Category Archives: Holidays

Memorial Day is to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Military. Many people celebrate Memorial Day in many different ways. Parades and picnics, barbeques with friends and family, going to the lake, Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer. Nothing brings family and friends together like food so some delicious crowd food and a little menu planning is a must so you can advise your guests what they should bring. Our tradition is to go to the lake for the holiday weekend and preparing as much of the food ahead of time as possible will make packing much more simple than hauling spices and cupboard staples you may not have at the cabin. One of my favorite crowd-feeder recipes is a citrusy slow-roasted pork to make Cubano sandwiches. You can roast and shred the pork ahead of time and then heat the … Continue reading →

Our own premium quality Double Smoked (to perfection) Bone-In Ham has been an Easter holiday tradition for many families for years. Our ham is twice smoked over hard wood and fully cooked, simply bake covered with foil in a 325 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes per pound until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees. If you prefer to glaze – try this yummy Cranberry Maple Glaze recipe! Our five pound pans of Au Gratin or my personal favorite – Cheesy Potatoes made in our Delis complement that awesome double smoked ham or Prime Rib or Leg of Lamb! These and many other holiday favorites are available for order on line to make your meal planning easy. If you’re thinking warm and brunchy for Easter the eggsperts in our Delis make a delicious Egg Bake in either Sausage & Cheese or Southwestern, sized just right in either … Continue reading →

A chilled seafood buffet is a delicious and colorful option for your holiday entertaining and much easier than attempting to keep food warm with open house entertaining, you can set the buffet and mingle with your guests. Be sure to keep all of your seafood iced and chilled on your buffet. Bubbles go well with seafood so think about serving a Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine along with your seafood spread. Lobster claws and King Crab legs served with a Seafood Mustard Sauce serve well as the main course, the lobster claws are pre-scored making them easy to open. Have plenty of seafood crackers and small forks on hand to get every last bite out of the legs and claws. Oysters on the half shell are always called for at festive occasions! Don’t forget the lemons and Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Shrimp and cocktail sauce. Or…shrimp shooters Serve with our Festival fresh … Continue reading →


Any good American holiday, like the Fourth of July revolves around food and our favorite on the center of the plate for summer is the burger! First up is a trifecta of flavors with our Black Angus Premium Choice ground beef, Tickler Cheddar cheese and our own Festival Foods smokehouse bacon. We call it the Tickler Bacon Burger, easy to prepare but mouth-watering, big flavor. The Cheese Sauce can be made the day before, chilled and then reheated and served, making this entertaining-friendly. For those looking for some options other than beef burgers we have a few ground chicken burger recipes that are very tasty, our latest ground chicken recipe is a Mexican Chicken Burger. A colorful chopped salad recipe that tastes like summer is our Mexican Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing and we think it’s a perfect salad to accompany the Mexican Chicken Burger. The Fourth of July … Continue reading →

For many of us Memorial Day marks the beginning of the “going to the lake” season with friends and family, this means lots of potluck dinners and picnics with food for a crowd. Burgers are often on these summer menus so we decided we should work on making the burger a little bolder with some spices, condiments and always with cheese! One of our favorite condiments is Sriracha so what better to have in and on top of a burger. The Sriracha Burger is full-flavored and fabulous. One of our favorite dishes is Guacamole so we thought it appropriate to combine with a burger for an all-star meal – the Guacamole Burger. Some of our other flavor-filled burger recipes are the PBB (peanut butter burger),a Bacon Jam Burger and a Juicy Lucy. A side dish that seems a must for summer is our Homestyle Potato Salad conveniently sold by the … Continue reading →

Our Premium Quality Double Smoked Bone-In Ham has been a holiday tradition for many families. Our ham is twice-smoked over hard wood, it is fully cooked so you may simply bake covered with foil or lid at 325 degrees for approximately 15 minutes per pound to an internal temperature of 140 degrees. This video featuring Festival team members Ray and Jason explains the advantages of purchasing and serving a premium quality ham. If you prefer a glaze on your holiday ham this is a fabulous recipe for Cranberry Maple Glazed Ham. Whether or not you choose to glaze your ham, the perfect accompaniment for this incredible ham is our very own Cheesy Potatoes, sold in a 5 lb pan, all you need to do is pop them in the oven! These Smashed Potatoes are another wonderful option. The pepper-jack cheese in the recipe gives them a nice little kick. Another elegant and easy meal … Continue reading →

Great grazing food to bring in the New Year must include some awesome dips and we created some tasty dips available to heat and serve from our Delis. Our dips are prepared fresh and sold in an oven-ready pan to heat and serve. If you’re in the mood to do your own dip from scratch we’ve included some pretty tasty dip recipes like this easy, but decadent Warm Artichoke Dip for you to whip up and wow your family and friends. First up some of our take and serve dips. Our fresh Brie Dip is wonderful served with sliced baguettes or pita chips if you prefer. If you prefer a larger portion of the Brie dip that serves 20, you may order here on line. this quantity dip comes in a half gallon pail, ready to pour in your own pan for the oven. Our Buffalo Chicken dip is nice and … Continue reading →

Impromptu, informal gatherings with friends for a cocktail and a bite seem to be frequent during the holiday season. It seems a necessity to have cheese, crackers and baguettes on hand to make a cheese board at the last minute and a couple of bottles of wine chilling in the frig isn’t a bad idea either! Our Big Cheese event is in full swing for the holidays, we offer more than 300 varieties of cheese and have serving suggestions and pairing info in the stores to help you choose a selection for your cheese board or recipes. This event has many other delicious goodies beside great cheese and if you’re looking for some special fare for your guests you’ll find it in our Delis. One of my new favorites is a black olive tapenade/dip and now another staple in our pantry! A small charcuterie board to serve along side of … Continue reading →

It’s that time again – our seafood sale has begun and the quality and savings are amazing! Our ready-to-cook jumbo Lump Crab Cakes are a big favorite and better than most restaurants. Our recipe for Spicy Mustard Sauce is wonderful with these crab cakes and many other seafood items. Our cooked Lobster Claws are already scored making them easy to peel and eat! You can eat them hot or cold, serve them with our Seafood Mustard Sauce. Rock that holiday table with seafood and serve the Lobster Claws and some of our Colossal Alaskan King Crab Legs. Our jumbo uncooked shrimp are deveined and easy to peel and perfect for one of our favorite recipes Beer Battered Coconut Shrimp (they are heavenly). Serve along with our Cilantro Lime Rice. Remember to take time to enjoy the holiday season. Happy Holidays from all of us at Festival Foods! … Continue reading →
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