One Sip At A Time

Longo’s offers up entertaining tips for the holidays!

Pictured Above: Roseanne Longo offers holiday tips for great entertaining

Ho, Ho, Ho and Merry Christmas everyone! This week our annual Christmas radio show was filled with holiday music, great spirits and laughter, lots of snow outside and of course Christmas presents for all of out listeners out there in radio land.

Joining us in studio was Roseanne Longo, Longo spokesperson and Family Chair and daughter of one of the founders of the Longo Brothers Fruit Market. This well renowned grocery store http://www.longos.com established over 50 years ago, currently has 16 locations in Ontario and employs over 3000 people and is truly a family entrepreneurial success story.

Roseanne came in to share some easy and entertaining holiday tips with us to make sure we all have a stress free holiday season. She also generously donated $100 gift certificates or a turkey kit for all callers that got through to speak with Roseanne, Georgia or myself. Thank-you Roseanne from The Wine Ladies and the winners!

The first big holiday tip is the Longo Turkey Kit. Now believe me, this is one fantastic invention! This kit comes complete with all the trimmimgs and a pre cooked turkey. It serves from 4-6 people and can be purchased for just $69.99. All it takes is an hour to reheat and you are set to go! Talk about stress free! Roseanne gave one to me and my goodness it was easy to do and delicious. On top of that NO MESS! The turkey kits can be ordered through or 1-800-9-LONGOS up to Dec 22. The turkey kits are available 2 times a year - Christmas and Thanksgiving.

We had a caller ask us how to make the best stuffing for your turkey and if Rosanne had any tips. Rosanne smiled and laughed, “the secret to great stuffing is to have your Mom make it”! So she promised to send it for all of our listener’s and readers.

Roseanne further added that, “the real “secret” is in the seasoning”. Your own creativity and added touches with favourite ingredients are what will make it your own recipe to pass on from generation to generation. Some people prefer a traditional bread stuffing, some add fruit like cranberries, and in some cultures (I have aunts who do this...the Italian way) is to make stuffing with a blend of ground pork and beef and even mushrooms, creating a more meatier stuffing with less breadcrumbs.

Most traditional stuffings, or dressings, start with sautéed vegetables like onion and celery (my grandmother insisted that the secret with celery is to included the leaves). Added to the sauteed vegetables is crumbled bread. Again, my grandmother would take a loaf (or loaves) of day-old bread as this works best and she would break it up by hand into cubes. My mother has found the faster way is to buy the big bag of cubed bread especially for making stuffing available at Longo’s! This is the part where you add your own creations. You can add rice or meat if you like or fruit or nuts.

Now for texture...moist or dry stuffing? That is the question. It’s all a matter of preference. For moister stuffing, add chicken broth and/or butter. For drier, crispier stuffing, it’s best to use toasted breads.

Mom Longo’s turkey stuffing recipe (passed on from Roseanne’s Mom

In a large bowl, combine: 1 1/4 cup of soft butter, 20 cups of soft bread crumbs (using sliced bread or buns) - moisten with a bit of olive oil and 1 cup of water and 1 tsp each of sage, savoury and oregano. Saute 1 chopped onion and 1 cup of chopped celery (including leaves). Add to the bread mixture.

Add: chopped fennel (or anise) - how much I’m not sure...they never tell you exact quantities, do they? It’s all by touch and feel.
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley

Stuff the stuffing mixture into your turkey. In our family, we stuff the turkey, but we also cook half of the stuffing mixture in a separate casserole baked in the oven. We like our stuffing!

Longo’s Holiday Entertaining Tips

1. Provide guests with non-alcoholic drinks such as mineral water and sparkling fruit beverages, count on 3 drinks per guest.

2. Assume some of your guests will be vegetarians. Make sure to have a fresh cut vegetable and fruit tray with a variety of dips prepared and ready to serve

3. Count on 4-6 hors d’oeuvres per person if you’re serving a meal. If you’re just serving hors d’oeuvres with cocktails, allow 12 per person.

4. Mirrors can be used for serving hors d’oeuvres. If you are using butler service, select light weight mirrors that can be carried easily. Fill a straight-edged plate or tray with rock salt, sesame seeds or dried beans to use as a bed for hors d’oeuvres.

5. Always prepare a selection of items that can be served at room temperature, That way you won’t have to worry that your hot entrée will be getting cold, or your cold dessert will be melting. Deli meat and cheese trays will do just the trick. Serve with a variety of gourmet mustards, pickles and artisan breads.

6. For a quick and impressive holiday appetizer pour your favorite sweet or savoury compote over a baked brie and serve along side a selection of artisan breads or crisps.

7. Combine a variety of temperatures, flavours, colours and textures to keep the meal interesting.

8. Use natural non-toxic materials such as flowers, herbs, banana leaves or bamboo stalks to dress up plain trays.

9. Sturdy photo frames can be repurposed as serving trays: Place fabric or decorative paper inside the frames where the photograph would go. Nothing looks better than bite-sized tarts and cookies arranged inside a sparkling frame.