Category Archives: Holidays
February 21, 2017
Bourbon Street Bonanza

Fun and festive ideas for your very own Mardi Gras Party! We’re a little North of the big festivities in New Orleans, but we can still have our own fun too! First we’re kicking off with our new Kickin’ Cajun Dirty Rice recipe from Chef Melanie! Next up we have our Jell-O Shots complete with Mardi Gras themed colors! Our next dish is Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya, another classic Southern dish, perfect for any Mardi Gras themed party! Now we can’t forget about our desserts! First up we have our traditional Paczki Donuts (Poonch Key)! These delicious treats are available at Festival Foods every year on the Monday and Tuesday of Mardi Gras only! This year they are available Monday February 27th and Tuesday February 28th ONLY! Place your orders now! http://bit.ly/PaczkiDonutLimited Of course, it wouldn’t be Mardi Gras without King Cake, which is also available at Festival Foods on Monday February 27th and Tuesday February … Continue reading
November 18, 2016
Let’s Talk Turkey!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it will nearly be here before you can say, “pass the stuffing!” Life is busy, schedules are full and holiday entertaining can easily turn into last minute lists, shopping and meal prep. Thanksgiving dinner is known for the abundant variety of delicious side dishes just as much as it is the juicy turkey. To relieve a little stress and take a load off, we choose to let Festival’s deli team do the work to prepare our favorite side dishes so we can focus on getting the house cleaned and dressed up for the holiday! Let’s talk turkey – fresh turkeys are so convenient, no extra days of thawing required. The fresh turkeys at Festival are all natural with no added solutions and are non-basted and gluten free. You may reserve your fresh turkey online! Cooking a Turkey is the easy part and your … Continue reading
September 7, 2016
Weekend Nosh and Feasts

We wanted a simple meal for our Friday night dinner that we knew would run late with everyone traveling to the cabin after work and decided that we would do a grilled cheese sandwich celebrating the flavors of summer. The luscious Minnesota grown tomatoes caught our eye and we settled on Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on sourdough bread. Rather than toasting the bread slices we buttered the outside of the sandwich and placed on a griddle to make them golden brown and layered sliced fresh tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and thick slices of a Mozzarella ball sprinkled with some Kosher salt. We were feeding a crowd so to speed things up we placed the assemble sandwiches on a baking sheet and covered with heavy foil and placed in the oven at 350 degrees to melt the cheese. We sliced avocados to have them available for those that chose to … Continue reading
July 7, 2016
Crowd Feeding

Our rule of thumb for feeding a crowd is to keep it simple and ask for help (and provide refreshments)! Whether holidays or just a weekend at the lake with friends and family, food is at the center of all of the festivities, cooking and preparing the meals together makes it all more special. Our welcome for guests is a hot pot of coffee, fresh fruit, sweet rolls, muffins, or donuts, perfect grab and go food so everyone can enjoy the outdoors with no fuss. During the summer watermelon and blueberries are our favorite fruits to serve. Our fourth of July weekend celebrations also included a gotcha party for grand puppy Bear, so we used some new colorful kibble bowls as some of our serving dishes. Lunch was a fun smorgasbord with pulled chicken sliders using Festival’s Shredded Chicken sold in party pails and Beer Cheese Sauce (recipe) or Honey Mustard … Continue reading
December 10, 2015
Easy to Serve Great Food

This is a crazy busy time of year with cookie exchanges, parties, potlucks, holiday celebrations and family gatherings and food is at the center of it all. There is no need to panic but planning is essential to keep stress to a dull roar so you can enjoy the festivities. A Christmas cookie exchange party is a great way to spend time with friends and family and the bonus is leaving the party with a wonderful selection of cookies! If you’re hosting you need some easy appetizer recipes or to make it super easy, serve a cheese board. We pinned some beautiful cheese boards to inspire you, even more inspiring is that our The Big Cheese event has begun with a perfect selection of products and cheeses to have available in the frig and pantry for cheese boards or easy last minute entertaining. A fabulous finger food appetizer is our Blue … Continue reading
September 3, 2015
Small Bites

It’s hard to believe that summer is already coming to an end and it’s time to begin planning the Labor Day menu for the last hurrah of summer. Small bites to share are a great option to bring for potluck gatherings on the holiday weekend or to serve for a family buffet dinner. One of the most tasty bites we can think of are Mini Ham Sandwiches, a sweet and savory mix of flavors and…you can prepare them the night before. If you’re in the mood to do some frying and serve some hot bites, Beer Battered Cheese Curds or Fried Cream Cheese Wontons are very easy to prepare and always a favorite with family and friends. The cream cheese wontons are simple to assemble with wonton wrappers, a small dollop of cream cheese and a little water to moisten the edges of the wrappers when you fold them up. … Continue reading
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