted bird that week, or have in the freezer from a past recipe), leftover veggie scraps (whenever I chop for recipes, I throw my onion scraps, garlic skins, extra carrots in a plastic bag in our freezer) and enough (filtered) water to cover your goodies. Let that simmer for 24 hours, then strain and pour into a glass jar. It should keep for a week in your fridge, or you can put it in a freezer-safe bag in your freezer. If your birds were organic, you can even skim the fat that collects on the refrigerated broth and use it to saute or roast veggies or other meats! SO AWESOME.

Side angle shot of chef's knife illuminated on wooden platter with fresh green beans, raw carrots, and red and orange bell pepper. — Save those veggie scraps for homemade broth this year.

4. Veggie bowls: Making these has radically upgraded our weekly lunches and made me feel like a healthier human being. A great recipe for them is on Jen Riday’s page.

5. Frozen Peas: Frozen peas are life-changing. Turns out that frozen snap peas are more than likely fresher frozen than they are at your local market. Peas begin losing their flavor the moment they are picked, so frozen ones tend to retain that flavor (and avoid the shelf-life starchiness) that grocery store peas can have. One of my favorite peas recipes is from America’s Test Kitchen: Gravy Training Blog

Ok, that’s this week’s tips and tricks my amazing readers! I hope you have such a great holiday weekend and amazing start to your New Year.

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Easy Holiday Dinner Tips with Hormel

WOW.

Umm- are you guys busy these days? I mean- is your holiday season flying by like Santa on a jet ski? Yep, #sameboat. I actually just had to practice some deep breathing a bit ago to calm down about ALL that awaits me on my to-do list between now and December 25.

But you know what? There is HOPE. That’s right, there is a beacon of light that lies across that sea of gift wrap on your living room floor. It’s going to simplify your life, take one MAJOR requirement off of your shopping-bag laden shoulders, and allow you to breeze through the most pressure-filled of Christmas feats- the holiday dinner.

That’s right. The once-a-year celebration that involves your family, your friends, and those relatives that you haven’t seen in years but somehow arrive at your doorstep hungry and ready for ALL the egg nog. The people that you truly love and want to feel special around your table. The people you text on the daily. That dinner. The solution? Hormel is here to save the day- and help you feed everyone on your gift list with no host-stress. Pun intended:)

This season I had the chance to partner with Hormel for these easy holiday dinner tips to utilize all I’ve gleaned from my work as a food and prop stylist to create a holiday menu that is both easy to do and will formally establish you as the Holiday Hosting Queen or King. These dishes make simple, fresh tweaks to Hormel foods that are sure to please your fave people. It’s a menu that includes:

Orange and Rosemary Glazed Hormel Cure 81 Ham: This ham is already cooked, and our glaze only has two ingredients! All we have to do is glaze and bake.

Golden broccoli and cheddar rice cups: Perfect for portioning out your buffet- especially when your relatives really love the sides; as in, ahem, maybe don’t leave much for those people behind them in line.

Fresh Sautéed Asparagus with Lemon Zest: Fresh trimmed asparagus + butter+ lemon zest. Voila!

Salted Maple Butter Sweet Potatoes: Utilizing ready-to-go, mashed potatoes takes the boiling and the pulverizing out of the equation for you. Save that bicep strength for unwrapping presents later!

Sautéed Apples with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Candied Pecans: Sweet apples with creamy ice cream and candied pecans. Yessss pleeeassee!

To see the WHOLE menu and all of the how-to tips, click here: Hormel Holiday Ham Dinner Hacks!

Oh AND surprise!! The Hormel team also took some sweet behind-the-scenes photos I thought you guys would dig.

Let the film roll begin!

Broccoli Cheddar Rice Cups — Our broccoli-cheddar beauties baking up in the oven.

Our Cherrywood Cure 81 ham and glaze ingredients awaiting their glorious debut. — Our Cherrywood Cure 81 ham and glaze ingredients awaiting their debut.

Warm cinnamon apples with vanilla ice cream melting into the fruit, topped with candied pecans for our dessert. Yummmmmmm. — Warm cinnamon apples, vanilla ice cream and candied pecans for dessert.

Fresh sautéed asparagus with butter and lemon zest deliciousness.

Sweet, caramelized glazed ham in all it's glory. — Sweet, caramelized glazed ham in all it’s glory.

You guys, my amazing readers and watchers- I couldn’t be more thrilled to share this video, and this season, with you. You and my friends and family- you guys are the ones that make holiday food special for me. And the fact that Hormel has made an effort to make this easy for all of us- well, I’d say that’s Luv Cooks style: having a blast, cooking delicious food, and making the people around us feel special.

So, from my kitchen to yours, may your table be full of the food, sparkle and loving warmth of a hope-filled season. I can’t imagine anything more delicious.