Although many of you were probably enjoying your holiday dinner when this newsletter arrived, we would still like to wish you a happy Christmas. Now it’s on to a new year with new recipes and new adventures in cooking.

During the brief respite between holiday celebrations, please take some time to thumb through your mailbox and send us some of your best recipes (see below), a “close encounter,” a time-saving tip, an updated photo or a few sentences about something you’ve done to promote Taste of Home in your community.

Our offices are closed until January 3, but we hope to hear from you when we return. Happy New Year!

WE WANT YOUR RECIPES!

We’re excited about the topics we have planned for 2011…in fact, we’ve already been testing recipes for our grilling issue in June/July! We hope you’ll share some of your favorite recipes in the following categories to be considered for future issues.

Please submit them to fieldeditors@tasteofhome.com and remember to include your name, phone number and mailing address on each recipe. Please put “newsletter response” on the subject line of your E-mail. Deadline is Friday, January 21. Here’s what we’re looking for:

SUPER SNACKS: With bowl games just around the corner, what will your football fanatics be munching on? Please share the savory snack mixes that score with your gang, including roasted nuts or recipes that use a pate, spreads, cereal and more.

CURE ALLS: Cold coming on? Grandma’s hot chicken soup always fixed that. Upset tummy? Turn to your favorite homemade ginger tea mix. Please send in the recipes using ginger, garlic, anise and other ingredients that make you feel all better.

HALLOWEEN: This year, we gave you monster cupcakes. Now, we want YOU to give us the best scary treats you can unearth, from creepy cakes to slurpy drinks and everything in between.

HANUKKAH: Latkes, or potato pancakes, are standard fare during this eight-day Jewish holiday. We’d love to try your versions, especially those that have a secret ingredient such as zucchini, squash, carrot or apple. And do you have a top-notch recipe for sufganiyot, the fried jelly-filled doughnuts also associated with this special celebration? Send them our way!

STUFFING: Our new columnists, Michael and Jane Stern, will be talking about regional stuffings in 2011. We’re in search of unique combinations from all over the country. What makes your stuffing special? Oysters, peppers, cornbread, mushrooms, cranberries, pears, sausage, sage, rice or Creole spices? E-mail us today.

THANKSGIVING DINNER: What was the best item on your Thanksgiving table? We’re looking for the best of the best from your holiday menu—turkey, gelatins, salads, soups, vegetable sides, rice dishes and luscious desserts. If turkey was not the main attraction, please send in your best roast beef, pork, ham or seafood recipe.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES: Did you try a new cookie recipe this year that will become a family favorite? Send in your best holiday cookie recipes, both new to you and your “tried & true” favorites.

FUN WITH FOOD

Susan Garoutte of Georgetown, Texas, was recently featured in two local publications. The Williamson County Sun published an article about Susan’s new cookbook, The Biggest Little Cake Ball Book in Texas. And the magazine Georgetown View printed two of her recipes, one for Halloween ghost cookies and one for dog treats.

If you teach a class, do a cooking demonstration or promote Taste of Home in any way, please let us know! Tell us, too, if you’ve won a cooking contest or other award, been featured in your local newspaper, etc. We’ll include your event or accomplishment here.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Have you been recognized in public as these Field Editors have? We want to hear your stories. Please send them to fieldeditors@tasteofhome.com and put “Close Encounters” in the subject line. We include some of the best here in each newsletter—and now we’ll also include one in each issue of Taste of Home.

“Recently, I had to have surgery for a broken leg and dislocated ankle. While I was in the operating room waiting for the surgeon, the nurse asked if I was still a Field Editor for Taste of Home, and we talked about some of her favorite recipes. When I went to my follow-up appointment with my doctor, the first thing he asked me wasn’t “How are you doing”—he wanted to chat about Taste of Home instead!”
—Sandy Johnson, Tioga, Pennsylvania

“When I joined my company’s chapter of Toastmasters International, an organization that helps people improve their public speaking, my first speech was about how I enjoy cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. I ended by saying I was a Field Editor and even brought some copies of the magazine. I found out that several members had already seen my name in the magazine. Now I’m always referred to as “our member who’s also a Field Editor for Taste of Home.”  —Arden Billings, Greenfield, Massachusetts

NEW ONLINE FORUM

Along with the end of the year comes the annual resolution to lose weight. To accompany the launch of our new Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet: Family Classics Collection cookbook, we’ve also launched a new forum on our Web site where users can share weight loss advice and tips with each other. Check out the new Comfort Food Diet forum today!

ALSO, have you seen tasteofhome.com’s updated design? All the same great features and recipes are there, we’ve just changed the wallpaper, so to speak.

KEEP CURRENT!

Remember, if you move, you must contact Jane Stasik as well as the subscription department. Let us know when your E-mail address changes, too, so we can keep your newsletter coming. 

That's it for this month. See you in January 2011.

Happy New Year!

Barbara Schuetz, Editor