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Christmas Cookies: Store Them Properly, Keep Them Fresh and Use Leftovers Sensibly

Storing Christmas cookies correctly is important so that you can enjoy your cookies for a long time. We’ll show you how to keep Christmas cookies fresh and how to use leftovers sensibly.

Storing Christmas cookies: This is how you succeed

Whether cinnamon stars, vanilla crescents or gingerbread – cookies are part of the Advent season. So that you can enjoy your homemade biscuits throughout Advent, you should make sure that they last as long as possible. Therefore, we have put together the best tips for you on how to store Christmas cookies properly:

Store by type: After baking, all types of cookies should be allowed to cool completely before tinning. The glaze or other decorations must first dry completely. Otherwise the biscuits may stick together. Then store the Christmas cookies according to type in different airtight cookie jars. You should also wrap homemade stollen in a kitchen towel.
Shelf life is related to the type of cookie: The use-by date is closely related to the type of cookie. Dry cookies can last up to eight weeks. However, if your cookies have a cream filling, you should use them up within a week if possible.
Freezing Christmas cookies: If you can foresee that you will not use up your cookies in time, you can simply freeze them. You will need an airtight container to put your cookies in after they have cooled. However, be careful not to freeze cookies decorated with chocolate. Chocolate turns gray in the freezer. If you want to thaw the frozen pastry again, take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for several hours.

Tips for making good use of leftover pastries

Storing Christmas cookies properly can avoid food waste. But what to do if there are leftovers? With our ideas you will be able to use what is left over. So nothing has to end up in the garbage, but can be used elsewhere.

Second chance for leftover cookies: You can crumble many types of Christmas cookies and use them instead of biscuits for various recipes. In this way you can refine (vegan) tiramisu or other layered desserts, for example. You can also use them to make sprinkles for apple crumbles. You can melt leftover chocolate and use it as a glaze for cakes or fresh pastries.
Utilize expired ingredients: Each food item is given a sell-by date before it is sold. However, this date is not to be taken so strictly for all foods. Because ingredients such as baking powder, flour or spices can keep much longer. Therefore, you can use these basic foods for baking for a long time without hesitation. Read more: Forget the best before date – many foods last longer than you think
Cookies as a gift idea for friends and relatives: What Christmas cookies you don’t want to store with you may be missing from others. How about giving your homemade treats to friends, acquaintances and relatives? Not only do you give your loved ones a little treat, you also don’t have to throw away your leftover cookies.

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Cooking Tips

Planning and Preparing Christmas Dinner

A traditional Christmas dinner is part of Christmas for many families. This is where the family comes together and celebrates. In order for the celebration to be a success, you should prepare the Christmas dinner well. You can plan traditional dishes as well as use modern dishes. Get inspired by our Christmas dinner ideas.

What is the Christmas feast all about?

The tradition of the classic Christmas roast originally goes back to Lent. For a long time, roast goose and the like were only served on December 25, because that day marked the end of Lent. For a long time, feasts were served with a decoration of twelve apples. Because these apples symbolized the apostles and pursued the task of driving out evil spirits. The spices for roasting were also carefully selected. For example, the original meal of roast pork should be refined with three times three spices. This constellation should remind us of the trinity, which, in interaction with apples, should usher in a new year without sickness and hunger. However, the roasts were only served to rich people. Poorer families would eat sausages at Christmas time.

Ideas for a successful Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner is traditional and sacred in many families. Because on these evenings the family gets together. And that’s particularly nice because you usually have little contact with most family members throughout the year in hectic everyday life. Therefore, the Christmas days should be celebrated without stress in a cozy get-together. To ensure that everything goes well, you should plan and prepare the Christmas dinner well, if it is taking place at your place. Because a good Christmas meal lifts the spirits and calms the mind. With the following planning tips, the traditional Christmas dinner can come:

Plan the traditional Christmas dinner correctly

When you’re the one who has relatives visiting for Christmas. Then you should give some thought to the planning and implementation of the perfect dinner in advance. Because that way you can be sure that the preparation of the traditional Christmas dinner will be stress-free for you too. So you should ask yourself the following questions:

  • How many people are coming?
  • Are guests aware of any food intolerances?
  • Which food preferences should be considered (vegetarian, vegan, without pork)?
  • Is there enough crockery and cutlery?
  • Is there enough seating?
  • How should it be decorated?
  • What can be prepared well and early?
  • Preparing tips for Christmas dinner

If you don’t want to spend Christmas in the kitchen with enthusiasm, plan the Christmas menu so that a lot is prepared in the days before Christmas. Yeast dough can be frozen well, bread dough too, and even vegetables can be cleaned, cut, and frozen. It can also help if you choose cooking methods that don’t tie you to the stove. Even bratwurst can be prepared well in the oven. Another advantage of cooking in the oven is that the kitchen stays clean. In addition, it is a nice and stress-free solution for everyone if everyone contributes something homemade to eat. Then one makes the salad, the other the dessert and the hosts take care of the roast.

The traditional dishes at Christmas

At Christmas time there are many different specialties around the world that are otherwise rarely served. It’s mostly the same traditional dishes for Christmas throughout Germany, even if each region brings its own touch. Most German food on Christmas Eve is traditionally something more modest, while the days that follow are a feast.

Modern Christmas dinner

Since there are many different forms of nutrition these days, it is not easy to make everyone happy. Still, it’s not impossible. If there are vegetarians or vegans among your guests, you can fall back on numerous vegan minced meat alternatives here. There are also plenty of vegetarian dishes that the whole family will enjoy. However, so that all the work doesn’t get stuck on you, here’s a reminder of the idea that everyone can contribute something to the food. So everyone conjures up the dish that he can do best. Then everyone will like it.

Leftover menus for the following days

There is usually a lot of leftover food at Christmas. So the hard work was worth it twice over: you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and you still have plenty to eat for the next few days. So you can relax and reduce the stress of the past few days.

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Lifestyle

7 Ideas for Homemade Gifts for Christmas

We’ve collected ideas for homemade Christmas gifts that you can easily use to conjure up great surprises for your loved ones! From delicious treats to beautifully designed candles, there is something for everyone. So you can avoid unnecessary stress during the Christmas season with homemade Christmas presents.

Avoid the stress with homemade Christmas presents

Just before Christmas, the same problem keeps popping up: What do I give my family and friends as presents? But not only the gift idea is a problem. In most cases, the gift for Christmas should not be too expensive and still look very attractive and bring a lot of joy. So that the search for the ideal Christmas present does not turn out to be too difficult, we have collected stylish and individual gifts that are homemade and that can be produced cheaply in this article. This makes it easy to find the right DIY gift for family and friends. Consequently, you avoid stress at Christmas.

Delicious homemade Christmas ideas

At Christmas, we like to eat chocolate and sweets. This is why gifts that can be nibbled on by family and friends are particularly useful in this cold season. Depending on the taste of your loved one, you can use different basic ingredients. And if you want to do something for the health of the recipient, why not give away a DIY spice mix Golden Milk.

1) Gingerbread gifts

Gingerbread dough is ideal for making a loving gift. It’s easy to use. Even if you’re not a professional baker, you can handle it with ease. For example, at Christmas, you can poke or cut a large star out of gingerbread dough and bake it in the oven.

The baked gingerbread star is then beautifully decorated with colorful sugar writing and colored sprinkles. Dark or white (homemade) chocolate can also be used to design the star. After the decoration, the gingerbread star only has to be wrapped in clear foil and the Christmas present is ready.

The shape of the gingerbread can be designed individually – you can cut out the first letter of the recipient or make something out of the dough that reminds you of the recipient. There are no limits to creativity there. Also, read how to make the salt dough yourself.

2) Homemade cookies and cakes

Homemade cookies and cakes are also great Christmas gifts, which will bring a lot of joy to the person receiving the gift thanks to their delicious taste. You can also design these with colorful sugar writing, sprinkles, and chocolate. This is how the treats become your very own personal work of art.

Baking and decorating cookies is a lot of fun, especially with children. Making shortbread, vanilla crescents, and butter cookies and then watching the cookies bake in the oven with a children’s punch in your hand is a wonderful weekend activity in the run-up to Christmas.

And even if there are intolerances or special eating habits in your family, that’s not a problem. Grandma’s cookie recipes can also be easily veganized and are therefore equally suitable for people with lactose intolerance and vegans.

3) Christmas pralines and chocolate

Not only as a chocolate Santa Claus and hot chocolate, but the cocoa specialty also tastes particularly good during the dark season. And you can easily make pralines and chocolate yourself as a Christmas present and give them to your loved ones.

You can use praline recipes, for example, and give them a Christmassy touch: simply add marzipan, orange peel, or speculaas spice and the Christmassy flavor is there. Edible glitter in gold or silver for decoration is particularly pretty on the pralines.

It works similarly with chocolate. You can also easily make these yourself. Similar to the chocolates, you can then simply add the Christmas spices of your choice. Finally, you can add traditional Christmas cookie decorations like candy stars or little chocolate Santa Clauses to complete the Christmas look.

4) Design and give away candles

Candles are very popular design elements at Christmas because they spread a very nice warm glow in the home. You can easily design a candle yourself by taking a plain candle and a napkin with a (Christmas) print that you like. Then you carefully remove the top, printed napkin layer and place it on your candle. Now you blow-dry it until the top layer of wax has melted enough that it has accepted the pressure of the napkin. You already have a self-designed Christmas candle!

5) Make lanterns yourself as a Christmas present

Lanterns can also create a pleasant atmosphere. These can be easily made at home with very simple tools. For the handicrafts of lanterns, you need conventional disposable glasses and bright colors and paper. The glasses are simply painted with bright colors and covered with colored paper. The paper can also be covered with glitter and stars. A beautiful bow can also be attached to the glass. Finally, colorful candle sand is filled into the lantern and a pretty candle is placed in the decorated glass. As a result, you are giving away a cozy living light for your home.

6) Winter flowers and plants as a gift idea

Flowers and plants can also evoke beautiful Christmas associations. For green, mistletoe and poinsettia are ideal decorative elements at Christmas time. If you then make the green arrangements yourself, the recipient will be very happy. For example, the flower pot of the poinsettia can be individually designed using serviette technology. This works in a similar way to the candle. You carefully remove the top layer of the serviette and then use napkin glue to apply the motif to the flower pot. Then add a layer of glue to seal and the Christmas self-designed flower pot is ready!

7) Giving away a self-tied bouquet

If you want to bring a bouquet with you at Christmas time, just tie it yourself. By attaching fir green, mistletoe, and small balls or bells, it immediately looks Christmassy. In the end, the whole thing is topped with a ribbon bow with a wintry motif. This is how the classic souvenir becomes an individual gift idea. Dried flowers can also be given away and you can also make this Christmas present yourself.

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Cooking Tips

Christmas Coffee: The Three Best Recipes

So that the coffee lovers among us also get their money’s worth at Christmas, we have put together the three most delicious coffee recipes for the Christmas season. Let yourself be inspired.

1. The classic Christmas coffee

Even if there is perhaps no such thing as a classic Christmas coffee, this one certainly comes as close as it gets. It is one of the most popular coffee specialties at Christmas time and is wonderful to prepare at home. The taste is, as is typical for a coffee, strong and tasty. Small Christmas accents of cloves, vanilla beans and cinnamon turn the standard drink into a real Christmas coffee. Convince yourself and try the recipe directly.

Ingredient list:

1 vanilla bean
1 tsp sugar
150ml of water
1 pinch cloves
1 pinch cinnamon
1 fresh espresso (or 25 ml strong coffee)
3 tablespoons foamed milk

The preparation:

Scratch the pulp out of the vanilla bean. To do this, you have to cut them open lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape off the pith on the walls of the pod.
Now you have to boil the pulp together with the water, cinnamon, sugar and cloves.
Take the espresso and stir it into the mixture. Then you can put everything together in a cup.
The foamed milk can be used as a topping. Some cinnamon is sprinkled on top.
The remaining vanilla bean can be used for stirring.
The finished Christmas coffee can be enjoyed wonderfully with pastries or cakes. But also in the morning for breakfast or in the evening with an exciting book, the enjoyable drink gives warmth and a Christmas feel-good atmosphere.

2. Christmas marzipan coffee with cinnamon

Cinnamon and marzipan are an indispensable part of Christmas in every household. So it’s no wonder that these ingredients can also be used to conjure up an enjoyable Christmas coffee. The preparation is easy and takes little time. For the correct preparation you should have the following ingredients ready:

Ingredient list:

1 tsp chopped almonds
25 g raw marzipan
100ml milk
1 pinch cinnamon
100 ml fresh coffee
3 tablespoons frothed milk

The preparation:

Put the almonds in a pan and lightly brown them over medium-high heat. Finely grate the marzipan.
Now heat the 100 ml milk and add the marzipan while stirring. In the same step you also add cinnamon.
Now fill the cup with coffee and the marzipan-cinnamon-milk. You can add sugar if you like.
Then heat some milk and whip it into milk froth. This serves as a topping for the coffee. For decoration, the coffee can be sprinkled with almonds or cinnamon.

3. Christmas coffee with amaretto and cocoa

This coffee recipe with amaretto is an alcoholic version of the Christmas coffee. The liqueur made from almonds or apricot kernels, reminiscent of marzipan, is very popular for refining Christmas recipes. It also goes well with coffee and chocolate. Try it out.

Ingredient list:

125 ml fresh coffee
2 tsp cocoa powder
30 ml amaretto
1 teaspoon grated chocolate
1 pinch cinnamon
cream
Optional: vanilla

The preparation:

Brew coffee how you like it. We recommend brewing a slightly stronger coffee so that it comes into its own.
Put the coffee and amaretto together in a mug.
Stir in a pinch of cinnamon and, if you like, some vanilla.
Then add the cocoa powder. If you like it a little sweeter, you can also use instant cocoa here.
As a topping, put the whipped cream or spray cream in the cup and refine with chocolate shavings.
And this coffee variation is ready, which of course still tastes delicious after Christmas. Expanding the recipe or adding ingredients is not difficult and also offers some variety. You are also welcome to try gingerbread spice instead of cinnamon or caramel syrup instead of grated chocolate.

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Vegan Duck: A Recipe for the Alternative Christmas Roast

Vegan duck based on seitan, with side dishes such as potato dumplings and red cabbage – and you have a delicious Christmas menu without any animal cruelty. With this recipe you can prepare the plant-based Christmas roast.

Whether for Christmas, Easter or another special occasion such as a birthday: On some days, a fine meal is simply part of it. You don’t necessarily need an animal for a juicy roast. We will show you how to prepare and serve vegan duck.

Vegan Duck: The basis for the recipe

Theoretically, you can also make seitan yourself and use it to make your own vegan duck – but this takes time and skill. It’s faster if you use ready-made products. Some manufacturers now have vegan seitan-based duck in their range. This is similar in consistency and appearance to a duck breast fillet – and with the right preparation, it tastes the same. We recommend, for example, the vegan duck from Veganz. You should plan around 500 grams of vegan duck for three to four people.

You can serve the vegan duck with side dishes of your choice. Potato dumplings and red cabbage as well as a dark gravy are ideal for a classic Christmas menu. We’ll show you how to do it.

Ingredients for the vegan duck:

500 g vegan duck

Vegan duck with red cabbage: Recipe for the side dish

It is best to start the menu with apple and red cabbage: this tastes particularly delicious if it can still infuse a bit. For about four large servings you need the following ingredients:

a red cabbage (medium size)
2 onions
oil for frying
3 apples
3 oranges for squeezing or 250 ml orange juice
250 ml red wine
500ml of water
2 bay leaves
6 juniper berries
4 cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
pepper
Salt

Potato dumplings with vegan duck: recipe instructions

You will also need the following ingredients for about twelve smaller potato dumplings:

1 kg of potatoes
250 g potato flour
150-200 ml lukewarm water
Salt

Vegan gravy for the duck: recipe

To ensure that the vegan duck tastes juicy, a hearty gravy is a must. The porcini or shiitake mushrooms in the sauce provide the umami taste. For the vegan version you need these ingredients:

600-700 ml vegetable stock, preferably homemade
30 g dried porcini mushrooms (or 200 g fresh mushrooms such as button mushrooms or shiitake)
2 medium onions
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp organic olive oil
3 tablespoons cornstarch or flour
1 tsp thyme
3 tsp rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Roast and serve vegan duck: instructions

When you have prepared the side dishes and sauces, you can prepare the vegan duck:

Heat enough oil in a pan and then add the vegan duck breast fillet pieces.
Fry the vegan duck on all sides for several minutes until it is crispy.
Remove the roasted duck pieces from the pan and place them in the warm gravy until ready to serve. Tip: Leave the vegan duck in the sauce for a few minutes. So it absorbs a little more aroma and tastes particularly juicy in the end.

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Mince Pies: How to make English Christmas tarts yourself

Mince pies are a traditional Christmas pastry from England. They are filled with dried fruits and Christmas spices. We show you a recipe with a vegan version.

Mince Pies or Mincemeat Pies are small English Christmas tarts filled with chopped dried fruit. While the mini pies were originally filled with meat (hence the name), today the sweet version is almost exclusively found. The base is shortcrust pastry or puff pastry, which is filled with mincemeat – a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, sugar, brandy, apples and spices. You can also find mincemeat in supermarkets in Great Britain, but the filling tastes best if you make it yourself.

Tip: Buy the ingredients for your mince pies in organic quality if possible. In this way you support ecological agriculture and ensure that no chemical-synthetic pesticides get into the baked goods and the environment. Recommended organic seals are, for example, those of Demeter, Naturland and Bioland.

You can also easily prepare the pies vegan. Simply use vegan butter or coconut oil instead of butter and replace the egg with two to three tablespoons of cold water. You can use plant-based milk to spread the mince pies.

Make mince pies yourself: the recipe

Ingredients:

160 g cold organic butter (or vegan butter)
275 g flour
80 gicing sugar
0.5 tsp salt
1organic egg
100 g dried figs or dates
50 g dried apricots
50 g almonds
1 apple (sour)
100 g raisins
50 g lemon peel and orange peel mixture
1organic lemon
50 g (vegan) organic butter
75 g coconut blossom sugar (or brown sugar)
2 teaspoons gingerbread spice
3 tablespoons brandy
1 organic egg (for brushing)
1 tbsp (vegan) milk (for brushing)

Directions:

Cut the cold butter into small pieces and place in a large bowl with the flour, powdered sugar, salt and the organic egg. For the vegan version, you can replace the egg with two to three tablespoons of cold water. Knead the ingredients into a shortcrust pastry using your hands or a food processor. Place the dough, covered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
For the filling, finely chop the dried figs or dates and the dried apricots. Roughly chop the almonds and cut the apple into fine cubes. Place the ingredients in a large bowl along with the raisins, candied orange and lemon peel.
Wash the organic lemon in hot water and grate the zest into the dried fruit mixture. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and add that as well.
Melt the (vegan) butter and stir it into the filling together with the remaining ingredients – coconut blossom sugar, gingerbread spice and brandy. Tip: If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can add apple or orange juice to the filling instead of brandy.
Grease a small muffin tin and preheat the oven to 180°C top/bottom heat. Of course you can also use a classic muffin tin, the larger pies will take a little longer in the oven.
Knead the cold shortcrust pastry until smooth and roll it out on a floured work surface. Using a glass, cut out small circles that are slightly larger than the diameter of the muffin cases. You can use small cookie cutters for the top of the pies or cut out circles with a slightly smaller glass.
Place the circles that will form the bottom of the mince pies in the molds and lightly press the shortcrust pastry. Prick the bases with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes. Fill the molds with the dried fruit filling.
Whisk the egg with a little milk and brush the edges of the pies with it. Place the cookies or the smaller circles of dough on the tartlets and press them down lightly. Brush the pastry lids with the beaten egg as well. You can use plant-based milk for the vegan version.
Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool down a bit and serve the mince pies warm or cold sprinkled with a little powdered sugar.

Mince pies: tips for cooking

Prepare mincemeat: The filling tastes even better if you prepare it a few days earlier or the day before and store it covered in the fridge. This allows the flavors to unfold better.
Swap out dried fruit: You can swap out the dried fruit for the filling as you wish. For example, if you don’t like raisins, you can use more figs or dates instead. Cranberries, cherries or dried mango also go very well with the mince pies.
Make gingerbread spice yourself: If you don’t have gingerbread spice for the mince pies at home, you can mix different Christmas spices. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg should not be missing.

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Tips for Using Up Leftovers From Christmas Dinner

Leftovers from Christmas dinner are definitely too good to throw in the bin. We’ll tell you how you can use them instead to make them delicious.

For most who celebrate Christmas, extensive feasting is part of it. Especially with guests, it is not always easy to estimate how extensive the Christmas menu must be. There is often leftover food that you don’t have to throw away. Use these tips to use up leftovers from Christmas dinner.

Processing dumplings: this is how it works

Dumplings are a real winter classic and the leftovers are easy to use up after Christmas dinner. The easiest way to do this is to fry them. Cut them into slices and fry them on both sides in a little hot oil. Fried potato dumplings taste both savory with salt and pepper and sweet with sugar and cinnamon. The savory variant goes well with various types of salad, for example. But the fried dumplings also taste great with cranberries.

Alternatively, you can also cut the dumplings into slices and fry them together with onions and vegetables. With spices such as paprika powder and herbs such as parsley or chives, you get a delicious dumpling pan.

By the way: When you prepare the dumplings, you can use some older bread to fill them.

Use leftovers from Christmas dinner: kale

Kale is also often on the Christmas menu. You can process the leftovers of the winter vegetables into stuffed puff pastry or kale baguette, among other things.

You can also freeze processed kale without any problems. It is best to freeze the vegetables in portions. You can defrost it as needed and eat it with pasta or potatoes, for example.

For filled puff pastry you need:

1 clove of garlic
Kale
seasoning yeast flakes
Salt
pepper
Puff pastry (tip: make your own puff pastry)
And this is how easy it works:

Peel the garlic clove and cut it into cubes.
Toss the kale with the garlic, seasoning yeast flakes, salt and pepper.
Roll out the puff pastry and spread the kale evenly over it.
Now roll it all up. Prepare the baking tray by lining it with baking paper or a substitute for baking paper.
Place the puff pastry on the baking sheet. If you bake the whole roll, you will have a kale strudel later. If you cut the roll into one to two centimeter thick slices before baking, you will get individual kale snails. Before baking, make sure that the snails are lying individually on the baking sheet.
Set the oven to 180 degrees Celsius top/bottom heat. The puff pastry is ready as soon as it smells fragrant and turns brown.
Tip: You can vary the kale filling with different spices and other ingredients, for example with paprika powder, nuts, olive oil or fried onions.

Kale baguettes made from leftover Christmas dinner

You can also use up the leftovers from your Christmas dinner with baguette. For these kale baguettes you will need:

1 onion
smoked tofu
vegetable oil
Kale
Mustard
Baguette (tip: bake a baguette)
optional: salt and pepper
How to prepare the baguette:

Peel the onion. Dice the onion and the smoked tofu.
Heat some oil in a pan and sauté the onions and smoked tofu for a few minutes.
Add the kale and mustard to the pan and mix together. If necessary, you can season the kale with salt and pepper.
Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, slice the baguette.
Spread the kale evenly over the baguette slices.
Finally, put the whole thing in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about ten minutes.
The baguettes are good as a starter or snack.

Leftovers from Christmas dinner: red cabbage

You can also easily freeze ready-made red cabbage. Put the red cabbage in portions in screw-top jars and store them in the freezer. You can defrost and heat the red cabbage at any time as an accompaniment to mashed potatoes or gnocchi, for example.

You can also use red cabbage to make strudel or puff pastry pockets:

Mix the herb with any other ingredients you have around the house.
For example, fried onions, chili, walnuts, garlic and curry powder or raisins are suitable.
Then fill the puff pastry with the red cabbage mixture and bake until it has a nice golden brown colour.

Another way to use up red cabbage leftovers from Christmas dinner is in a red cabbage pan. For this you need:

1 onion
Potatoes (pre-cooked, alternatively: leftover dumplings)
mushrooms
vegetable oil
Red cabbage
Caraway seeds
paprika powder
Salt
pepper
How to prepare:

Peel the onion and cut it into cubes.
Cut the potatoes or dumplings into cubes.
Clean the mushrooms and cut them into slices.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan.
Sauté the onions in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the diced potatoes and mushrooms and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Now add the red cabbage. Mix the ingredients together and season with the spices, salt and pepper. After another three to five minutes you can serve the red cabbage pan.

Use leftovers from Christmas dinner: More tips

If you had meat for Christmas, you can cut the leftovers into strips and fry them together with vegetables or fried potatoes. The same goes for vegan alternatives, of course.
If you have an excessive amount of leftover fruit, toss it in the blender and make a breakfast smoothie out of it.
Melt down leftover chocolate from Christmas dinner and use it as a frosting for cakes or cookies. With hot milk or a plant drink of your choice, it becomes hot chocolate.
Slightly older speculoos are good for making speculoos tiramisu.
Refill the leftover food as soon as possible and put it in the fridge. So you have a higher chance that nothing spoils.
If you still have sealed groceries that you no longer need, give them away. Apps like UXA can help you with this.

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Speculaas Cake: This Recipe Tastes Good Before and After Christmas

For the speculoos cake you can use old speculoos cookies. Even after Christmas, the creamy cake tastes irresistible. We show you a simple recipe with a vegan version.

The speculoos cake enchants with a fresh note of lemon and Christmas spices. Making speculoos yourself is very easy – so you can use your homemade speculoos cookies for the cake. Alternatively, you can use store-bought speculoos.

Tip: Use old speculaas for the cake to avoid wasting food.

In addition to the speculoos biscuits, the cake lives from the aromatic speculoos spice. Together with a little lemon and subtle sweetness, an irresistible cream is created that makes the cake special.

Serve the speculoos cake during the Advent season, on the Christmas holidays or in the following wintry weeks. Here you can find out how to do it safely.

Speculaas Cake: A simple recipe

When buying your ingredients, pay attention to organic quality. Organic seals such as Demeter, Naturland or Bioland assure products that are free from harmful substances such as synthetic chemical pesticides. This is how you protect the environment and your health. If possible, also buy products from regional production in order to avoid long transport routes with increased CO2 emissions.

Ingredients:

100 g butter
200 g speculoos
20 ml espresso
400 g vanilla yoghurt
200 g sour cream
2 tsp speculoos spice
2 ELA horn syrup
1Organic lemon: peel zest
1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
1 handful of speculoos

Directions:

Put the butter in a small saucepan and let it melt over medium heat.
Meanwhile, crumble the speculaas biscuits into small pieces.
Mix the crumbly speculoos with the melted butter and espresso in a bowl.
Cover the bottom of the springform pan (diameter 23 centimeters) with the speculoos batter.
Tip: You don’t need to grease the base beforehand as the cookie mixture already contains butter.
Put the yoghurt and sour cream in another bowl. Mix them with the speculoos spice, the maple syrup and the zest of the lemon.
Spread the yoghurt mixture on the speculoos base and spread the cream evenly.
Place the speculaas cake in the fridge for two hours.
Decorate the speculoos cake with some cinnamon and crushed speculoos cookies before serving.

The vegan version

If you want to avoid animal products in your diet, swap out the following ingredients for a vegan alternative:

Speculatius: When buying speculoos, make sure that the biscuits are suitable for vegans.
Butter: Replace with vegan margarine or vegan butter. Coconut oil is also suitable, but changes the taste with its subtle coconut note.
Vanilla yogurt and sour cream: Instead of yogurt and sour cream, buy plant-based products like vegan yogurt. You can get a wide range of vegan alternatives to these dairy products in health food stores and well-stocked supermarkets.
You can keep the cake in the fridge for a few days. The speculoos cake tastes particularly good with hot chocolate or Christmas coffee.

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Food

Consuming Christmas Leftovers: How to Avoid Wasting Food

Food waste is particularly noticeable on public holidays. If you ended up throwing away too much food this year, this article can help you avoid leftovers in the future.

Christmas comes every year. We want to feast on the holidays, but still – and rightly so – not buy too much food. Nevertheless, planning the right amount of food often resembles a science. For most people, too much ends up in the shopping basket and in the bin after the holidays. According to the consumer center, Germans throw away 12 million tons of food every year. Occasions and holidays such as Christmas are often triggers for this.

You can avoid wasting food at Christmas and afterwards with a few tips.

This is how you avoid wasting food at Christmas

Even before you go to the supermarket, a few considerations will keep you from overstocking your fridge:

How many guests are coming? Who eats a lot and who prefers small portions? This overview will help you to better weigh the amounts of food. You can use the portion planner on the consumer advice center website to calculate the exact amounts.
Write a shopping list and try to stick to it.
Don’t go shopping hungry. Evidence shows that hungry people make more impulse purchases and are less likely to stick to their shopping list. This doesn’t just apply to food!
If you still have leftovers, you can store them as follows:

Put leftover food in airtight food storage containers (available at **Avocadostore, for example) or cover them before putting them in the fridge – this way food will last at least two days. You can learn more about sustainable alternatives to cling film here: Bee’s Wrap: plastic-free film for food.
Many leftovers can be frozen without much effort. You can do without conventional packaging and freeze it plastic-free: Freezing food without plastic: 5 tips.
Properly stored bread stays fresh longer. You can put it in a bread bin or in a crock pot. You can leave stale bread in a covered pot with a little water on the bottom overnight. It is important that the bread does not lie in the water, but that you create a distance between the water and the bread with forks or a sieve. The bread absorbs moisture and becomes fresh again.

Use leftovers at Christmas time

If there are leftovers, you don’t have to go straight to the garbage can. Some of the following foods are often left over at Christmas.

You can use leftover noodles, for example, as a soup ingredient, in a noodle salad or as a noodle casserole with vegetables.
Dumplings work when sliced ​​and fried as dumpling gröstl, in a vegetable casserole or dressed sourly as a dumpling salad.
You can dry leftover bread and use it to make croutons or serve it as a toast. You can find more tips here: Bread is not rubbish – this is how you can recycle old bread.
Process cooked vegetables (e.g. leftovers from a vegetable soup) and raw vegetable strips into a layered salad. The recipe follows in the next paragraph.
Store leftover fish in the fridge immediately so you can eat it the next day. You can use it as a topping for bread or in a salad, for example.
You can use old cookies such as speculoos in a speculoos cake or speculoos tiramisu. You can find more inspiration here: Using leftover biscuits: Recipes for different types of biscuits or Using old gingerbread: Tasty recipes and tips.
When baking cookies, you often only need the yolk. You can store raw egg whites in an airtight container for two to three days. For example, you can use the leftover protein to bake biscuits with protein or test one of our protein recipes.
You can make dried-out Christmas stollen edible again in the same way as French knights or use them to make sweet Christmas dumplings.

Layered salad to use up leftovers

This vegetable salad is a delicious muddle of leftover cooked and raw ingredients. Only the snipping takes some time, because the cubes should be very fine. Of course, you can also omit ingredients and modify the salad depending on your taste or what the leftovers are made of.

Ingredients:

1 small can of corn or leftover cooked corn
1 small can of peas or leftover cooked peas
cooked parsley root
boiled celery
cooked and/or raw carrots
cooked potatoes
1 raw pepper
1apples
1pickle
1 onion
1boiled egg
Salt, pepper and spices to taste

Directions:

Chop everything into fine little cubes and mix the ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix everything with homemade salad mayonnaise. Decide for yourself whether you just glaze the salad or take a good blob. Make sure that the mayonnaise is made from organic eggs and that it’s best to use non-chicken shredded eggs. Without eggs and with a mayonnaise without eggs, the salad can also be enjoyed by vegans.
Season the layered salad with salt, pepper and spices of your choice.

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Estonia

Can you recommend some Estonian dishes that are commonly served during Christmas?

Introduction: Estonian Christmas Traditions

Christmas is a special holiday celebrated in Estonia with great enthusiasm and traditional food. Estonians celebrate Christmas Eve on December 24th, and it is a time for families to come together and enjoy a festive meal. The traditional Christmas Eve meal is typically a buffet-style gathering with an abundance of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes.

In Estonia, Christmas is celebrated for three days, starting from Christmas Eve until Boxing Day. The Christmas season is not only about the food, but it is also a time for family, friends, and loved ones to come together, share stories, and exchange gifts.

Meat Dishes: Pork, Goose, and Blood Sausage

Meat dishes are a significant part of Estonian Christmas meals. The most commonly served meats are pork, goose, and blood sausage. Roast pork is typically marinated in garlic, salt, and pepper, making it flavorful and juicy. Goose, on the other hand, is a more expensive and luxurious choice, served either roasted or smoked.

Blood sausage is a traditional Estonian dish made from pork blood, barley, and spices. It is a delicacy that is typically served with Sauerkraut and potatoes. The crispy exterior and soft interior of blood sausage make it an excellent addition to any Christmas feast.

Fish Dishes: Smoked Eel and Herring

Fish dishes are also an essential part of the Estonian Christmas meal. Smoked eel and herring are popular choices, and they are commonly served alongside the meat dishes. Smoked eel is usually served cold and sliced, making it a perfect starter for the festive meal. Herring, on the other hand, can be served in various ways, including pickled, marinated, or fried.

Fish dishes are a lighter alternative to the meat dishes, and they serve as a perfect complement to the heavier dishes on the menu.

Traditional Sides: Sauerkraut and Potato Salad

Sauerkraut and potato salad are two staple side dishes that are commonly found on the Estonian Christmas table. Sauerkraut is typically cooked with pork or bacon, and it provides a tangy and slightly sour flavor to the meal. Potato salad, on the other hand, is a creamy and rich side dish made with boiled potatoes, mayonnaise, and sour cream.

These side dishes are easy to prepare and are an excellent accompaniment to the meat and fish dishes.

Special Treats: Gingerbread Cookies and Mulled Wine

Gingerbread cookies and mulled wine are two special treats that are commonly served during the Estonian Christmas season. Gingerbread cookies, or piparkoogid, are a traditional Estonian Christmas treat and are usually shaped into festive designs such as stars, hearts, and Christmas trees.

Mulled wine, or glögg, is a spiced wine that is heated and served warm. It is typically made with red wine, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, and it is a perfect way to warm up on a cold winter night.

Desserts: Curd Cake and Cinnamon Rolls

Desserts are an essential part of the Estonian Christmas meal. Curd cake, or kohupiimakook, is a fluffy and creamy cake made with curd cheese and often decorated with fruit or chocolate. Cinnamon rolls, or kaneelirullid, are a popular dessert made with sweet dough and a cinnamon-sugar filling.

These desserts are perfect for satisfying a sweet tooth and rounding off the festive meal.

Vegetarian Options: Mushroom Casserole and Beet Salad

Vegetarian options are also available for those who prefer a meatless Christmas meal. Mushroom casserole, or seenekapsas, is a hearty and filling dish made with mushrooms, rice, and sour cream. Beet salad, or peedisalat, is a fresh and colorful salad made with beets, potatoes, and onions.

These vegetarian options are delicious and nutritious and are perfect for those who prefer a lighter meal.

Conclusion: Enjoy a Festive Estonian Christmas Meal!

In conclusion, Estonians take their Christmas celebrations seriously, and the food is an essential part of the festivities. Whether it’s the meat, fish, vegetables, or desserts, there is something for everyone to enjoy. So, if you ever find yourself in Estonia during the Christmas season, make sure to indulge in the traditional Estonian dishes and enjoy a festive and heartwarming meal with your loved ones.

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