Christmas feast doesn’t have to be a chore
This year’s Christmas Day meal doesn’t have to be a chore, CJ Katz writes.
The halls are decked, the tree is trimmed and every gift is wrapped to bring joy into someone’s life. You even have a little something to occupy your cat that just can’t stay away from the tinsel. Now what? It’s time to kick into gear and make the festive meal by tearing bread for stuffing, peeling potatoes, whipping up side dishes, roasting the turkey and baking Aunt Mary’s favourite cranberry cheesecake.
While many of us love the tradition of cooking for loved ones, not everyone is able to or has the inclination to roll up their sleeves and start chopping onions. But everyone deserves a festive holiday meal and it’s a blessing that there are kitchens in Regina prepared to make everyone’s day merry and delicious.
Laurie Wall, owner and party planner par excellence at Wallnuts Expressive Catering (232A College Ave. E.) has been making Christmas Day easier for a decade. She says that her Christmas dinner packages are hugely popular. She easily sells a hundred leading up to Dec. 25.
Every year she does something a little different with the intent that you be a guest at your own party. This year her dinner starts with a choice of squash soup with a toasted pumpkin seed garnish, creamy coleslaw with apples and sunflower seeds or a fresh green salad with garden crudities. The star is roast turkey with gravy and comes with fruity herb stuffing, garlic chive mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables with fresh herbs, pickles and olives, and homemade buns with fresh creamery butter. Each serves one or two people. Wall keeps the meals on hand but if you want to guarantee a dinner, reserve by Dec. 21 by calling 306-543-9255.
Executive chef Geoffrey Caswell-Murphy at the Double-Tree by Hilton is focusing on a traditional dinner for a family and friends. Even Mrs. Claus would be impressed with this banquet that can either serve 10 to 14 people or 12 to 16 people. His Christmas Turkey Take-Out dinner comes with roasted and sliced turkey with seasonal vegetables, wild sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, pan gravy, rolls and butter as well as pumpkin pie with whipped cream or New York cheesecake with berry compote. All meals must be ordered ahead. Deadline is noon Dec. 18 by calling 306-525-7560.
Jssel Blackmore, executive chef at Sprout Catering, is serving up individual turkey dinners for one with sliced brown sugar-brined turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy and glazed carrots. And if turkey really isn’t your favourite, she also has a non-traditional option of red wine braised beef short ribs with glazed carrots, braised red cabbage and roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Dinners are available as long as qualities last at Sprout’s main location at 3241 Saskatchewan Dr. and at the newly opened cafe at the backside of the Viterra building (2625 Victoria Ave. at the corner of Angus Street). You can also order head by calling 306-545-5505.
Peg’s Kitchen (1653 Park St.) has been making sugar plums dance with to-go holiday meals for a number of years. “We sell everything individually so you can add what you need to the meal,” says Peg Leippi. Available is two pounds of all meat turkey (enough to feed eight people), cooked and uncooked cabbage rolls, one litre tubs of gravy, stuffing, perogies and mashed potatoes. There is no need to pre-order.
If making Christmas dinner is a strong tradition but cutting a few corners would be welcome, why not get the appetizers all done for you. Sprout has various customizable packages with 18, 30 and 42 pieces, including such appetizers as blue cheese tarts with cranberry chutney, pesto prawn skewers, harvest squash risotto cakes and purple potato onion gratin bites. There is even an oyster platter with raspberry and white rock oysters and accompaniments such as lemon, hot sauce, mignonette and gremolata.
If you’re trying to figure out how much to order, Blackmore suggests four to five appetizers per person if you are serving dinner, and eight to 10 appetizers per person if you’re throwing a cocktail party.
Wallnuts has a satchel full of brand spanking new take-away no-fuss bites that come with disposable plates, napkins, and cutlery. Hors d’oeuvres trays, which you can customize, come in three sizes — small (for 5 to 10 people), medium (10 to 15 people) and large (15 to 20 people). Try the spinach and feta cheese phyllo pastry, which might be the best I’ve ever tasted, cranberry-brie parcels, lobster and crab cheesecake, as well as various Italian, Irish, Caribbean, Chinese, Indonesian and even Saskatchewan-themed platters.
And adding on a few sweet somethings is no problem either. Both Sprout and Wallnuts have that covered with a huge selection from boozy fruitcakes and cranberry coconut pecan squares at Wallnuts to gooey cranberry-apple-cinnamon knots and snowy eggnog cream puffs at Sprout. Peg’s Kitchen also sells an assortment of pies.
This is definitely one year where you can sit back, let others do the cooking, and visit with your guests. I wonder who will do the dishes?