Traci Anello

The Power in Food

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Holiday meal for one…Go all out!

So here we go again. It’s November first and that means time to think about the holiday meals. Spicy pumpkin dishes, savory sides, homemade crusty rolls and dessert are just the menu items you’ve waited all year for.

Here’s the thing. It’s just you. Is it worth it to do all of that cooking just for one person? Absolutely it is! There are so many reasons why too. Let’s start with the fact that you deserve this amazing meal. You’ve waited all year. You’ve worked hard. You’ve spent many nights eating a quick dish after you’ve gotten home late or if you’re a chef like me, you grab what you can when you can on the run. I’m pretty sure nurses live like this too. The advantage to creating your own dishes is that you get to make it exactly the way you like it. Do you like spicy food? Then turn up the heat! Are you living a plantbased lifestyle like me? Then off to the farmers market for all of your favorite vegetables and don’t forget the local honey. It’s all about you. Now here’s the thing, you can also make a plate for a friend you know is also alone. Maybe an elderly neighbor or the person working at the convenient store so every one else can enjoy the day with family. So what if you make a lot of food! You make individual meals and freeze them for the next month. Every day is a holiday when you pull one out of the freezer.

Just because you live alone doesn’t mean you have to pass up on the things you love, especially food. Think about your grandmother’s pie she made every year. Relive those memories. Bring her back to the table with you. Put every bit of love into what you make for yourself because food is powerful. Reach into the heart vault and remember how you felt when that piece of pie was served to you as a kid. Bring that feeling back for yourself. You earned it. You shopped, prepped, prepared and cleaned up after yourself. You finally used those good chef knives you bought. You sautéed, cooked, baked and served yourself. How did that feel?? Great, didn’t it?? Living alone does not mean being alone or feeling alone. It means making a meal and enjoying every bite. Cook that whole turkey. Make that spicy tofu with roasted vegetables and quinoa. Sauté that beautiful kale and mash those comforting potatoes. Today is your day.

Some people like to go out for a meal and that’s okay too. I know single friends that spend a couple of days at the food kitchen and what better way to feel the love than through the community.   There are so many ways to spend the holidays and enjoy every bit of it. Call your local church or food pantry and ask if they would like your company helping to prepare and serve the meal. I will guarantee you that if you do this and you start to talk to the people there, you will leave with a beautiful feel good story. Everyone has a story and nothing is better than sharing a meal with someone and listening to their story.

As you know by now if you’ve been reading my blogs, I have two cats that I refer to as ‘The Boys”. Every holiday includes them so there’s never really a time I dine alone. Ofcourse I make every meal a big deal by describing what they’re having and when dinner is ready. Include your fur babies or birds or whatever friends you have. Tell them how important they are to you especially if it’s just you and them. They want to hear it too. That unconditional love they give you every day, pay it back. They deserve it.

My point is, you’re not alone. You’re just cooking for one. That’s okay. Make it the best meal. Play some music. Buy that special bottle of wine. Call a loved one while you’re cooking. Enjoy the day. Every day can be a holiday meal when you live by yourself. The best part about making that wish before you pull the wishbone is you’re pretty much guaranteed it’s going to come true. How can it not? You have both sides. How cool is that?? That my friends is the power in food.

 


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The Holiday Prep List

Today is October 31st. For me, it’s the official start to holiday season. This is the time I come up with new holiday recipes and I also pull my best out of the archive. I know what my family likes and I do my best to meet their expectations every year. It’s not hard to do because it’s really what you put into what you’re doing aside from ingredients that makes these offerings special. It’s the thought first and foremost.

My family is pretty simple. My dad loves spicy pumpkin cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. He also loves any cookie with anisette. His parents were from Sicily so food is important to this guy. He’s 89 this year so I believe between his DNA and his ability to seek good food have done him more good than a walk around the block. So the  first item on the prep list is pumpkin. Got it. Next is my daughter, Ronni. She has just moved out West for a wonderful new job. I’m very happy for her and at the same time I miss her every day. We have spent every holiday baking or cooking together. This is the first year we will be doing it 2000 miles apart. Fear not, it will get done. This is the part where I say it’s not the ingredients that make the end results, it’s the love you put into them. This is the year I’ll be sending baked goods and ingredients to her home. Ronni and I are both plantbased so it’s pretty easy to create new gifts for her. I’ve managed to take her favorites and transform them into plantbased approved with the same great flavor. It doesn’t matter how many miles separate you and your loved ones. It’s the passion to create for them that will make it all feel like home. If you have family you want to bake for, just plan on doing it a little earlier than normal so you can allow for the shipping time. I always send my packages early because it’s that element of surprise that I love to give people. Expect it when you least expect it from me.

My sister Kim’s family loves cookies. We have a chocolate chip cookie recipe we have been sharing for years. So much that now her 11 years old daughter, Alice, is making them. That’s really the best part of the story for me. My niece is carrying on the tradition. Last year we began a new one of making homemade cinnamon buns. Alice is ready to start making desserts that are more advanced now. She loves baking and I love helping her. THAT’S what the holidays are about. My sister always invites new friends over. I love Thanksgiving at her house. She embraces the true meaning of being thankful. We always have a lot of good food, music and conversation. Her prep list is the grand turkey and an abundance of vegetable dishes that are colorful, nutritious and something new for everyone. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to introduce plantbased dishes. That’s our secret. No one knows.  Also on that list are fresh herbs (most from her outdoor garden), beautiful flowers from the farmers market and the perfect wine to compliment the entire meal.

As I’m writing this, the leaves are falling from the trees and the cats (Bear and Chaos) are convinced they’re going to catch them. They sit in the window crouched down and ready. Speaking of the boys, they have their own little prep list. Every year they get turkey and gravy on Thanksgiving and beef and liver on Christmas. The holidays are stimulating with all of the decorations. It takes a lot of energy to knock the bulbs off the Christmas tree so a good meal is essential for them. Insert eye rolling emoji here. I love these two and they are just as much of the celebrating as anyone.

As you begin to think of what you want to make this year, here are a few ideas that will make holiday baking much easier and fun. Every year I use the same shortbread dough to make a variety of different cookies and bars. It’s an easy 4 ingredient recipe: Organic flour, butter (I use vegan), confectionery sugar and salt. This recipe takes flavors and other ingredients like chocolate and nuts like it owns them. For cookies  I make chocolate and raspberry linzors, stained glass cookies, holiday shapes and almond hearts with the shortbreads. other cookies I do are Mexican wedding cakes, my dad’s favorite anisette cookies, our famous family chocolate chip and my very own plantbased compost cookie. For bars using the shortbread I make chocolate walnut bars, Southern bourbon pecan squares , Citrus lemon bars and Maine blueberry bars. My next blog will have some of these recipes and any others just request them and I’ll send them over your way with one condition: You share it with someone else and you find a child to make them with. That’s all. Let’s keep this cool holiday baking thing moving forward.

Whatever you decide to make whether it’s for family, your local police station, the school, your co-workers or even yourself, remember the first ingredient is love. You use that one and everything else will come out just fine. This is the power in food.