Author: Debbi Covington

The big day is finally here! It’s time to open gifts. It’s time to celebrate with family and friends. It’s also time to eat. Isn’t it interesting how everyone is extra hungry on Christmas morning? These make ahead recipes will feed your crowd and you won’t have to miss a moment of the joy and merriment of the day.

What a fun time of year to be in the kitchen! I love preparing all of the savory goodies and sweet treats that I grew up with at Christmastime. This is the time of year for sausage balls, cheese straws, baby fruitcakes and yule logs. I’ve been feeling inspired to try some new sweets recipes.

Are you planning a party? A church luncheon? Are you going to a soiree where you have to take an appetizer? Are you staying at home with family and watching Christmas movies? Whatever’s happening, hungry people will certainly be involved. Earlier this week, I tested some new holiday recipes. These three are a few of my favorites. They’re easy, delicious and absolutely destined to become annual requested repeats. Merry Christmas!

It’s that time of year again. It’s time to decorate for Christmas. Don’t let stringing lights and hanging ornaments become a task, turn it into an event – a Tree Trimming Party! Invite your friends and family over to help you turn your home into a festive winter wonderland. Many hands do make for light work, you know. My recipes this week are perfect for a pre-holiday soiree. If you still need a few more appetizer recipes, visit our Holiday Gift Guide. Happy Holidays!

It’s one of my favorite things to be thankful for. I don’t have to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Vince and I are blessed to be invited to a gathering of friends every year. All we have to do is show up with a side dish.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it’s time to start planning your dinner menu. Are you looking for a new twist on some traditional recipes? You’ve come to the right place! The menu this week features a Turkey Breast Roulade stuffed with, what else? Stuffing! Extra stuffing is baked as a side dish and everything is smothered in gravy. The roulade doesn’t leave enough drippings to make gravy from scratch so I’m sharing a pumped up version of packaged brown gravy. It’s almost as good as homemade.

It’s always a happy time when the pumpkin patch comes to Carteret Street United Methodist Church. Those beautiful pumpkins are the first sign of fall in Beaufort. Shortly after the pumpkins arrive, the leaves begin to change color, cooler weather starts coming in and we get to start nesting for the upcoming holidays.

Halloween is most certainly a fun time of year. Last week, Vince and I pulled Mama’s ceramic jack-o’-lantern out of the attic along with our other spooky décor. The orange dishes are behind the glass in the cupboard and the wreaths covered with fall leaves are on the doors.

Pull out your grandmother’s antique silver, your mother’s wedding china, purchase some inexpensive floral handkerchiefs and invite your girlfriends over for a beautiful luncheon. Serve the food buffet-style. Place plates, forks and napkins at the end of the table and arrange the Crispy Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus with Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce, Fruity Blackberry Salad and Shrimp Remoulade so that guests may serve themselves. I like to use cosmo glasses for the Shrimp Remoulade but everything can easily be served on a luncheon plate.

I keep a list of recipe ideas on my desk. Some are for my catering business, others are for my column. When Hurricane Florence cancelled or postponed all of my events last week, I did what I do best. I trashed my kitchen. I don’t get to do it often but when I do it, I do it well.