Cooking With Power Tools for the Holidays

The holidays are coming, which means visiting with family and being thankful for the good things in life. It's also a time to gorge on juicy turkey, creamy mashed potatoes and mouth-watering desserts. Sitting back and enjoying the spoils is the best part, but why not make cooking more interesting, too?

Home repair and do-it-yourself jobs can be put by the wayside in the cold months of winter -- which means your power tools are neglected as well. Instead of letting your precious power tools gather dust over the holidays, put them to good use by preparing a handyman's holiday feast.

Before jumping in, don't forget to prepare the area around you, including yourself. To guard your cabinets and floors from flying food debris, secure a protective barrier -- a tarp should do the trick -- around your cooking space. Guard yourself against mashed potato missiles by wearing a heavy-duty apron, gloves and a face mask.

If you need a little inspiration for your DIY holiday feast, incorporate these recipes into the mix:

Cornbread pudding

· 1 package (8.5 ounces) corn muffin mix

· 1 can cream corn

· 1 can whole kernel corn, drained*

· 1 container (8 ounces) sour cream

· 2 eggs

· 1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl

3. Pour mixture into an ungreased 9-by-13-inch dish

4. Bake in the oven for an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean

*Substitute canned corn with kernels removed with lathe (use the cream corn can for accurate measurement).

Sweet potato biscuits*

· 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

· 3 tablespoons white or brown sugar

· 4 teaspoons baking powder

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 3/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes**

· 1/4 cup softened butter

· 3 tablespoons milk (or enough to moisten the dough)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F

2. Sift dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) together in a small bowl

3. Combine sweet potatoes and butter in a large bowl

4. Add the dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and knead or mix until dough is soft

5. Add milk a tablespoon at a time, until dough is moistened

6. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth

7. Roll dough to ½-inch thickness and cut with biscuit cutter

8. Place biscuits 1-inch apart on a greased baking sheet

9. Bake for 15 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown

*This recipe was adapted from foodnetwork.com.

**Set aside boiled sweet potatoes from the casserole and leftover biscuit dough for a quick and easy side dish.

Your relatives will be amazed at your craftiness when you show off your culinary skills. Once they're done wiping dough off their faces and picking corn kernels from their hair, they'll enjoy a magnificent spread made with love... and power tools.

This holiday season, don't just cook dinner -- own dinner. Use this infographic as a guide to put more muscle in your meal by cooking with power tools.

*Disclaimer: This infographic is purely for entertainment. Cooking with power tools is messy, dangerous and is not recommended.