Everything that can be done in advance, I do in advance :)
It's the same every year... Salads, snacks, desserts... Everything is boiling, fried and baked. And often I cooked everything at the very last moment. And then you don't even want New Year's Eve. I just want to fall and fall asleep.
But I have long found a way to save time before the holidays and not get tired.
I shared my tricks in the video (see it at the end of the article). And I was very surprised when I read the comments! It turns out that "no one has been preparing anything for the New Year for a long time", "go to restaurants or visit" (but it turns out that those to whom they go to visit should still cook them, do I understand correctly?), "on New Year's Eve, only fruit and champagne", "we do not overeat, this is an ordinary day", etc. (I will leave below a few of these comments).
Tell me, don't you cook anything for the New Year's table either? Do you also go to a restaurant or visit? Also don't eat anything but fruit and chocolate? For you, this is also a "normal day"... Leave your answer in the comments. Thank you in advance!
And for us this is a holiday! Favorite family holiday! And I cook all our traditional dishes - different snacks, salads, hot meats, and even cake! But I don't get tired either, because I use my little tricks))
Salads and desserts are the most time consuming. Therefore, I prepare many components of salads in advance. Sometimes even several weeks. And desserts too))
Vegetables for salads. I bake beets in the oven when there is time and desire. I usually bake a lot at once. I wrap it in foil - and in the oven. I bake at 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes. But, of course, it all depends on the size of the beet.
But more often I cook carrots in a saucepan. Also for all salads at once.
And, of course, potatoes. I also boil it in salted water.
Now I seal all vegetables in vacuum bags. So they can be stored for up to a month in the refrigerator.
I am using a vacuum sealer. But you can do without it. You can simply take a bag with a clasp, put the vegetables in it and put it in a pot of water. Under the pressure of water, air will escape from the bag - it remains to seal.
All that remains is to cut everything and season the salads.
But, of course, vegetables can also be cooked in the microwave. Beets are cooked for 15 minutes, and potatoes for 7-8. Quickly! In the video at the end of the article, I described in more detail how I do it.
For the herring under a fur coat, I also prepare the herring in advance. I already talked about this here:
I also cook jellied meat for the New Year's table. But this dish is not fast. And you can't cook it much in advance either, so I found a recipe for "express jellied meat". When time is short, I cook like this:
You can also prepare a dessert in advance. I usually freeze cake layers. And the day before the holiday, I defrost them on the shelf in the refrigerator, soak and grease them with cream.
After defrosting, the biscuit is no worse! And this cooking method also saves time!
In the video (at the end of the article), I shared the recipe for my favorite biscuit. It turns out to be very tender, tasty and tall.
It is enough to cut the biscuit into cakes and freeze. Immediately I prepare crumbs for decorating the cake.
But you can, of course, freeze the ready-made cake. Here are three more cakes that you can prepare long before the holiday and freeze:
Check out this video too. You'll like it. There are a few more of my secrets that I use to save energy and precious holiday time: