Meadow Sweet Grove

Merry Meet! The fairies invite you to enter the Grove and delight in a magical dose of seasonal articles & images, tidbits of folklore and comfy home-cooking recipes. Scroll down to see this week's articles now! Then stay and peruse an enchanting selection of new, vintage & always eclectic treasures available to you in the fairies' own store!

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~ Last time at Meadow Sweet Grove ~

You Mean You Forgot Cranberries Too?
Like cranberries with your turkey but dislike that "stuff in a can"? There is still just enough time to make your own for Christmas dinner!...

Read more here: you-mean-you-forgot-cranberries-too.html

Cleaning Out the Fridge After Christmas

1950s Refrigerator Advertisement

I hate to throw out food. It has just gotten too dear to fool around with!

Before Christmas and New Year's we purchase all kinds of groceries and goodies. We bake and cook - sometimes a little too much in anticipation of guests, and just in the spirit of abundance that Christmas represents. Hopefully, you have been freezing all your left-overs along the way - especially the best cuts of turkey!

I recommend taking a good look inside your fridge ... and now! Because that food is going to spoil if you don't get to it very soon. It's too easy to forget about something you bought and didn't use and that is now buried in the fridge, which is overly-stuffed with bits and pieces and left-overs. So do a proper clean-out to make sure you are saving as much of that food as possible.

So many uses for covered dishes!

Step 1:
What's in your fridge?
Do take a good look on each and every shelf. Push everything aside so you know what is really in there. Remove all spoiled food and compost it, wrap up for the "green bin" (if your city provides that kind of recycling service) or toss out. Don't forget to recycle all those plastic, glass or metal containers .... if you haven't been using your very own covered dishes that is!

Step 2:
What's left?
Now take a look at what is left and prioritize. Do you have extra cheeses, vegetables and sauces? Make them part of the next few nights dinner plans so they don't go to waste, with these ideas.

~ Post-Christmas Dinner Plans ~

Various kinds of cheeses from cheese platters, sour cream left-over from home-made dips =
"Put-It-All-Together" Macaroni & Cheese
Try recipe here: february-when-theres-snow-on-the-snowdrops.html

Cherry tomatoes from finger food veg platters =
Use in salads or spaghetti sauce. Or preserve to use as a tomato sauce later on in the year.
Instructions here: january-make-even-more-of-the-food-you-buy-by-reincarnating-it.html

Left-over root vegetables like turnips, carrots and potatoes =
Roast and serve as a side dish with meatloaf or other meat dish.

Left-over vegetables like brussel sprouts, carrots, celery and peppers =
Make stir fries, soups, omelets and cut up for snacking with hummus.

Left-over tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream and cheeses =
Nachos!

Left-over (or soft) mandarin oranges = Orange Slush

This is the absolute best! DO NOT throw out soft or wrinkled mandarin oranges! Wash, cut in half and juice. Pour the juice into a blender, together with desired amount of sugar and some crushed ice. Blend and pour into glasses. Sooooo sweet!

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2019