tara`s helpful hints for cooking and presenting your next meal.

C O M P L I M E N T S O F T E M P - T A T I O N S®
TARA’S HELPFUL HINTS
FOR COOKING AND PRESENTING
YOUR NEXT MEAL.
Hello there!
Thank you for your interest in
my booklet! I’ve done my best
MY KITCHEN
MY WORKSHOP
to assemble a truly useful
collection of my newest
favorite recipes, time-tested
advice for entertaining and an
assortment of kitchen tricks
and tips that I’ve learned
from the pros and use
everyday in my own kitchen.
I hope you find this booklet
useful – and if you do, please
share it with a family member
or friend! They’ll thank you
for it.
Happy entertaining!
MY KITCHEN PLAYS SEVERAL ROLES IN MY HOUSE: AT
VARIOUS TIMES IT’S A CONFESSIONAL, A PARTY ROOM, THE
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTER AND MY FAVORITE, MY
WORKSHOP.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years assembling my collection of
ovenware, dishware, appliances, and cooking equipment—and
I’m always looking for better solutions to what I already have
(which is where the idea for Tara’s temp-tations® came from—but
that’s another story).
In the following pages you'll find some of my best tips for
cleaning your kitchen, cooking light, having some fun with your
table-setting, food safety and holiday—and everyday—
entertaining. I've also written down some of my favorite recipes
for you to try—which brings me to my first topic...the chef's knife.
There is one piece of equipment that I’ve found needs no
improvement: my trusty chef’s knife. Every chef must have one—
and you owe it to yourself to have a good one. That doesn’t mean
the most expensive one, just the one that suits you the best. But
just because you’ve got the right knife doesn’t mean you are
using it to its full potential. Read my tips on the next page for the
correct way get the most out of your chef’s
TIDBIT
knife. And remember the most important
The length of the
feature of your kitchen ‘workshop’: having
guarantee is a
fun with it.
good indication of
how long you can
expect the knives
to last
IT’S BEEN SAID MANY TIMES—THE CHEF’S KNIFE IS
ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT KNIFE IN YOUR KITCHEN.
THE CHEF’S KNIFE
THE BLADE
THE HEEL
THE BOLSTER
Sure, all the knives in that big wooden block sitting on your
counter have their uses—you certainly wouldn’t use a chef’s knife
to slice a crusty loaf of Italian bread or to core a tomato. However
the chef’s knife, identifiable by the 8”-10” blade that is straight on
the top and slightly rounded on the bottom, is the knife I reach for
95% of the time. Learning to hold and use your chef’s knife
correctly will make chopping, slicing, dicing, shredding, cleaving,
and boning your ingredients a safe and
TIDBIT
more time and energy efficient
To keep your
undertaking, giving you more time to spend
cutting board
enjoying the company of your guests or
from sliding
family.
around, place a
damp towel on
ANATOMY OF A CHEF’S KNIFE
the countertop
The Blade: The best chef's knives are
underneath.
made of high-carbon stainless steel, which
is a very hard metal that keeps its edge for a long time and won't
discolor or rust like ordinary carbon steel.
The Handle: Unless you're very unlucky, the part of a chef's knife
you'll have the most contact with is the handle. So you'll want to
make sure it's comfortable and fits your hand. It shouldn't feel
slippery or cause you to have to grip excessively hard.
The Heel: The heel is the widest part of the knife, located at the
rear of the blade where it meets the handle. This section of the
cutting edge is used for chopping hard items like carrots, nuts or
even chicken bones.
The Tang: The best knives are forged from a single piece of steel
that runs the entire length of the knife. That means the steel
extends all the way into the handle. The section of steel inside the
handle is called the tang, and if it goes all the way to the end of
the handle, it's called a "full tang."
The Bolster: The bolster is the thick shoulder of heavy steel
located at the front of the handle where it meets the spine, or the
top (non-cutting) edge of the blade. In addition to balancing the
knife, the bolster also helps keeps your fingers from slipping
while you work, thus preventing hand fatigue and blisters.
HOW TO HOLD A CHEF’S KNIFE
THE HANDLE
THE TANG
The correct way to hold a chef’s knife
starts with ‘the Pinch’. Take the thumb
and forefinger of your cutting handle
and pinch the sides of the knife just in
front of the bolster with your other
three finders wrapping around the
handle below. This gives you more
control over the blade and gets you in
the practice of letting the knife do all the work. If you need to use
a lot of pressure you most likely need to get your knife sharpened.
HOW TO (SAFELY) HOLD YOUR
INGREDIENT
Just as important as how you grip
the knife is what you do with that
other hand. You want to keep all
those fingers out of harm’s way.
Curl your fingers, keeping your
finger tips down on the cutting
board. Your thumb and pinky should
be behind the other three fingers
and used to steady whatever ingredient you
are working with. Your hand should look
TIDBIT
When cutting
like a claw with your knuckles forming a
vegetables like
vertical ridge that will act as a guardrail for
carrots, make all
the side of your knife. It is important to pull
your cuts the
your fingertips in slightly under your
same size. This
knuckles to make sure that no part of your
will help the food
cook uniformly
hand is exposed accidently to the
and prevent the
descending blade.
smaller pieces
from overcooking
THE KEY TO USING A CHEF’S KNIFE
or the biggest
The key to the chef’s knife is the rounded
pieces from being
edge at the front of the blade. When you
undercooked.
are using the knife correctly you should be
rocking the blade back and forth using a
slight downward pressure against this curve while letting the
knife blade do the rest. If you are slicing a small ingredient like
celery you want to keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board
just past the celery and achieve an economy of motion by slightly
raising the handle up and down for each cut. If you are working
with potatoes you may need to start the tip of the knife above the
cutting board but each motion should bring the tip down and
toward the cutting board’s surface. The heel of the knife is the
thickest and most sturdy part of the blade. Use it when cutting
harder ingredients like chicken bones, squash or thick carrots.
THE KITCHEN
A CLEAN KITCHEN IS A HAPPY KITCHEN. FOLLOW THESE
EASY TIPS AND GIVE YOUR KITCHEN A ONCE-OVER THAT
WILL MAKE IT LOOK LIKE NEW AGAIN!
OVEN CLEANERS
The best way to keep your oven clean is to
never let it get dirty in the first place! I keep
a sheet of tin foil on the floor of the oven,
below but not touching the heating element.
Of course, accidents do happen. If there is a spill, clean it up as
soon as you can. While the oven is still warm, sprinkle salt or
baking soda on the spill. If the spill is completely dry, wet the spill
lightly before sprinkling on salt. When the oven cools, scrape
away the spill and wash the area clean.
Alternatively, you can use a mixture of baking soda, water, salt, or
vegetable oil-based liquid soap.
Retard grease buildup in your oven by dampening a cleaning rag
in vinegar and water before wiping your oven. Spray water on the
oven surface, and then follow that with a sprinkled layer of baking
soda. Rub gently with a very fine steel wool pad for tough spots.
Wipe off scum with dry paper towels or sponge. Rinse well and
wipe dry.
FRAGRANT KITCHEN RINSE
Use any of the following essential oils, alone or in a combination
pleasing to you. Add 4 drops of oil to each pint of water. Pour into
a spray bottle, store away in a cool dark place. Use as a final rinse
after cleaning kitchen surfaces.
Eucalyptus • Pine • Lavender • Sage • Lemon
Lemongrass • Lime Thyme • Grapefruit
Orange • Wintergreen • Rosemary
DRINKING GLASSES
Occasionally soak drinking glasses in a
solution of vinegar and water to really get
them clean. Makes them sparkle!
When a quick dip for crystal glassware is
needed, prepare a solution of baking
soda in tepid-cool water (l level teaspoon to a quart) and brush
with a soft toothbrush. Very good for glass coffee makers and
thermos jugs too.
RECIPES
APPETIZER
CINNAMON ROLLS
Prep Time: 2 Hours
Cook Time: 22 Minutes
Serves: 12
SPOT-FREE DISHWASHER RINSE
Add 1 cup of white vinegar to the rinse compartment of your
automatic dishwasher. Wash dishes as usual.
COFFEE/TEA STAINS
To remove coffee stains on cups or counters, rub with baking
soda paste.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL CLEANER
For a fresh and clog-free garbage disposal use this cleaner once
a week.
½ to 1 cup baking soda
1 gallon boiling water
1 cup white vinegar
Pour baking soda down drain/disposal, followed by vinegar. Allow
the mixture to foam for several minutes before flushing the drain
with boiling water.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL
To eliminate garbage disposal odors and
clean and sharpen blades, grind ice and
lemon and/or orange rinds until pulverized.
Use 4-Quart temp-tations® baking dish
While temp-tations® is also great for
baking store bought, canned
cinnamon rolls, you have to at least
make them from scratch once in your
life! There is nothing like a fresh
homemade cinnamon roll right out of
the oven, and though this recipe is not the easiest, it is definitely
one of the best!
SHOPPING LIST
DOUGH
2 large eggs
1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup milk, heated until warm
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup Bisquick baking mix
½ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
FILLING
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
ICING
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Whisk in yeast,
milk, melted butter and let sit for 10 minutes.
Add the remaining DOUGH ingredients and mix into a sticky
dough. Transfer to a well floured surface and knead, adding
additional flour, just until no longer sticky. Return the ball of
dough to the mixing bowl, cover, and place in a warm location to
rise for 1 hour.
On a well floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out dough, until
it is a large ¼ inch thick rectangle. Spread the softened butter on
the surface of the dough to start the filling. Combine brown sugar
and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough.
Spray a 4-quart temp-tations® baking dish with a non-stick
cooking spray. Grab the short side of the dough and roll entire
dough into a pinwheel, pressing firmly as you go. Slice rolled
pinwheel into 1 ¼ inch thick rounds and place into baking dish. It’s
OK if they are touching. You should have enough rounds to fill the
dish. Cover and let rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake cinnamon rolls 18-22
minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
TIDBIT
Combine melted butter and powdered
For a warm place
sugar to create the icing. If icing is hard,
to let the dough
microwave 10-15 seconds to soften.
rise, set your
Spoon icing over cinnamon rolls while still
oven to its lowest
hot, and serve.
setting for 2-3
minutes. Turn off,
and then place
dough in oven,
with oven door
open.
SIDE
BROWN RICE PILAF
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4
Use 1.5-Quart temp-tations® baking dish
I am not a very big fan of instant rice,
especially instant brown rice, but noninstant whole grain brown rice like
that used in this recipe takes an hour
on the stove! Thankfully, that time is
cut down immensely by microwaving
right in a temp-tations® baking dish.
SHOPPING LIST
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
½ cup diced yellow onion
½ cup diced button or baby bella mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup whole grain brown rice
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 ¼ cups water
1 ¼ teaspoons poultry seasoning
¼ cup slivered almonds
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Place butter, yellow onion, mushrooms and garlic in a 1.5 quart
temp-tations® baking dish and microwave on high for 1 minute.
Add rice, chicken broth, water, poultry
TIDBIT
seasoning, and slivered almonds and stir
Stir in ½ cup of
until combined. Cover with plastic wrap,
dried cranberries
use a fork to pierce the top of wrap in
after removing
center, and microwave on high for 15
from the
minutes.
microwave to
turn this into a
Carefully remove the wrap (dish will be
great Holiday
very hot!) and stir. Return to microwave
Brown Rice
uncovered and heat on high an additional
Stuffing. Though
10 minutes.
it may seem
Stir one final time. Return to microwave
underdone if you
are not familiar,
and heat on high 5 final minutes.
whole grain
Let stand for 5 minutes, salt and pepper to
brown rice is
taste, and fluff with a fork before serving
chewier than
garnished with fresh parsely, if desired.
white rice, which
I believe works
well as a pilaf.
ENTRÉE
ENTRÉE
BAKED
THREE CHEESE SPAGHETTI
AMY’S CHILI MAC
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Serves: 8
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Serves: 8
Use a 4-Quart temp-tations® baking dish
Use 4-Quart temp-tations® baking dish
Baked spaghetti has always been a
favorite of mine as the flavors really
bake together in a way that you can’t
get from simply topping pasta with
sauce off the stove. My recipe is
loaded with three cheeses—ricotta,
Parmesan, and mozzarella. If you prefer your baked spaghetti
with meat sauce, simply follow my tip at the bottom of the page!
SHOPPING LIST
16 ounce thin spaghetti
1 tub (15-16 ounces) ricotta cheese
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1
/3 cup diced green bell pepper
1 jar (24-26 ounces) marinara sauce
1
/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil spaghetti for 2 minutes less than
the package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Transfer
to a 4 quart temp-tations® baking dish. (Rectangular is best).
Add ricotta cheese, milk, melted butter, and salt to the spaghetti in
the baking dish, and toss all until combined.
In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, sauté olive oil,
onion, and green bell peppers until peppers are crisp-tender,
about 4 minutes.
Add marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese to the skillet and stir
all to combine. Pour over spaghetti mixture in baking dish.
Top with mozzarella cheese and then
TIDBIT
sprinkle with the Italian seasoning. Cover
For a full meal,
with aluminum foil and bake an additional
simply add 1
15-20 minutes, or until cheese begins to
pound of ground
brown and sauce is bubbly. Let cool 5
beef to skillet,
minutes before serving.
browning well
before adding the
onion and green
bell pepper.
This kid (and adult!) friendly recipe by
my best friend, Amy, is so easy to
throw together, even though it starts
with preparing your own homemade
meat chili. If you’ve got an hour, you’ve
got dinner…and probably a nice
amount of leftovers for lunch the next day!
SHOPPING LIST
16 ounces elbow macaroni
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
2 cans (10 oz. each) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups shredded Cheddar jack cheese
DIRECTIONS
Boil elbow macaroni for 2 minutes less than the directions call for
on the package. Drain and rinse under cold water. Transfer to a 4
quart temp-tations® baking dish. (Rectangular is best).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add ground
TIDBIT
beef and onions to a large nonstick skillet
If you are in a
over medium-high heat to brown. Brown
pinch, you can
well, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes.
skip the skillet
Add all remaining ingredients, except
and make this a
cheese, to the skillet and stir to combine.
little less
homemade by
Pour chili mixture in skillet over macaroni
substituting 3
in baking dish and stir, until everything is
cans of chunky
completely incorporated. Cover with
chili in place of
aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes.
everything but
Remove from oven, uncover, and top with
the macaroni and
Cheddar jack cheese. Return to oven and
Cheddar jack
cheese. Simply
bake uncovered for an additional 15
mix the chili into
minutes, or until cheese is very bubbly and
the macaroni
beginning to brown. Let cool 5 minutes
right out of the
before serving.
can and continue
the recipe as
written.
DESSERT
MICROWAVE
“PEANUT BUTTER CUP” FUDGE
CONVERSIONS
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 2 Minutes
Serves: 16
Use 1.5-Quart temp-tations® loaf pan
I give a lot of my temp-tations® as
gifts, and one of my favorite things to
do is to actually make a treat like this
fudge in one of the dishes in the set
before I gift it! Of course, the person
receiving the gift doesn’t have to know that this fudge only takes
two minutes in the microwave to make!
SHOPPING LIST
Non-stick cooking spray
1 box (1 pound) confectioners sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup milk
¼ cup butter and margarine, melted
½ cup shelled peanuts
¾ cup peanut butter morsels
LIQUID & DRY MEASURE EQUIVALENTS
Dry ingredients measured in cups will vary in weight
Check ingredient types.
All equivalents are approximate.
To convert ounces to grams, multiply ounces by 30. (1 oz. = 30 g)
Pinch or Dash
¼ cup
1
/3 cup
½ cup
¾ cup
1 cup
1 pound
1 quart
½ tablespoon
1 tablespoon
1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup whipping cream
2 large eggs
DIRECTIONS
Liberally spray a 1.5 quart temp-tations® square baking dish with
nonstick cooking spray.
Add confectioners sugar and cocoa powder to a large temptations® mixing bowl and stir until mixed. Sifting the sugar will
give you the best results without any small lumps in the finished
fudge, but is not entirely necessary.
Stir in milk and melted butter, until mostly combined. You may
not be able to get out all the sugar off the sides of the bowl, but
that is fine.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes, just until bubbling. Remove
from microwave, add the shelled peanuts and immediately stir
mixture until smooth and all powdered
TIDBIT
sugar is dissolved.
The fudge will
Quickly pour the hot fudge mixture into the
solidify quickly,
greased 1.5 quart baking dish, shaking
so it is best to
from side to side to let settle. Then
have the greased
immediately sprinkle peanut butter
dish, peanuts,
morsels over top, lightly pressing them
and peanut
butter morsels
down into the fudge. Cool on counter for 15
ready and
minutes before chilling for 1 hour. Cut into
measured before
16 squares to serve.
microwaving in.
/16 teaspoon
4 tablespoons
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
8 tablespoons
12 tablespoons
16 tablespoons
2 cups
4 cups
1 ½ teaspoons
3 teaspoons
¼ lb. or ½ cup
2 or more cups after whipping
3 small eggs
1
BAKING TEMPERATURES
Fahrenheit
Celsius
275°F
300°F
325°F
350°F
375°F
400°F
425°F
450°F
140°C
150°C
160°C
180°C
190°C
200°C
220°C
230°C
BAKING PAN SIZE CONVERSION CHART
American
Metric
8 x 1 ½ inch round baking pan
9 x 1 ½ inch round baking pan
11 x 7 x 1 ½ inch baking pan
13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan
2 quart rectangular baking dish
15 x 10 x 2 inch baking pan
20 x 4 cm cake tin
23 x 3.5 cm cake tin
28 x 18 x 4 cm baking tin
30 x 20 x 5 cm baking tin
30 x 20 x 3 cm baking tin
30 x 25 x 2 cm baking tin
(Swiss roll tin)
22 x 4 or 23 x 4 cm pie plate
18 or 20 cm springform or
loose bottom cake tin
23 x 13 x 7 cm or 2 pound
narrow loaf tin or pate tin
1.5 liter casserole
2 liter casserole
9 inch pie plate
7 or 8 inch springform pan
9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan
1 ½ quart casserole
2 quart casserole
SAFETY IS A MATTER OF TEMPERATURE
FOOD HANDLING
AND SAFETY
A GOOD KITCHEN IS A SAFE, CLEAN KITCHEN. SO HERE
ARE A FEW HELPFUL TIPS FROM THE PROS TO KEEP
THINGS RUNNING SMOOTHLY IN YOURS.
BATTLE CROSSCONTAMINATION
Do like your mom taught you,
and wash your hands, with soap
and often. And when you wash
them, make sure to scrub long
enough to kill the germs, or
about 30 seconds.
Know where the dirt hides. Think
about what surfaces are the most
exposed to bacteria. They’re
often places people don’t suspect
like the fridge door handle or other handles on sinks, microwaves
and drawers. Clean these surfaces every time you clean your
counters.
Two is better than one. As in, have two cutting boards. One for
raw proteins and another for all other foods. Harmful
contamination can occur when raw fluids from protein mix with
foods that will not be cooked further (like salad ingredients).
Food safety isn’t
just a matter of
clean surfaces or
personal hygiene,
as any food
professional will
tell you, it’s just
as much a matter
of temperature,
because harmful
bacteria thrive between 40-140°F.
It’s all about the journey. Be aware of food temperature safety
from who you buy from to your fridge to the internal temperature
of cooked proteins before you serve them.
Cool food promptly. Put your dinner or other prepared foods in
the fridge or freezer as soon as possible to move it out of the 40140°F danger zone.
Four hours. That’s how long a protein can safely be in the danger
zone of 40-140°F. This includes all along the food chain from the
time it sits in the waiting dock at your grocer, to the time in your
car on the way home from the grocer, to the time it spends on the
counter before you cook it.
TIPS FOR
KEEPING IT LIGHT
NOTHING IS BETTER THAN COOKING
A MEAL THAT YOUR FAMILY NOT ONLY
LOVES, BUT THAT IS ALSO HEARTSMART AND GOOD FOR THEM.
And while a plate of spinach might not go
down easy with every kid, or husband for
that matter, there are lots of things you
can do in any kitchen to help every meal be as enjoyable and
healthy as possible.
LESS IS MORE FLAVORFUL
Use a strong, flavorful cheese and you can use less.
The winner ends up on top. Sprinkle ingredients like chocolate,
cheese or even nuts on top rather than mixing them into batter.
They’re concentrated flavor will shine through more as toppings
and you can use less.
Chop! Chop! Finely chop high-fat or sodium ingredients like
bacon, olives or nuts. This allows their flavor to mix more evenly,
so you can use less.
Half is enough. Many recipes overdo it on the sugar. The fact is,
you can often reduce sugar crumb toppings by half and still have
a wonderfully indulgent treat.
GIVE ‘EM THE HEART-HEALTHY SWITCH
Instead of using ordinary cracker or bread crumbs, reduce your
crust’s fat, calories and sodium by up to half by switching to
panko, extra crisp Japanese bread crumbs.
Be a smart egg and use egg substitute in
recipes that use more than one. One egg
equals a quarter cup, which means cutting
5 grams of fat and 213 mg. of cholesterol.
Give it some zing! A nice squeeze of fresh
lemon juice can brighten and highlight the
flavors of meat and veggies and allow you to reduce sodium.
Put the frosting down. Instead, go fat-free and sift powdered
sugar over cakes and brownies.
Replace up to half the ground meat in a casserole or meat sauce
with grains like cous-cous, bulgur, barley, cooked brown rice,
quinoa or even chopped beans or lentils and you’ll reduce fat
while adding fiber. Plus, you’ll reduce your food bill!
Choco-holics will still be happy when you switch cocoa powder in
for unsweetened chocolate and you’ll cut down on fat. Simply
trade 3 tbsp. of cocoa powder and 2 tsp. hot water and mix to
replace each square of chocolate.
CHOOSE WISELY
Canola is the oil for you. When you
need oil, use canola. It has nearly half
the saturated fat and its unsaturated
fats are healthier than those found in
other oils.
It’s in the cut. Go with leaner meats.
Like skinless, white meat poultry or
center-cut and loin meats. Or in
certain cases, choose pork instead of
chicken for a leaner option.
Cut down on the salt. Choose low-sodium broths and no-salt
added tomatoes. And don’t forget to rinse your canned beans
under cold water in a strainer. That cuts sodium up to 40%!
Tuna is good. But it’s even better when you choose it packed in
water instead of oil.
When you make a stew or soup, make it the day before. Not only
will the extra day allow the flavors to
blend and develop more fully, but you
can skim the congealed fat off after it
cools.
VEGETABLES ARE TRULY
YOUR FRIENDS
More dish, fewer calories. Add extra
veggies to casseroles and other dishes
to bulk them up without adding any fat.
The same can be done with fruits in breads, muffins or cakes.
Veggies are good for the body. Simply puree vegetables to add
body to dishes. You can mash beans into a chili or blend potatoes
into the chowder.
Here’s a neat trick. Use vegetable spray, water, juice or even wine
when you sauté vegetables.
AND OF COURSE…
Use your temp-tations® ovenware! It’s naturally non-stick so you
don’t need to grease it with extra
oil or butter.
HOW TO DO A FORMAL
TABLE SETTING
NOTHING HELPS MARK A SPECIAL OCCASION LIKE SETTING
YOUR TABLE JUST SO. HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE
TIPS AND TIDBITS.
SILVER IS GOLDEN
Silver adds formality and sparkle to any table. If you don’t have a
complete set, don’t worry! A little improvisation never hurts so
borrow whatever you don’t have. Mixed
settings offer a modern, fun look.
VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF DINNER
Like the silver, never be afraid to mixand-match your china and glassware.
While having everything not match perfectly, you can create a
surprising look that’s just your own by selecting the basics and
then adding unique touches. Simple stemware can balance
decorative china or vice versa.
AN INVITATION TO BE SEATED
They’re simple to make, yet place cards at each
setting is not only smart, it’s a great way to
make sure people socialize as you can place
people with something in common together
or split couples up to
encourage them to talk.
The cards can be as formal or
informal as you like, after all, it’s the
thought that counts.
WHO DOESN’T LIKE FLOWERS?
Add a bit of organic loveliness to any table with a loose, casual
arrangement of seasonal flowers. Use a couple on a long,
rectangular table or a single one for a circular table. Just
remember to keep the vases simple and make sure your
arrangements are not too tall.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
TIPS FOR
ENTERTAINING
I LOVE HAVING PEOPLE OVER FOR SPECIAL EVENTS,
HOLIDAYS OR JUST FOR THE JOY OF IT.
But, I know it can also be stressful to entertain when you have to
deal with all the arranging and preparation that goes into a
successful event. That’s why I’ve put together these helpful steps
to help you eliminate stress and enjoy the occasion.
PLAN AHEAD
Ready, Set, Go! Set your
menu at least a week in
advance. That way you’ll
have time to gather all the
ingredients, even the hard
to find ones, without
rushing about or facing a madhouse at the grocery store.
Don’t forget to know your team. When you set your menu, also
make sure to know who is doing what, from helping to set
up, to cooking other dishes to helping you clean up.
Preparation is the key to success. So prepare whatever
foods you can, ahead of time. You’ll be glad on the big
day.
SETTING THE STAGE
Presentation isn’t everything, but it’s a lot. A beautifully set
table not only shows off your creativity, but also your food.
After all, we eat with our eyes first. Don’t be afraid to mix and
match using temp-tations® ovenware. Let the fun
colors and designs add to your table.
Make sure your puzzle has all its pieces. Set
out plates, serving pieces, glasses and
flatware the night before. That way if
anything is missing, it’s not a disaster.
Go with what you know. It’s fun
to take risks, but it’s also an
invitation to stress. So put the
new and outrageous aside and
prepare items you’ve
successfully mastered before. Go with what you know and love,
and people will love what you put on the table.
Convenience foods aren’t cheating, they’re smart. So use a few to
help cut down on work and prep time. For a quick appetizer, top a
Brie wheel with prepared Mango chutney and serve it with lots of
thin ginger snaps.
It’s your home, not a museum. So, don’t overclean. Simply make
it nice and comfortable. Remove clutter, dust large items, set out
a few candles and dim the lights.
Throw in a few flower
arrangements or simple seasonal
decorations. That’s all you need to
create the perfect atmosphere. If
you really want to go big on
cleaning, focus on the guest bath. It’ll be busy and the light
always seems to shine the brightest in it.
ENJOY THE MOMENT!
No matter what happens, remember to enjoy the
moment. After all, why have a festive gathering if
you don’t remember to enjoy the festivities
yourself. After all, who deserves to enjoy them
more than the person who made it all happen.
And remember, these gatherings aren’t about
perfection, they’re about being with the people we
love, sharing the joy we bring to each other’s lives
and making wonderful memories.
Temp-tations LLC, 502 Gordon Drive, Exton, PA 19341
1-800-555-2711 / www.temp-tations.com
Thank you for welcoming me into your home. –
© 2011 Temp-tations LLC. Temp-tations is a registered trademark of Temp-tations LLC. All Rights Reserved.