Special occasions are a great time for friends and family and, in order to please our guests, we have to be creative when it comes the time to create our menu. But… if the Christmas turkey is a delicious meal, we would sometimes change our habits and eat something else.

Here is a Christmas menu idea including four different dishes from soup to dessert; which are simple to make special occasion cooking recipes but include a nice alternative to the Christmas turkey.

The portions are calculated for 8 guests.

Soup:

Tomato Cream

Ingredients:

2.2 lb peeled and chopped matured tomatoes

200 g chopped carrots

250 g chopped celery

120 g chopped onions

Chopped garlic (to taste)

1 small box of canned tomatoes

200 ml cream

salt and pepper to taste

Thyme, bay

Oil

2 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoon red wine vinegar

200 ml water

In a large saucepan, melt sugar with a little water and pour vinegar until reducing

Add the vegetables

Cover and simmer 20 minutes

Mash the canned tomatoes and add them in the saucepan

Simmer 30 minutes

Salt and pepper to taste

Add 200 ml water and then the cream

Blend the soup

Serve hot

Starter:

Avocado cream

Ingredients:

2 chopped avocados

2 lemons (juiced)

2 chopped shallots

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Use a fork to mash the avocado

Stir in lemon juice

Add the chopped shallots

Blend all the ingredients

Serve cold in small glasses

Decorate with lemon zest

Main dish:

Christmas Goose

Ingredients:

8 to 10 lb. whole goose

1 chopped onion

1 chopped apples

1 tablespoon dried grapes

Oil

100 ml red wine

500 ml chicken broth

Thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees F

Put the oil coated goose in a shallow roasting pan

Tuck the wings and tie the legs together with kitchen string

Put the apples, onions and dried grapes around it

Cook for 3 hours, basting regularly with the cooking juices

Remove the goose from the oven

Pass the cooking juices through a strainer

In a saucepan, combine the fat from the roasting pan, the red wine, the Chicken broth and the red wine

Let cook until boiling and then add floor, stir constantly, until the gravy thickens

Serve with steamed potatoes.

Dessert:

Baked Apples

Ingredients:

10 mashed speculaas

120 g almond paste

40 g dried grapes

2 tablespoon rum

4 tablespoon grounded hazelnuts

1 tablespoon honey

8 apples, washed, cored and halved

sugar glace

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees F

Combine the mashed speculaas, the almond paste, the dried grapes, rum, hazelnuts and the honey

Put the apples in a baking dish

Garnish with the mixture

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes

Serve warm with ice cream and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Prosperity66 is an European History, Holidays and Tarot cards passionate. She writes articles and creates websites dedicated to these subjects.
For more Christmas Costume, Christmas Cards, Christmas Recipes, Christmas Traditions Information, feel free to visit Christmas Time Guide.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

I love products that have the ability to change the way you live. Just as TiVo changed the way we watched television, the Apple TV has all but eliminated our DVD player. No more changing DVD’s or scratched discs, you just turn on the Apple TV, browse the menu for the movie you want to watch and press play. You and, most importantly, your kids will no longer have to wait for those annoying trailers that agonizingly prolong the start. Instant gratification.

The Apple TV is easy to set up. You connect it to your TV and/or AV Receiver and the Apple TV guides you through the rest of the setup. You manage the Apple TV through iTunes, much like you would an iPod. You also need to have some type of wireless or wired home network to sync and stream the content to your Apple TV.

The main obstacles that stand in the way of the Apple TV from gaining more than geek status is the availability of digital content (movies) and getting them on the Apple TV. The iTunes store contains a limited selection of movies and unlike importing a compact disc, there is no easy method to putting a DVD (one you own, of course) in your computer and converting it to a file that is playable on the Apple TV.

The lack of an easy conversion process is most likely due to the all mighty forces behind the major movie studios, but all is not lost. You can use software, like the brilliant HandBrake (available for Windows and Mac) to convert your movies into files that can be synched or streamed to the Apple TV. The process can be time consuming. On a fast computer it takes a little less than real time to convert a DVD, but the end result is worth the effort. Once your files are converted, the Apple TV grabs the movie and your set.

Besides movies, the Apple TV can sync or stream all your music and photos from your computer for display on your TV. You can watch the endless supply of YouTube videos and the screen saver alone can keep the kids entertained while you listen to music. Controlling it all with your TV remote makes it all even easier and more enjoyable. There are other products that do some of the same things – some better, some worse, but the Apple TV makes it very easy. Hopefully it is not too far ahead of its time. Buy today!

Little Bear, based on the popular children’s books written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, tells the story about a young bear cub’s adventures with his animal friends. The stories are very smartly written with engaging characters and humorous wit but never contain anything inappropriate.

Little Bear and his friends engage in imaginative play that manages to leave a gentle understanding of the way things should be without heavy moral instruction. Thankfully, the episodes remain sweet and entertaining with each repeated viewing because children (and their parents) will be watching and re-watching them again and again.

Another aspect of the show that can be very helpful is that each episode consists of three seven-minute stories. This is great when you just want to let the kids watch a little TV, but not a whole show.

Little Bear is the one show that kids of all ages will embrace and love.