December 19, in a minor flood of holiday cooking articles, the New York Times writes an article about Martha Stewart's call on the popular cooking Reality-TV television show, Top Chef. She was present on the December 18 showing of the program. The big take-aways from the episode were that Ms. Stewart recommended simplicity ("but not too simple") and that the winning dish was vegetarian. The one-pot creation by Top Chef contestant, Ariane Duarte was made of cauliflower, potatoes, cream, and seasonings.

In the same article, Gourmet Magazine's annual projections about food trends is cited as saying there will be a return to home cooking and easy meals. I guess my household is ahead of the times! An occasional outing is relaxing, but there is something so fulfilling about creating something from scratch in my kitchen and waiting for my husband's reaction. Granted, there are some husbands who don't like wives who take chances in the kitchen. My husband is the adventurous type. Gourmet's prediction may surprise some, but likely it's the ones who are afraid they don't know how to take advantage of their kitchens. Even if there is an occasional mistake, keep at it. Your wallet and your stomach will thank you.

So, my first recommendation for the holiday eating week is to take advantage of sales. Stores want to sell as much as you want to buy. But buy wisely, and consider at least saving money on other meals even if not on the main Christmas Day meal. For example, does your grocery store have English muffins on sale? Buy them. You have to feed something to your guests for breakfast.

My example will show up on a later blog post. However, then it will be too late for readers to share in my good fortune. This week, Publix has ricotta cheese, lasagna noodles, canned Hunt's tomatoes, and bagged salads on sale (mostly buy 1, get 1 free). I can buy carrots, zucchini, and squash for about $1 for each kind at my local farmer's market. So, my Christmas Eve dinner of salad and vegetable lasagna served to both my parents and Paul's parents will be an exceptionally reasonable adventure.

Happy Grocery Shopping!