{"id":96444,"date":"2009-12-23T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T17:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blog.cookingwithtraderjoes.com,2009-12-23:017f6235-7890-4ff2-b2d6-e953c38f8b51"},"modified":"2009-12-23T12:26:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-23T17:26:00","slug":"last-minute-holiday-party-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/96444","title":{"rendered":"Last Minute Holiday Party Tips!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Having a holiday get-together in the next couple of days or next week?  Don’t let your fun holiday party stress you out or keep you in the kitchen all night long. Take advantage of
\nsome of our easy recipes and Trader Joe’s products to create fast and
\neasy appetizers and meals.  Instead of slaving over the stove, join the
\nfestivities and enjoy delicious and interesting food without breaking a
\nsweat in the process.  Here’s how:
\n 
\n1. Plan ahead of time and shop early<\/strong>.
\nA few days before the party, figure out your menu and pick up all the
\ningredients.  Trader Joe’s has great party-friendly foods from
\nappetizers to desserts – the Trader Joe’s holiday guide has some great
\nideas. 
\n<\/font><\/p>\n


\n2. Keep drinks simple<\/strong>.  Fancy up plain water by adding
\nraspberries or slices of cucumber to the pitcher.  Make sparkling
\nspritzers by combining juice with sparkling water.  For an elegant
\ntouch, garnish the glasses with lemon or pomegranate seeds.  If you
\nwant alcohol, pick up bargain wines from Trader Joe’s.  There are many
\ngood choices for $4-5\/bottle.  Our friend Jason at Jason’s Wine Blog shared some of his favorite TJ wines under $10<\/a> with us this year.<\/p>\n

3. Tasty appetizers<\/strong>. Have a great selection of appetizers
\nincluding cheeses, crackers, olives, and breads.  Try the Apricot Baked Brie recipe from our cookbook<\/a>, or the recent Pear Baked Brie<\/a> we featured recently on the blog.  Have you tried TJ’s Grilled Artichoke Dip (in the refrigerated section)?  Dump two containers into a small oven-safe baking dish, top with some crushed pecans and bake until bubbly on the edges.  Yum!<\/font><\/p>\n

4. Cook ahead of time<\/strong>. 
\nThink of meals that you can prepare ahead of time and serve at room
\ntemperature, so you’re not trapped in the kitchen worrying about timing
\nand synchronizing dishes.  Even a dish like salmon can be prepared
\nahead of time and served at room temperature or cold.  Pair salmon with
\npeanut sesame noodles or an Asian slaw, two dishes that keep well when
\nmade ahead of time.  Dishes like lasagna or roast chicken are also great because they can be prepped ahead of time and simply stuck in the oven at the right time.<\/p>\n

5. Use inexpensive ingredients to create sophisticated meals.<\/strong> 
\nPasta is an elegant yet economical way to feed a large gathering of
\nguests.  Stir in some arugula or basil, add vegetables, and complete
\nthe dish with fancier items such as pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, or a
\nsprinkle of goat cheese.   <\/p>\n

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\n6. For dessert, keep things simple and concentrate on presentation<\/strong>. 
\nChoose a dessert you can make ahead of time such as mousse (the South Seas Chocolate Mousse in our cookbook is my go-to make-ahead dessert!), brownies, fudge, or cake. We recently covered a few easy holiday favorites here<\/a>. Top the dessert or individual
\nservings with Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Stars for a festive touch. 
\nCoffee and tea are inexpensive and provide a relaxed ending to a great
\nevening.<\/font>
\n <\/div>\n
Here’s wishing you a very happy holiday!<\/font><\/div>\n
 <\/font><\/div>\n
Deana Gunn & Wona Miniati
Cooking with Trader Joe’s<\/a>
<\/font><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having a holiday get-together in the next couple of days or next week?  Don’t let your fun holiday party stress you out or keep you in the kitchen all night long. Take advantage of some of our easy recipes and Trader Joe’s products to create fast and easy appetizers and meals.  Instead of slaving over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}