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Top 4 Pie Recipes
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Scary Guest Lists—and Two Sincere New Year’s Resolutions
You can go nuts fast worrying about what dish to take to your next holiday or football play-off get-together. I mean to be sympathetic and sensitive to all the concerns, but sometimes when I agonize, I can get a little cynical. That’s a confession and a warning.
I used to just think about 3 things:
1. Will everybody like my food?
2. Did I make enough?
3. Will it survive the car trip to the party?
Now I wake up at night—and I see faces. These are the people who will be at the party:
1. The vegetarians, who have varying degrees of practice, including those who forgive you if you were ¼ cup short of vegetable stock and filled in with chicken stock, and those who won’t.
2. The foodies, equipped with judgment and certainty.
3. The alternative folk, who are concerned that in the course of preparing the food they’re about to eat, no animal or plant suffered pain, and who can spot a shred of plastic anywhere.
4. The souls who just want to get full.
5. Those who are hoping for the good ole favorites, please.
6. The vegans, often proudly and loudly so.
7. The gluten-free, either because they must, or because they find it mildly entertaining or are sure they feel better for the sacrifice they’re making.
I find all of this downright intimidating. But one of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more forgiving and more considerate of other people’s needs and wishes. And my second resolution? To still give myself permission now and then to make what I’d like to for parties.
I’ve gotta admit, sometimes I do wonder if we’d all be happier—cooks and guests alike—if we all just brought our own packed lunches.
But, hey, before you resort to that, here’s a sturdy and luscious soup I love to make that will work for all but the vegans and those with peanut allergies at your next party.
What do you make and take that makes everybody happy?
Peanut Butter Pumpkin Soup
Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook, page 44
Makes 8-10 servings
Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook, page 44
Makes 8-10 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 6 hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 4-qt.
¼ stick (2 Tbsp.) butter
4 cups canned pumpkin
2 cups cooked and pureed sweet potatoes, or butternut squash*
1 cup smooth peanut butter
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. salt
croutons for garnish, optional
crumbled cooked bacon for garnish, optional for anyone but the vegetarians and vegans
1. Place butter, pumpkin, sweet potatoes or squash, peanut butter, stock, pepper, and salt in slow cooker. Stir well.
2. Cover. Cook on Low 6 hours, stirring well after first 2 hours.
3. Serve with croutons or crumbled bacon as garnishes if you wish.
*If you make your own pureed sweet potatoes or squash, add another hour to the Prep Time. Use 2 large sweet potatoes, or a medium-sized butternut squash, in order to get the 2 cups mashed.
except that your vegans won’t eat the butter. You need to substitute margarine or olive oil.
If you use Earth Balance vegan buttery spread and a vegan friendly vegetable stock, this would work for the vegans in the crowd. My son is vegan, so I have to make small adjustments. There’s a soy bacon that would work, too.
I have family members that *cannot* eat certain things. And I mean seriously cannot eat an amazing amount of “regular” food products like wheat, certain vegetables, dairy and certain meat products. So what I do is have a temper tantrum and then try to figure out what they can eat. I do the same for friends at potlucks, the celiac sufferer, the vegetarians, the people who don’t eat certain things because of their kidney stones.
Usually I come up with something not too bad, a corn tortilla stuffed with innocuous ingredients but with spices on the side to add for those who like it hot or spicy. Salads are good, pasta with vegetables and a dressing is easy and if divided in half can be easily taken along to a party and labeled. Cheese in one and none in the other, peppers with the gorgonzola but olive oil and olives in the other. Marinated salads always help ease a palate in a potluck. Deserts are easily tackled with a boxed gluten free mix and regular recipe side by side, but always labeled. I am very thankful for the internet. Cooking is much easier than baking though so I suggest cooking something rather than baking something for these events.
I am surprised you mentioned those who need gluten-free food but ignored the diabetics, a much larger group.
I was wondering if this soup is freezable, as it makes a great amount of servings. Also, how long would it stay fresh in both the fridge and the freezer?
By the way – the picture you took looks SO appetizing