Side Dishes - December 2009

I suppose late is better than not at all. I suppose. It’s December. Wow. I am trying to remember all the lovely things I was going to cook in December. Where did the time go that I was going to do it in? My heart was in the right place, but my body was elsewhere.

Our club theme for December is Side Dishes. They really make a meal a meal for me. My husband never used to be much of a meat eater (we had been married 20 years before I ever saw him order a steak in a restaurant), but the “fixin’s” that came with the meat were favorites for him. The vegetables, beans, fruits, the salads, the breads...oh my! Without all that stuff it’s just a hunk of meat on your plate, right?

We have specific months for fruits and salads in our recipe club, but still, they could be added to our side dish month. I think Thanksgiving and Christmas are fantastic times for side dishes since so many are hot and you can have an excess of them without it looking strange. We have 4 different veggie side dishes at Thanksgiving dinner, and the meal just wouldn’t be the same without them. Those are not including the fruit salad and the jello (yes, both). That makes 6 plus rolls, stuffing and gravy!

I was in Costco the other day and they were passing out samples of mashed butternut squash. I was shocked by all the people walking by and asking how you cooked and seasoned it. I kind of had to reassess how much I’ve learned from my mom and sisters and didn’t realize it. So here are a few of my favorite (and easy) ways to cook some basics.

· Winter squash
· Sweet potatoes
· Dilled Carrots
· Spiced Corn
· Jello Salad


Once again, some of these old winter favorites are the “no recipe” types:

· Green beans
For traditional meals at my house, the green beans are always cooked with bacon for seasoning. (Can you even say "bacon fat" without gaining weight?)

· Mashed potatoes
As for mashed potatoes, I've read a lot of variations on this but my favorite way to season them is with butter, milk, salt and onion salt.


If you would like to email (or comment) back with some of your favorite ways to cook or season simple homey dishes, maybe I can post them. Merry Christmas!!