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Christmas Cooking with Teatray


by squishable

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Your Christmas decorations are organized; you have what you’re wearing, what you’re doing, and who’s coming... OH MY GOSH!!!!! You have no food organized. Well, today, Chef Teatray is here to show you several great Christmas food ideas and combinations.

Meats:

Some of the most popular meats this year are turkey and chicken. When preparing your Christmas meat, make sure your neo-kitchen is organized and clean. This will ensure all guests and visitors a wonderful dinner. When cooking, make sure you clean up as you go along, this will make the general job of cleaning in the morning a whole lot lighter.

Money wise, Christmas foods can set you back a fair bit, but if you are looking for a dirt cheap Christmas feast, forget about it. For a quality dinner, you must be prepared to spend at least 10k.

Turkey

Don’t get a Grackle-Stuffed Turkey. Now the Grackle-Stuffed meats will set you back around 50NP. Not a lot. But they aren’t always the best quality. I would prefer to eat Gym Socks than this... so called meat. For a delicious and heavenly meal, Teatray suggests you get a Heavenly Roast Turkey. This turkey will set you back about 2.5k. Now you may think: Why would you pay two and a half thousand neopoints for a turkey??? Well, you can’t put a price on friendship, and if you serve this up on Christmas Day, everyone will want to be your friend... oh and... it’s nice... I suppose? Make sure you shop around a bit for the turkey, because some shops can price it up to 6k. Likewise everything.

Chicken

Another quality meat I can suggest is the chicken. The shops in Neopia come with a lot variation for this delicacy. Some are flavored, some are fried, some are baked, some are raw and some are turned in to a ‘delicious’ ice cream flavor. Orange Chicken is a big no. No no no no no. It is tacky, and the orange look and smell makes it appear to be off. Other Chickens not to use this year are: Chicken Cordon Bleu, Chicken Rolls, Fried Chicken Breast and Double Chicken Leg. The double chicken leg appears to be covered in chocolate sauce. NOT a good combination for dinner. In fact, we hate to break it to you, but one of the only safe meats are roasts. Good ol’ traditional roasts. Teatray says that the only safe chicken this year is a Whole Roast Chicken. This, like the Heavenly Roast Turkey, will set you back around 2.5k, and like wise, you need to shop around for it.

Greens:

Don’t take short cuts with these. Don’t go for any vegetable omelettes or what not. Omelettes can work sometimes, but it all depends on what you have in the oven and how much time you have to prepare. But just remember, you need vegetables. Please omit any deep fried thoughts right now. Vegetables can either make or break a Christmas dinner. They are the highlight of the whole show (well, for some people). When selecting vegetables, you need to take many factors into account. The weather, the time, the type of meat, and the amount of people. Since it is winter, a generally cold month, we need to reduce the salads.

Salads

Salads are designed for the warmer months, although some salads can be eaten in winter. Teatray's top winter salad is the Endless Salad and Bread Sticks, or Caesar Salad. The Caesar Salad is more traditionally eaten around Christmas but will set you back a whopping 23k. The Endless Salad is a lot more reasonable which is why it is highly recommended. 2.5k.

Vegetables

One of the most common reasons why salads are preferred at Christmas dinners is because of the price. Just like meats, the tacky vegetables are to be avoided at all costs. One big no-no is the Vegetable Deluxe. It doesn’t even look like a vegetable! Although it is cheap, you might as well get some goop and call it a carrot. Deep Fried Vegetables (5k) are common in some meals, but are strongly disregarded if you want a formal feast. Something for the big spender would be Steamed Vegetable Dumplings. These little beauties cost 60k, and are a gourmet food! But what ever went wrong with a potato? Whether it is mashed, roasted or covered in ice-cream, potatoes are on their way back in. Although the Mashed Potato with Gravy is a ‘peasants’ food, it can be quite helpful. Not only does it provide the gravy, it provides the potato. And it is very cheap, costing only 50NP-ish.

Condiments

Every meal has to be perfect. And what is a good meal with out some spices or sauce? You need to be very careful that the sauces you choose do not overpower the meats, or do not clash. For example: You can not put mustard on strawberries- the flavors are two different types altogether. A very common sauce is Meridell Gravy. Gravy goes with most vegetables and most meats, and nearly everyone admire this brown sauce. Gravy is a guaranteed hit at dinners.

Chef Teatray says that there are only two sauces one would need at Christmas: Gravy and Cranberry Sauce. Cranberry Sauce is a more sweet sauce but does go great with some meats. Cranberry Sauce does not only have a delightful taste, but a sweet color and smell- perfect for your Neopian guests.

Festive Suggestions

If you combine all the advice given to you on this page, you can make some great feasts. Here are a few ideas:

  • Heavenly Roast Turkey with Cranberry Sauce, Caesar Salad and Mashed Potato & Gravy
  • Heavenly Roast Turkey with Gravy, Endless Salad and Breadsticks
  • Roast Pork with Azzle Sauce, Steamed Vegetable Dumplings and Cheesy Mashed Potato
  • Whole Roast Chicken with Gravy, Carrot and Pea Omelette and Endless Salad and Breadsticks

Finally...

Be creative when creating your dinner. Don’t do what your neighbor on chia lane is doing, don’t do what your neofriend is doing. Be original, and don’t be afraid to spend this festive season!

 
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