My "Favourite Thing" this Christmas

While it is undeniable that everyone is still talking about Tuesday's episode of Oprah, the annual "Oprah's Favorite Things 2007" episode (where she shows off her 20 or so favourite gifts to give this Christmas), I am still talking about Giada De Laurentiis's appearance on the show just a week before. Sure all of the items that made Oprah's list, including the Samsung camcorder (approximate value: $800), Ugg crochet boots ($120), crystal watches ($150-$1500), KitchenAid Artisian mixer ($350) and panini press ($100), to name a few, were all amazing gifts. Even more, I am sure that all of the audience members who were given one of each item to take home felt just as amazing, especially considering that this year's gifts included the most expensive gift to make the list in "Oprah's Favorite Things" history: an LG stainless steel refrigerator ($3800), with a built in TV, DVD hookup, radio, digital photo display, more than 100 built-in recipes, and that is about enough to get a grasp on all the Christmas excitement that is surrounding the show.

But back to reality for a moment...

Holiday recipes, as seen on Oprah the week prior, is my favourite thing this Christmas.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner, just about one month away too be exact. With your Christmas tree, decorations, and lights already or nearly already up, it is now that time to begin preparing your holiday menus, and to be creative while you are at it. One of my favourite Christmas edibles is antipasto, the Italian equivalent to hors d'oeuvre, meaning before the meal (anti = before, pasto = meal). While I am used to delicacies, cheeses, and marinated vegetables, which never get old, Giada De Laurentiis's Easy-to-Make hors D'oeuvres may make your first creative steps in preparing your holiday meals that much easier.

Experimenting with hors d'oeurves can be a lot of fun, and even more fun actually eat them. One of Giada's recipes that I have been exercising is her fried ravioli. Never had I thought of enjoying pasta this way, but having tried making mine with simply a basic cheese ravioli, I certainly did enjoy it tremendously. (While frying the ravioli I was reminded of a trick I learned to do with leftover pasta: instead of reheating your pasta in the microwave or in a saucepan, put your leftovers in a frying pan, add some oil and mozzarella cheese, and fry 'til crunchy. This is the one and only way I actually enjoy leftovers as much, if not more, than the fresh meal.) The concept of fried ravioli closely reminded me of fried won tons that you can get at your local Chinese restaurant, made from the traditional style of won tons used in won ton soup; both ravioli and won tons are a traditional stuffed pasta per say, now put to an entirely new flavour and given a new tasty texture. I am going to experiment with the fried ravioli again soon, with maybe a meat and spinach, sausage, or vegetable filled ravioli, which are some ideas I recommend as well, as I definitely recommend serving this recipe in general for a definite crowd-pleaser!

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The Recipe: Fried Ravioli by Giada De Laurentiis

I find this recipe quite straight forward and the process is similar to the breading and cooking of meats and vegetables.

Now, if only I had that LG refrigerator to store my ingredients in,

Haley