JEFF TIEDEMAN: Hungry for the holidays
Special events offer once-a-year recipes.
- Jeff Tiedeman
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This is the time of the year that really excites people who like to cook and bake.
With one big food event down and a few more waiting in the wings, kitchens across the country are among the busiest places around.
Part of what makes the holidays so special is there a lot of recipes that don’t see the light of day until this time of the year.
That’s why I’m looking forward to the Holiday Favorites Bake Off from 6 to 10 p.m. Dec. 12 at Santa Village, which is located in the Lincoln Park Golf Course Clubhouse.
Sponsored by the Grand Forks Park District and Special Olympics North Dakota, the SOND fundraising event gives people throughout the community a chance to enter their favorite holiday treats (in four categories) and have them judged by the general public in open-house style. Admission is $5. (Taste testing and voting will be from 6 to 9 p.m., and winners will be announced from 9 to 10 p.m.)
The winners of each category will have their items featured in local restaurants (best dessert, Sanders 1907; best hors d’oeuvres, Toasted Frog; best beverage, Coffee Company; and most creative, Oh For Heaven’s Cakes). The profits from sales at the restaurants will be donated back to SOND.
According to Katie Allen, director of special projects for SOND, anyone is eligible to enter the competition for $20. To enter, people can email Allen at projectsdir@aol.com or call (701) 746-0331. A form that can be found at www.specialolympicsnorthdakota.org homepage must be filled out to enter. (The original form states the deadline to enter is Thursday, but due to space available, entries still are being accepted.)
If you haven’t been to Santa Village and are planning to attend the Bake Off, you’re in for a treat. Last year, I attended Therese’s Lake Agassiz Elementary School’s faculty holiday potluck party at Santa Village. It was so successful, that it’s going to be there again this year.
Events such as the Bake Off and other holiday food events undoubtedly are a lot of fun, but they also can be cause for concern.
Here are a few tips for eating healthy at the holidays from Sue Streitz, nutrition therapy supervisor at Altru Health System:
— Many foods we eat during the holiday season are only available now. Don’t let this cause you to eat compulsively. Enjoy your favorite foods in moderation and/or balance them with the rest of the meals of the day.
— Often, our bodies get abused during the holidays with inadequate sleep and stressful demands. Some of it is self-inflicted, so don’t overcommit yourself this year.
— Decide what you want your health goals to be. Will you maintain your weight, have consistent glucose control and exercise consistently for a stress-free holiday? In setting small, achievable goals, you can feel good and stay on the right track.
— Recall last year’s holiday season. Which strategies worked and which need improvement? Make a list of your strong and weak areas. Devise a plan to build on your strong areas and conquer the weak ones.
— If you cannot find the time, you must make the time to exercise. Plan for it as part of the holiday activity. Exercise will revitalize you and renew your commitments about your health goals. It’s also a great stress reliever from holiday preparations.
— Focus on the positive things you are doing rather than on the negative. The more you take notice of the things you are doing well, the more you will continue to do them.
— Don’t expect perfection. Look for progress. Use your strategy plans as guidelines. Do your best to stay with it, but don’t get discouraged if you don’t. Avoid that “All or Nothing” attitude and “I’ll start tomorrow syndrome.”
Follow these, and I’ll guarantee the food will taste better.
Tiedeman is food editor at the Herald. Reach him at (701) 780-1136 or toll-free at (800) 477-6572, or e-mail at jtiedeman@gfherald.com.
Tags: jeff tiedeman, holiday food, life, updates, food, recipes, columns
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