Winter Holiday Archives - Sensory Nutrition

Holiday Baking – What’s Up With Nut Prices?

Many holiday recipes, especially for baked goods, feature tree nuts in them. Nuts can contribute wonderful sensory qualities as well as terrific nutritional value when used in moderation as part of a healthier diet. That said, what’s up with nut prices this holiday baking season? Are dramatically higher prices a one time fluke or are they here to stay for awhile?

Holiday Yeast Baking: G’s Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

G’s Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls recipe was adapted from other cinnamon rolls recipes by our webmaster to have a more heathful profile overall for baking a yeast-based cinnamon roll. Each 3+” diameter cinnamon roll from the adapted recipe features an overall lower fat and lower saturated fat content than other typical cinnamon rolls, features applesauce as a replacement for fat in the actual dough, is higher in whole grain content through the use of some* white whole wheat flour to replace some of the all-purpose unbleached flour, is lower in overall sugars, yet when iced still offers the appeal of those

Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 3 of 3

Why not grab a cup of fragrant not-too-hot tea and we’ll wrap up this blog series on Christmas tea and how it can contribute to helping you and yours to stay healthier during the holidays. We’ve already mentioned in Part 1 of this series how tea can contribute valuable flavonoids to your diet, and then in Part 2 of this series shared some thoughts concerning brewing tea and its caffeine content as well. Now we’d like to share some other potential health benefits of drinking a not-too-hot cup of freshly steeped tea and mention just some of the supermarket accessible brands of

Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 2 of 3

It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and inadvertently forget about setting aside time to help keep yourself healthier during the holidays. Sometimes you need to just stop, catch your breath, and maybe even sit down and treat yourself to a wonderfully aromatic warm cup of tea! It’s important to keep up your antioxidant intake during the winter months and as we noted in Part 1 of 3 of this blog series, especially green and/or black tea made from the tea leaves of the Camellia senesis plant can be an excellent source of important

Celebrating Winter Holidays Including the Italian Legend of La Befana

This Winter, people celebrate some of the Winter Holidays starting with: Dec 20-28th Hanukkah Dec 25th Christmas Day Dec 26-Jan 1 Kwanzaa Jan 6th Little Christmas aka The Epiphany Let’s explore each of these holidays a little bit…

Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 1 of 3

Are you a tea drinker? As of the year 2010, the Tea Association of the USA estimated that there are at least 154 million people in the US who drink some form of tea. If their 2010 Tea Fact Sheet still holds true, then in effect before the year ends approximately 1 out of every 2 persons in the US will have consumed some form of tea this year. (Image of Christmas Tree + ornaments courtesy of dyet at rgbstock.com) In Part 1 of this 3 part series we’ll review a little background on tea and tea events, and mention

Savory Cheese Rolls

I use the Red Star Yeast Savory Cheese Rolls recipe. This is a batter dough method yeast roll recipe, so requires NO kneading! Once the dough has risen in the bowl, you beat it down, fill muffin cups, allow the dough to rise again, then simply bake it off. If for some reason you don’t like celery seed, but do like fennel seed, then you could probably add 1 tsp dried Herbs de Provence to this roll recipe in place of the celery seed if desired (and IF you aren’t making a bread stuffing recipe as well for the Thanksgiving Holiday–bread stuffing

Holiday Baking – Cookie Making Tips

If you are making any type of drop sugar cookie recipes up this holiday season, here are some easy to remember tips to keep in mind…

Flavorful Gift Baskets for the Holidays

Sometimes a gift basket can be the just right gift to give to others at holiday time. Santa Face with “Fuzzy Fleece” beard is the “Applique Santa” design (Single 3) from www.adesignbylyn.com used with permission. (Fuzzy Fleece is also sometimes known as Silky Fleece). You can pick a basket size from small to extra large and include in it whatever suits your fancy and seems appropriate for the sentiments you wish to convey to the recipient at holiday time, no matter what the holiday may be. Contents of a gift basket can be whimsical to practical to inspirational.

Holiday Tins Make Quick, Lovely, Simple Gifts

Some of the best gifts at the holidays are the simplest ones. Take, for example, the gift of a lovely, simple holiday tin. You can fill it with a plethora of possibilities, and it is a festive reminder of the spirit of giving during this winter holiday season, no matter which holidays you might happen to celebrate. Do you know where some of the nicest holiday tins come from?