Too busy to Blog...Catching Up

While I really love Christmas, it is truly the worst time to be a working mom. There is so much to do and so little time and all the holiday duties are in addition to all that you do in your normal life. In addition there is so much pressure- to choose the perfect present, to plan the perfect meal or party, to have the perfect family get-together, or the perfect holiday outfit. I have to admit, I have been caught up in this a bit and while I have been eating and making good food, blogging about it has suffered as a result.

While I may not be the perfect food blogger,I do want to catch you up on some recent food happenings and connect with the food blogosphere where many of you are also dealing with the pressure to be perfect!

After Thanksgiving, we got together with friends for a Thanksgiving leftover cook-off. It was great fun and while some unadulterated leftovers were on the table, our host used her leftover turkey to make a Thai dish that had coconut milk and a bit of spice that was delicious, and was a complete change of pace. I had decided to make an appetizer of baked brie topped with leftover whole berry cranberry sauce I had made, mixed with a little hot pepper jelly to add heat, but I wanted to do something unique with turkey as well. For inspiration I had to go no further than the free cookbook that was handed out at Costco earlier in the day. If yougot this cookbook, there are a lot of great ideas for food for the holidays and beyond! There I saw a recipe for a turkey pizza, so I fooled with the ingredients a bit and made my own version that used Pillsbury Recipe Creations for the crust, pesto, leftover turkey, craisins and smoked gouda cheese.

Recipe Creations were one of the products I was sent to try at the time of the Iron Chef pizza challenge, and this was my chance to give them a try. It is like crescent roll dough, but without the perforations so you have many more options when using it as a basis for a recipe. My version based on the Costco recipe was a big hit- even at room temperature. If we had eaten it hot from the oven it would have been even better. This is a great product that you can use to put together a quick appetizer, main dish or even dessert, and perfect for kids who want to play with food.

Give it a try, and take a break from trying to do it all - the best way to a perfect holiday season is to forget about perfection and just enjoy!!