Is it your year to host the dinner? We rounded up some of the best recipes from the foodie community to help you create a full and delicious spread that’ll be talked about for years. Yes, that says “Turducken”, and don’t worry, we wanted to lick the spoon, too.

Turducken (Turkey/Duck/Chicken)

Tony & Vikki, Simple Bermuda

 Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 whole duck

1 whole turkey

Seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, Creole blend)

3 cups sausage and oyster dressing

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lay the chicken skin-side down on a platter and season with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Repeat with duck. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Lay the turkey skin-side down on a flat surface. Cover with a layer of sausage and oyster dressing pushing it into the leg and wing cavities.
3. Lay the duck on top of the turkey skin-side down and cover it with a layer of dressing. Lay the chicken on top of the duck skin-side down and cover it with a layer of dressing.
4. Bring the edges of the turkey skin up and fasten them together with toothpicks. Lace kitchen string around the toothpicks to help hold the stuffed turkey together. Carefully place the turducken, breast up in a large roasting pan.
5. Roast covered for 4 hours or until the turducken is golden brown. Continue to roast uncovered for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer inserted through the thigh registers 180 degrees F. Check the turducken every few hours to baste and remove excess liquid. There will be enough pan juices for a gallon of gravy. Carve and serve.

Spicy Stuffing

Betty Azzario

Ingredients

1 bag of stuffing mix

1 pound of spicy Italian stuffing

5 cloves of garlic

4 pinches saffron

1 yellow onion

5 sprigs fresh time

1 teaspoon African cayenne pepper

salt

pepper

4 sage leaves

1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 teaspoon turmeric

Olive oil

1. Brown onions and fry spices in oil. Add sausage.
2. Cook until sausages are cooked through.
3. Add spices and garlic then add one bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix.
4. Lastly, add vegetable broth. Enough so that the cubes of stuffing are moist but do not lose shape. Set aside.
5. Enjoy!

5-Cheese Mac and Cheese

Cal Furbert 

Ingredients

1 stove-top and oven proof dish

4oz stick butter

4oz all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cup whole milk

1 egg yolk (scrambled)

ground mustard to taste (Optional)

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp kosher salt

8oz Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheese (shredded)

8oz Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp-White Cheese (shredded)

8oz gruyere (shredded)

6oz parmesan (block preferred) (shredded)

8oz pepper jack cheese (shredded)

box of Cellentani pasta

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1. Prepare in one stove-top and oven proof dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a large pot of water to boil on the stove. Add salt to taste, then add pasta. Cook about 6-7 minutes – to al dente. Drain, and set aside. Bounce pasta to remove any retained water. While pasta is cooking, add butter and flour to large saucepan and set to medium heat. Stir constantly until the roux begins to brown just slightly.
2. Add milk, whisking well. Continue to cook on medium-high heat for about 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly. Once the sauce has thickened, reduce to a very low flame, remove some of the sauce mixture, and temper the egg yolk with the sauce (whisking constantly), then mix the egg yolk into the saucepan. Add in cracked black pepper, salt and any optional ingredients to taste.
3. Add the cheese (saving some for the topping) and occasionally stir until completely melted.
4. Stir in the pasta, mix until covered with sauce. Sprinkle the panko bread crumbs over the top to make a thin topping, and then cover with the remaining cheese.
5. Place the dish onto the middle rack of the oven, for about 30-35 minutes until the crust is nicely browned. Enjoy.

Eggnog Cheesecake Bars

Chef Damian Simmons 

Graham cracker crust

1 box graham crackers

4 tablespoons sugar

12 gingersnaps

4 oz melted butter

 Filling

3lbs cream cheese

8 large eggs

4 egg yolks

3 cups eggnog

3 cups sugar

4 tbsp. + 6 tbsps. all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons + 4 tsp brandy (black rum)

4 teaspoons vanilla

2 tsp nutmeg

1lb sour cream

Rum Caramel glaze

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup black rum

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Crush gingersnaps and graham crackers in a robot coupe and grind. (If you don’t have a robot coupe, you can place items in a napkin and use a kitchen hammer to grind.) Combine 4 oz sugar, melted butter and graham cracker mix. Grease a hotel pan and spread the mixture evenly on bottom of the pan. Place in oven and bake for 10 mins.
2. In a mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs 1 by 1 on a slow speed. Add the remaining ingredients (sugar, egg yolks, eggnog, flour, rum vanilla and nutmeg: beat until smooth.)
3. Pour filling over crust. Place pan on a flat sheet tray. Add enough water to cover the tray. Bake until just set about 50 – 60 minutes. Remove from water bath and let cool. Refrigerate overnight.
4. For caramel glaze, heat sugar in a medium pot until it starts to caramelise. Take a spoon or whisk and spread sugar evenly. Add black rum and reduce for 1 minute. Add heavy cream and whisk together. Add butter and remove from heat.
5. Cut cheesecake into even squares and serve with glaze and fresh berries.

The post The Ultimate Christmas Dinner Spread appeared first on RG Magazines.

Bing Crosby may have famously sung about a white Christmas, however for Bermuda we’re unlikely to ever see such a phenomenon. Ours is a green Christmas – however, how many of us go a step further and aim for a “green” Christmas in the sense of environmental sustainability?

There are many options that the environmentally conscious can chose to aim for a greener Christmas, such as focusing on experiential gifts rather than wanton consumerism with packaging and pretty paper; focusing on recycled wrapping – even newspaper (pro-tip, use this article for bonus points!) – or reusable gift bags, or even giving two gifts in one, such as using clothing (scarves?) as wrapping instead!

And of course, you can give a gift back to the Earth and give green gifts like a composter, a donation to an environmental charity. Or focus on recycled or upcycled gifts, energy saving technology (just think save money and it’s the gift that keeps on giving throughout the year!), homemade gifts, gifts to support outdoor activities or growable gifts such as seedlings or trees.

And on that last note, have you considered the environmental impact of your Christmas tree and what is the most environmentally friendly option?

From a “green” perspective the best option is to get a living Christmas tree. That is, quite frankly, a live tree, in a container, that will grow and thrive in Bermuda which you can plant out after Christmas. In Bermuda we’re quite lucky that the endemic Bermuda Cedar resembles, in its juvenile stage, a traditional Christmas tree. It may not be quite as large as a traditional Christmas tree, however it makes up for it by not leaving needles all over the floor (less clean-up, score!); enhances biodiversity (it’s berries provide food for many native and endemic species); aids in carbon sequestration (helps offset your carbon footprint); protects the soil; drought resistant; and hurricane resistant.

It can also be part of a family tradition – planting a “Christmas” forest over time, as a family. Of course, not everyone has the land to plant a tree in. That’s okay. Reach out to schools, the Bermuda Audubon Society or the Bermuda National Trust and see if they might welcome such trees and later the whole family can go and picnic at such a Christmas forest.

Of course, you don’t have to go for a Cedar or even a tree resembling a traditional Christmas tree. Why not go for a palmetto, an olivewood, a bay grape, a pomegranate or a citrus?

Still want a traditional tree and you’re wondering if you should get a real tree or an artificial one, and wondering which is the greener option?

Good question.

If you already have an artificial tree, use it. You already have it, so keep using it. The carbon footprint of artificial trees reduces the longer they’re used. So, keep at it.

Now it’s an interesting question whether to buy an artificial tree or a cut tree. It’s not clear cut. Yes, the artificial one is likely made of plastic, however it’s not single-use and you can use it for decades. The real tree looks bad – it’s a tree that’s been cut down, and then there’s the carbon footprint of transporting it here. Surely we want to keep trees growing rather than cutting them down, right? Well, yes and no.

Christmas tree plantations can provide habitats for other plants and animals if managed properly, which can be a good thing for ecological resilience. And trees tend to sequester carbon (that is, absorb carbon from the air and “lock” it into the soil and the tree itself) at greater rates when young (so from growing until harvesting). And the carbon can be returned to the Earth through composting, or if used in the incinerator, offsets the importation of fossil fuels for power generation in Bermuda.

In general, with all things being equal in terms of transport carbon footprint (both artificial trees and real trees available in Bermuda come from the US northeast and Canada), the available literature on carbon footprint seems to indicate that an artificial tree has a lower carbon footprint if used consistently for at least nine years versus an annual real tree purchase. This of course doesn’t consider the biodiversity impact.

My own personal leaning based on the literature and factoring in biodiversity, would be that an annual real tree is the greener option. Additionally, some charities benefit from selling Christmas trees, so if you do decide on the real tree route, support a charity in doing so.

However, due to the carbon footprint of importing to Bermuda (including transport from harvesting or manufacturing, then from port to port), neither option is ideal from a ‘green’ perspective.

The gold standard really is a living tree that you can plant after.

Transport costs are minimized, it enhances our island in terms of biodiversity, hurricane resistance (if using a cedar) and keeps on giving throughout its life time, as well as sequestering carbon. Perhaps this could be a national drive going forward, with annual ‘Christmas forests’ being planted (in national parks and elsewhere) – and charities can benefit from this too by selling living cedars instead of imported pine trees. It’s a win-win for all.

What do you think?

The post Artificial vs. Real: How Green is your Christmas Tree, Really? appeared first on RG Magazines.

For Neika*, she has had four children but they’ve all come to her out of a need for a safe place and a loving home. Neika is a foster mom, which she fell into unexpectedly.

“I have always been involved with kids from the time I came back from university,” she said. “I am a certified teacher, and I taught for a few years in the education system here on the island, and then after teaching for a couple of years I became involved in a youth organization, and I left teaching to go full time into the youth organization. Through that youth ministry I got my first foster child. She was 17.”

At the time Neika was 28 and thought that she would only be needed for 10 days.

“It turned into two years,” she said.

“For me, when it was going to be 10 days, I thought, yeah, I can do this. But when I realized it was going to be a long-term process, I got nervous. I was still a young person and I had thoughts of what my life was going to look like, and I didn’t know if I wanted to take on that kind of responsibility.”

However, being a foster mom has taught her so many things about herself as well as opened her eyes to the needs of some children on the island.

“Through teaching, I became very aware of kids that don’t stay with their family and that there are kids that are just looking for somewhere to be loved and to belong.

“My heart became burdened with these kids.”

As a Christian, Neika felt that becoming a refuge for children in need became her calling.

“It is part of the word of God that says we are called to look after those less fortunate,” she said.

Neika also credits her strong family ties with being able to provide a supportive environment for the children that have come into her care. She is currently caring for an eight-year-old, whom she has cared for since she was 23 months.

“When Child and Family Services called me and asked if I would take in a child at 23 months, I said no twice. But she didn’t let me go.

“That was a conversation I had to have with my family, and in particular my parents because I knew I would need help. She’s now eight and first and foremost I give by the grace of God but second through very supportive family, whether it’s my parents or my extended family. My family has embraced this child as if I had given birth to her.”

She credits her own mother for building a solid relationship and foundation for her that she’s been able to translate into her own relationship with the children who have come into her care.

“My teenage years were very challenging for me and I know my mom played a big part in me making it through a very rocky period in my life, and now I can give someone else back what I was given.”

With all of the children that she has cared for, Neika has been able to maintain a good relationship with the children’s family. She views it as a co-parenting situation, and she says that it is important that foster parents honour and respect those families.

“I never want her to think that I’m going to keep her from her mom or from her relatives.

“Children come into these situations for many different reasons and there are kids that for a season of their life might just need to stay with someone besides their family.”

Neika doesn’t have children of her own and while she’s open to having her own children if she were to get married, right now her focus is on giving a place to a child that needs that supportive environment.

“There’s a mothering element that I didn’t even know that I had,” she said. “I am a completely different person. They say that having children kills the selfishness in you, and so I have become more understanding and more patient, but I have a lot more to go on the patience level. I feel like I am more empathetic and more understanding and less judgmental because I realize there is a story behind each and every one of us that causes us to act the way we do.”

While there are challenging moments, she said that each of the girls has helped her grow as a person and she has been very grateful for the relationships she’s been able to have with them.

“I have her for a season of life, and I’m going to enjoy our time together. I’m going to see it as an opportunity to guide her and plant seeds in her life at a young age,” she said. “What she does in the end and she becomes an adult, she has that free will, but what a privilege it is to just love a young person and help them through one of the most challenging times of their lives.”

For Mother’s Day, Neika and her family celebrate by going out to brunch or to a family member’s home to spend time together and enjoy each other’s company. She also makes sure that her foster child has a gift to give to her mom, and that holidays are spent together in some form.

For those who have ever considered becoming a foster parent, Neika said that people need to recognize the difference between fostering and adoption.

“I have had many people say they couldn’t go into foster parenting because they don’t want to get attached,” she said. “You’re concerned about your attachment issues when there’s a kid out there that needs a safe space? I struggle with that because it’s a very selfish view. I know not everyone can foster because it does require a lot, but maybe there is another way to support the foster care system, and in that regard, more people need to step up.

“We need to think beyond ourselves and realize it’s going to be challenging, but don’t look at it as an opportunity to fix a kid, in the end, it should just be a safe space and place for children to be children.”

There are several ways to get involved with Foster Care. If you wish to begin the process of applying to be a Foster Parent, please contact the Foster Care Coordinator at 294-5871 / [email protected]. If your desire is to get involved on the charity side of things and you wish to make a donation, you should contact the President of the Foster Parents Association, Lindsay Simmons at 505-7764.

*Not her real name

The post A mother for those in need appeared first on RG Magazines.

But along with her support during a woman’s pregnancy, more recently she has also used her position and contacts to provide items for needy mothers on the island.

Through her position in the Anglican Church of Bermuda as the wife of Bishop Nicholas Dill, she has been aware of the needs of many on the island. But it has been through the Internet that she has been able to provide much of the support to those in need.

“Originally, about three or four years ago, I saw an ad on Emoo asking people for items for young mums,” she said. “I made a connection with Sakina Ible, who was a teen mum herself, and who had started an organization called Pregnant with Purpose. I have a lot of clients who contact me and say they no longer need an item, but they don’t want to sell it and would rather give it away, so I will pass it on to Sakina and she will give it to the teen mums.”

There have been times when there has been a specific need, and Mrs Dill has been able to go directly to her contact base on Facebook and inevitably she would be able to get the item that was needed.

She now gets requests from people across the community including health visitors, Teen Haven and the church, and does her best to address the specific needs.

“Because of my connection with the church it has raised my awareness of so much need,” she said. “We get a lot of people in real desperation, unable to feed their families, unable to make ends meet, on financial aid but it’s just not enough.

“I feel very privileged to be a conduit that I can match those that want to donate to those that need donations. It’s a very privileged place to be, to be honest, because it takes very little effort and I’m just able to make it happen.”

In a way, she added, there’s a bit of divine intervention that has helped her to accomplish meeting those needs. “It’s extraordinary that things come at just the time that they’re needed. Because I’m Christian I believe there is something bigger, and I believe that I am enabled so I can and it will work out.”

Mrs Dill, who is a nurse by profession and childbirth educator, knows how important it is to support mothers within the community as she has six children of her own. It was while she was pregnant with her last child that she became a certified doula, in the hopes of supporting women through their pregnancy and birth. In the past 11 years she has supported mothers through over 330 births on the island.

She has found that many have begun to see her as a mother figure, and with her knowledge base she has been able to guide women to make informed choices during their pregnancy and birth.

“There is a mothering element to what I do,” she said. “When I first started 11 years ago I’d just finished having my last baby, and I wasn’t that far off the age of the women I was supporting. Now I’m supporting women that are closer to the age of my eldest daughter, so now I am finding myself as a bit of a mother figure.”

The relationships that she has been able to build with each of her clients goes beyond the birth, and she is on call throughout the pregnancy, as well as postnatal help with breastfeeding and making sure that everything is on track with both the mother and baby.

“One of the things that I feel when I am a doula is that I so want the best for this woman, and I so want to enable them. You’re in a bubble during those hours of labour, and you are solely there for them, and in a way just the way you would be with your own children.

“It’s not just the birth where I am supporting them,” she added. “I’m on call for people through the pregnancy. I’ve helped mothers who have had pregnancy after loss, and those people can be very needy, and rightly so. I am at their beckon call in terms of support and being a listening ear through the process.”

She has been contacted even years later by her clients to help with marriage advice and tips on disciplining and having a better relationship with their children.

She said that she has been encouraged to see more support for mothers on the island and the resources that have been made available, whether for post-natal depression, anxiety or pelvic floor issues.

“I feel like there is a good network of people where women really don’t have to suffer in silence.

“There needs to be an honesty about motherhood and I want people to know that support networks are available, the mother’s groups and parent groups where people can be honest about the struggles that they are having.”

She says there are “many variations of normal,” which is something she knows first hand with her own children.
“My first baby had colic and it was absolutely exhausting,” she said. “Nick was a student at the time and doing a lot of evening work, and I remember being utterly exhausted thinking what have I done, and I wanted this. But each of the others were much easier. But the reason you feel so good is because of the bad times, you can look back and think how on earth did we make it work.”

She would like to see there be more access to doula services for all women, and along with other doulas on the island they are building a network of support, so there are more options.

Along with helping to support mothers on the island, she alsomakes regular donations to fund a ‘safe motherhood project’ in Sierra Leone, which is primarily an educational programme providing information to pregnant women and those with babies on nutrition, safe practices and childbirth education.

“In this way, women birthing in Bermuda, can have a direct impact on women birthing in Sierra Leone,” she said.

Her own family celebrates Mothering Sunday, which takes place in March, and was originally as a mark of recognition of the mother church and the church being a community.

“During the service on Mothering Sunday, each woman gets a posy of flowers. It’s for all women because there are women who would have liked to have been mothers or there are mothers who have been like mothers to people. There will be people who will have lost children and people who have lost their own mothers, so often Mothering Sunday can be a bittersweet time for people,” she said.

After the service the family will do a special lunch together, so that Mrs Dill doesn’t have to cook. And every year each of her children, aged between 25 and 11, write a beautiful note of appreciation for her, which is something she looks forward to each year.

The post Supporting mothers appeared first on RG Magazines.

The post Episode 1: ’12 Days of Christmas appeared first on RG Magazines.

Borrowing from the boys this Christmas with a classic tuxedo is an instant win. A tailored look can take you from day to night, lunch or a cocktail party. Add some lace and a pair of stilettoes and a chic tux will take you through the festive season in both style and comfort.

Elegant velvet is the fabric of the season. Couple this with a luxe rich hue and you are onto a party hit. This season crank up your style factor in an asymmetric little number in the season must-have velvet, such as a bodycon midi dress which has just the right amount of head turning wow factor.

If you want to be timelessly elegant in a classic little black dress, then add a twist to make it your own. Try embellishments, brocades, textures or a geometric lace to really lift the traditional LBD from a traditional staple to a modern party stunner. Add a pop of colour with your accessories.

A sparkly shoe is a must for the season that glitters. A satin festive stiletto will take you comfortably from daytime occasion to all-night dancing, beautifully lift tuxedo tailoring and bringing a modern finesse to a trusty LBD. In fact, you won’t need to over-think the rest of your look with a party-perfect pair of bejeweled heels, as they will do all the talking.

Don’t forget the finishing touches to ensure your party outfit looks seamless. Shapewear can be key to making your party outfit look its best. Whether it’s a figure-sculpting body, waist cincher or multi-way bra, these added assets secretly give your look its final seamless finish.

Happy partying!

Lorraine Shailer is Head of Clothing & Home for Marks & Spencer Bermuda. She has worked with the company for almost six years with a focus on buying and merchandising the Ladies and Lingerie department. Her regular trips to buying events keeps her up-to-date with the global fashion market and trends, along with her personal love for all things style related.

The post Party in style appeared first on RG Magazines.