Bucks Food Calendar: December 19, 2016

The holidays are approaching, and there’s not much time left. Did anyone else spend the entire weekend last-minute shopping? And did anyone else run back through the aisles, because you forgot something?

This week, meal planning just isn’t going to happen because there is too much to do in order to prepare for the holiday. Take a note from my book and eat out this week, especially on the days where you are knee-deep in wrapping paper and ribbons. It’s easy to keep it low-key, tasty, and local.

Free dinner. This Monday, come enjoy a free dinner from the Presbyterian Church of Deep Run in Perkasie. The church hosts this monthly dinner every third Monday of the month. The menu this month is a hearty dinner of roast beef or pot roast with vegetables, with yummy desserts afterwards. The meal is served in Hoopes Hall from 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm. Visit their website for more information.

Here’s another way to spend time with community members: The Centenary United Methodist Church in Lambertville, NJ hosts its free lunch on Wednesdays from 12 – 2 pm. Come enjoy a great meal made with local food, and meet some new people for the holiday season.

Get your ugly sweater on. The new holiday trend is to don your ugliest Christmas or holiday sweater and get together with friends to see whose sweater is the best. McCoole’s Restaurant at the Red Lion Inn in Quakertown is throwing its Annual Ugly Sweater Holiday Wine Tasting Party this Wednesday, December 21, so you’ll be able to show off your decked out disaster. Prizes will be given out for the three worst holiday sweaters.

Also on Wednesdays at McCoole’s, the restaurant offers an all-day happy hour food menu. Visit their website for more information.

Preparing for Hanukkah. Hanukkah begins this Saturday evening and continues for eight days. Like other holidays this time of year, it brings light and warmth into the cold of winter. Whether you are Jewish or not, bring some good smells into your home with our potato pancake (latke) recipes here. Top with applesauce or sour cream.

The “new” Bowman’s Tavern. Bowman’s Tavern, the popular New Hope restaurant, has opened a new location, Bowman’s North, at the former Riegelsville Tavern. The menu includes popular favorites from the New Hope location as well as new dishes created just for Riegelsville.

Try out starters and soups, sandwiches, and customer favorites like pork sloppy joes, grass-fed burgers, and creamy crab dip. Other entrees include pan roasted salmon, crab cakes, chicken breast and leeks, and several other popular appetizers. It’s going to be hard to choose what to order, so grab some friends and try out the “Six Until Six” happy hour which includes six items on the bar menu that are priced at $6 a piece from 4 – 6 pm.