Entertaining Season
Here we are the second week into December and the second year from COVID lockdowns. People are ready to party. There are office parties, family gatherings, neighborhood get-togethers, and social events. With one or more of these, you may be tasked with taking along something to share. Not a full meal, but hors d’oeuvres, little nibbles that can be easily plucked from a plate and put directly into the mouth. While you might feel a little rusty on deciding what to take, the farmers market is here to ease your decisions and make shopping easier this holiday season.
The first question to ask yourself is how much work do you want to put into this? Now is a great time to pick up an extra head of colorful cauliflowers, carrots, radishes, and any other small vegetable that can be served raw. There are still cherry tomatoes at market which are perfect for tossing together with other veggies on a crudités platter. For dipping, take your pick from prepared condiments, artisan oils and vinegars, gourmet sauces, and my favorite, a container of fresh ricotta or yogurt mixed with pesto. The best part is these simple ingredients can be easily rotated into family meals if social plans get cancelled. Remember, we’re also facing the triple whammy of COVID/RSV/Flu infections, too, this season.
The next question to ask is how special is this occasion? The holidays are the time of year when I like to pull out the stops. That perfect piece of cured fish, a nice duck speck, caviar,and cheeses, oh, all the glorious cheeses! An elegant charcuterie board is the answer to quick entertaining that will leave plenty of time with to spend with guests.
For office parties and potlucks, one of the standards has always been meatballs. Skip the trip to IKEA for a bag of Swedish meatballs and take your pick for ingredients from just about every species of domestic livestock raised by local farmers. Forget the white sauce and go straight for barbecue sauces or pepper jellies found at the market. The only bland part of this platter will be the toothpicks in the meatballs.
Happy hour does not escape the farmers market either, with our many breweries, wineries, cider houses, and distilleries. This is the time of year that even a vegan health drink with peppermint falls to the lure of being spiked with a splash and stirred with a candy cane. For a PG rated cocktail, local apple cider and carbonated mineral water can be equally festive.
There’s always that one hipster minimalist in your life. Show off your own farmers market minimalism with something as simple as a good loaf of bread, a great bottle of olive oil. This is a combination that goes with every décor, holiday, culture, libation, and budget.
We’re in Maryland. Two words: blue crab. You cannot go wrong. There are also crab balls, crab dips, crab-filled mushrooms. Crabs may be disappearing in Alaska, but Maryland still has theirs.
What has been the most astute observation about the December holidays is that they are centric to Judea and Samaria so shouldn’t we all be eating pita and hummus?