Smooth sailing

Take it from someone who’s never adjusted to blue M&Ms: Change is challenging. It’s also inevitable.

So as a parent, you adjust to life’s transitions and rejoice in your children’s march toward maturity. All the while, of course, steeling yourself for those pivotal moments. Not so much because you’re clinging to a life unaltered, but because dramatic changes that are part of the parenting package — leaving home and matrimony — carry the family into uncharted waters.

When you’ve landed there, the holidays can seem particularly daunting. For us, a nephew’s marriage in August and our son’s marriage in October, will indeed translate into a departure from some valued traditions this month. But in its wake, new traditions will eventually have developed.

It’s given me a fresh perspective on the season. The magic and hope it promises but too-rarely provides is attainable if we focus and gear down. More than ever, I feel that in order to truly experience what should be a joyful and meaningful time of year, I will need to embrace life rather than manage it.

Now, I’m not trying to add to your holiday guilt by suggesting you eschew all holiday activities. But you can certainly be selective. Remember those wonderful nights in your childhood when the power was lost to a storm? How intensely sweet life was at those moments. Simple games were played, fires were lit and marshmallows were toasted.

Well, what if the power went out on this year’s Christmas plans and you were forced to scale back to the important stuff? What would be your imperatives? It’s not too late to think about that. There’s still time to tuck a visit to an old friend into the day, show up on your neighbors doorstep with a hug and a box of cookies, take a long lunch with your office mates and go caroling at a nearby hospital, take a hike in the country with a visiting son.

The magic, hope, and joy of the season is all around us. And new traditions are born every year. We just need to slow down so they can find us. Then open your heart to family and friends, and you’ll have plenty of both showing up on your doorstep this season.

In the realm of food, it’s certainly not too late to whip up a batch of my fabulous chocolate truffle sauce and give it to someone you still need to make contact with during the holidays. Or feel free to borrow from my "quick holiday appetizers and side dishes" file with some make-ahead beauties that will make Christmas eve and Christmas day just a little less hectic.

This has been a favorite specialty of mine for many years, and I can always count on requests for it every December, so here it is again. NOBODY suspects just how easy and fast it comes together. So in no time flat, I have a decadently rich and chocolately Christmas gift that I jazz up by presenting in lovely jars, with a simple-yet-colorful homemade label. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. And skip the homemade labels, if you want to.

My special chocolate truffle sauce

Place the chocolate chunks into a large heat-proof bowl. Now place the bowl over a saucepan filled with hot (not boiling) water. Let the chocolate mixture begin to slowly melt while you proceed with the recipe.

In a small heavy saucepan, bring the cream to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately pour it over the chunks of chocolate, stirring constantly until the chocolate has melted. Keep the bowl positioned over the hot water because this will help keep the temperature at the melting point.

Once the chocolate is smooth and creamy, stir in the butter and continue stirring until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Pour the sauce into clean jars and let cool completely before screwing on the lids. Refrigerate the sauce. It will become firm, but just tell the lucky recipient to scoop out the sauce as needed and either warm in a pan on the stove, or at low power in the microwave. Of course, most folks end up just eating it directly from the jar.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups sauce (recipe can easily be doubled or tripled).

A great make-ahead dish. The folks at Stouffer’s are going to love me for this, because this is a recipe that requires nothing short of their product.

I had to quit sharing it a few years ago because the company either quit producing its spinach souffle or it wasn’t distributing it in Oregon. But it’s definitely back, so here you go …

Spinach souffle

Thaw the spinach souffle mixture, then scrape it into a mixing bowl. Combine the souffle with the egg, sour cream, onion, and Parmesan cheese. Fold in the Cheddar cheese and then spoon the mixture into a lightly oiled 1-quart casserole. Bake in 350 degree oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the center quits jiggling when lightly pressed. The recipe can easily be doubled, but don’t forget to use a larger casserole dish!

This dish can be assembled up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated.

Yields 4 servings.

This is a marvelous concoction, with roots in New Orleans, where the muffuleta sandwich — a hearty submarine sandwich concoction of Italian-style meats and cheeses, slathered with a rich olive and garlic relish — was created decades ago. However, it’s a wonderful mixture to have on hand as an appetizer.

So, several years ago I began fiddling with the formula and created the following version, which makes the perfect party spread, when accompanied by slices of a crusty baguette, or crostini.

Muffuleta garlic olive relish

Nida used to mince the salami and green onions by hand, but a food processor does the task in a fraction of the time. Just don’t over-process or you’ll wind up with ground salami. Also, process the salami and green onions separately.

Combine the finely diced salami and finely chopped green onions in a medium bowl with the softened cream cheese. Stir well to evenly distribute the salami and onions. Scrape the mixture into an attractive serving bowl, then cover and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before serving so the cream cheese is slightly softened.

To serve, place the bowl of spread in the center of a serving platter and arrange the bread slices around it. Be sure to provide a serving utensil with the spread so guests can scoop and spread a portion on the bread.

Here’s a wonderful little "sidewalk crab cocktail" with a zippy character.