Home Place: Holiday Inspiration

Visit Foxwoods Resort Casino for a Family Friendly Holiday Experience

There's so much going on at Foxwoods Resort Casino for the Holiday Season! Recently they hosted a visit by the adorable Lindsay Stirling for her Warmer in Winter Christmas Tour, and in the last few weeks they have headlined such top entertainment as 98 Degrees which featured new singles from their NEW Christmas album, and Celtic Thunder: Symphony Tour the music and dance troupe that features authentic Irish instruments, dramatic lighting and amazing choreography.

Tonight, Saturday, December 3rd, is the incredible Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Show which is the sound of the Holidays personified.

And in the weeks to come there will be visits by Santa Claus, the Mystic Aquarium's Penguins, and a visit from all of Santa's Reindeer!

For more info on Foxwoods for the Holidays see below!

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis

WHEN: December 3, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Grand Theater
GRAMMY Award winner Chip Davis directs and co-produces the Mannheim Steamroller show, featuring holiday classics and dazzling multimedia effects bringing the spirit of the season to life. The Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Tour remains a holiday tradition for many families with repeat attendance from multi-generational guests and is one of the longest running tours in the music industry. Tickets are $50, $60 and $75.
Tickets for all shows may be purchased online at www.foxwoods.com, or by calling the Foxwoods Box Office at 800-200-2882 or Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available on site at any Foxwoods Box Office. For more information on holiday happenings at Foxwoods visit www.foxwoods.com/holidays/

The following are free and open to the public!

Visits from Santa

WHEN: December 2-3, 9-10, 15-17, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Celebration Zone
Here comes Santa Claus! This December, Santa will be at the Celebration Zone to take photos and hand out candy canes and blinky pins. Stop by in the afternoon from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. to share a cup of hot cocoa with jolly old Saint Nick himself!

Penguin Encounter

WHEN: December 9, 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Grand Lawn and Terrace located across from Premier Ballroom
Waddle on over to Foxwoods on Saturday, December 9 and get up close and personal with the penguins from Mystic Aquarium. Your holidays will surely be brighter when you meet their happy feet!

Reindeer Feeding

WHEN: December 16, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., December 17, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Grand Lawn and Terrace
Join in on the reindeer games at Foxwoods when real live reindeers fly in straight from Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole for feeding sessions and great family photos.

About Foxwoods Resort Casino

25 Years Proud: Since 1992, Foxwoods Resort Casino has offered guests The Wonder Of It All as the premier resort destination in the Northeast. As the largest resort casino in North America, Foxwoods offers a vast array of gaming in seven casinos; AAA Four-Diamond hotels, restaurants from gourmet to quick service, world-renowned spas, award-winning golf, state-of-the-art theaters, exclusive retailers and free-to-play online casino games at FoxwoodsONLINE.com. Foxwoods is owned and operated by the

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and was the first full-service casino built on tribal land, pioneering a nationwide movement that now includes more than 400 gaming properties owned and operated by over 200 tribes across the U.S. For more information on Foxwoods and the property’s 25th anniversary celebrations, visit foxwoods.com

Every year I mull over the same predicaments! What to serve for holiday dinners!?!?

Not necessarily the ones where the entire family gathers on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but appetizers and dinners that I can serve for friends dropping in for casual dinners and get-togethers!

Thankfully, I don't have too far to look for inspiration. Great ideas can be found in my local Whole Foods Market. Unfortunately, for me, that's about a 40 minute drive to the Hartford/Glastonbury area from my hometown of Branford CT!

But as I was lamenting the fact that they're not right around the corner from me while I was there last week , Whole Foods Corporate tweeted me that they are always looking for new locations to open! How's that for active listening to their consumers???

So, if you would like the great folks at Whole Foods to consider opening in an area near you, here's where you can make your recommendation ==> bit.ly/1iXTJAJ

At the event I recently attended at Whole Foods Market in Bishops Corner West Hartford CT, many of their culinary experts gathered to give us some great ideas for all the upcoming holiday soirees!

And I also got to meet up with some local bloggers I've been following, Carrie from Poet in the Pantry, Allie from VitaTrain4Life, Erica from Erica: Thoughts of an Organic Mama , Jess from Foodette Reviews, and of course, Wendy and Greg from Connecticut Lifestyles Magazine.

I started with some of their savory ideas. My favorite was the Crispy Risotto Ball served on a bed of pureed sweet potato, prepared by Chef Bryce. So crispy good and delicately fried on the outside, with soft and creamy risotto on the inside. Then I swirled a few bites into the sweet potato puree to take me right straight into holiday heaven food bliss! So good and this would be a great appetizer or side dish to serve at any holiday party.

Chef Bryce's Crispy Risotto Ball

My favorite inspired protein of the evening was the Grilled Lamb. I'm a little sheepish (PUNNY) to admit that I've never prepared lamb at home, although it is something I always order when I'm out. However, Chef Devlin furnished me with a recipe that just might get me over my trepidation of preparing it!

Devlin prepares rack of lamb

And Devlin also showed a simple yet creative way to display your lamb when serving it. Simply mound it up on a stack of grilled vegetables surrounded by some simple holiday decor! Recipe for the Rack of Lamb HERE.

For seafood we were treated to some of Craig's lobster tails and some bacon wrapped shrimp and scallops. Did you know that you can purchase party packs of bacon wrapped scallops and shrimp at Whole Foods?

What a great idea! Pop them in the oven with no fuss while you mingle with your guests!

Then I moved on to some of the sweets! We were able to sample some Bourbon Pecan Pie, Dairy Free "Cheesecake" , Chocolate Biscotti (Recipe HERE), and Cocoa Oat Truffles (Recipe HERE)!

Clockwise, L-R
Top L: Dairy Free Cheesecake, Top R Cocoa Oat Truffles
Bottom R: Chocolate Biscotti, Bottom L: Bourbon Pecan Pie

To cap the evening off with a beverage, we sampled a great alternative to the traditional heavy and rich eggnog! This one is called Almond-Nog, and it's quite light in consistency because of the Almond Milk, but still has that nice holiday flavor.

As you can see they used a banana as a thickener. I think when I make it I'm going to use a frozen banana to make it almost milkshake-like. YUM! And healthy too!