A Norman Rockwell Holiday

My family has never been guilty of trying to make the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner a Norman Rockwell moment.  Has yours? 

What we are guilty of is serving the same food over and over again. Ours is always turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing (that no one eats except Granny the Great), cranberry sauce (canned chunky and jellied-for sandwiches the next day), green beans (Sissy insists on green bean casserole), fresh bread, pumpkin pie and Granny the Great’s pecan pie.

Another thing my family is famous for is names. No, not their given names but we name food and name dishes all based on the people who served them, what they served them in or the occasion.

I guess the most famous are the Jim Miller potatoes. My 93 year old mother (Granny the Great) talks about as a child going to a school chum’s (Jim Miller) house and his mother serving these potatoes. Nothing fancy – just good old home cooking. This dish is boiled lumpy potatoes (skin on or off your preference), with added butter, milk and chopped onion. Yes, keep them lumpy. All part of the mystique.

The company salad, well, it is the salad that is only served when company comes and over the years it has become a staple for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I tried to do away with it one year, because no one eats it, but the family asked where it was. So it has reappeared. It is just lemon Jello with chopped bananas and pineapple, topped with whipped cream made with the pineapple juice and then added shredded cheese.

Christmas morning debuts Grandma Betty’s waffles. It is the only time of the year that we have waffles – really. The Belgian-type waffle batter is made Christmas Eve as the kids are getting into bed. In the past we served these with venison sausage processed by Kuby’s in Dallas but my source disappeared. Sad. . . 

Then there is Juli’s mashed potato bowl. Our holiday dinner usually consists of 4 to 6 to 10 people - maybe more; maybe less. I always make a 10 lb. bag of mashed potatoes (not to be confused with Jim Miller potatoes). These are served in this antique McCoy bread bowl and usually there are no leftovers. What can I say; my family likes potatoes.

This enamelware pan is one used by my grandmother to take potato salad to church picnics. My mother always gestured by making a mountain with her hand to indicate how full the pan was. I just had to keep this pan – although unusable for potato salad or anything else for that matter.

My mother made her potatoes in this sauce pan. I will always remember her banging on the lid to secure it while the potatoes were cooking.

Lastly are the Christmas plates. My children made these while in day care – hence the spelling or lack thereof. Every year, the kids piled these plates high with waffles and sausage, turkey and gravy and pecan pie. Now my grandbabies are using these plates for Christmas dinner.

Although not Norman Rockwellish, our holiday dinners have been a source of tradition and memories from the time my mother was a child to now when her great grandchildren are being served dinner. We will be ever thankful for the love of family, wonderful memories and good food. As we prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I wish you the bounty of God’s blessings. 

Holiday Hits

My grandchildren's day care closes when public schools are shut down so I HAVE to go babysit. And for the last two years I have taken care of the Goober and Sweet Baby Girl the week before Christmas. This year I planned ahead for those down times. You know, when they don't want to watch General Hospital with you. What's with that? So, I thought I would share with you some of the projects and some of the recipes that were a hit over the holidays at the The Jardin Encantado. Some of them may be one hit wonders.

Pumpkin Cookies

1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter

½ cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange gel icing (if you can’t find this use red and yellow food coloring)

4 cups powdered sugar

Mini pretzel sticks

Cream together peanut butter, butter, vanilla and gel icing color. Add the powdered sugar a small amount at a time. The mixture will become very stiff and difficult to mix. Use a spatula to combine any of the mix that clings to the side of the bowl. Roll 1 tbsp of the dough into a ball and make creases with the back of a butter knife on each cookie. The finishing touch is the pretzel stem. Refrigerate pumpkins until ready to serve. #1 son finished these off in 2 days.

Reindeer Cookies

One package Nutter Butter cookies

one large bag of M&Ms – this should have the right amount of brown M&Ms and red M&Ms (unless you are okay with other color eyes)

tiny twist pretzels

white frosting, in a tube or put some in a pastry bag.

Lay out the Nutter Butters on a tray. Take the pretzels and use the white frosting to “glue” the pretzel “antlers” onto the top of the Nutter Butter. While you are doing this, get your grandchildren to sort out the brown M&Ms and red M&Ms into separate bowls for the eyes and nose.  This may or may not go well.  Our large bag of M&Ms had EXACTLY enough brown ones for one bag of Nutter Butter cookies. I don't know how many M&Ms the kids ate. Use the frosting to glue down the M&Ms. Be sure to put the M side down. Ta, da!

Gardeners hand scrub

I used some small canning jars and filled them 3/4 full of sugar. I then added Dawn dish washing soap (the pink kind with Olay Beauty Hand Renewal in it) until it reached just below the bottom of the mouth of the jar. Stir the sugar and soap together….adding sugar a little at a time until it is a paste-like consistency. You don’t want it to be too runny! The light pink color looks so pretty. Add a ribbon or twine and a cutsie wootsie label. My friend, Lenore, wants me to make more.

Feet print reindeer

Card stock

Brown paint (I used finger paint. Next time I think I will use Tempra.)

2 googly eyes

1 small red pom pom

glue

black fine point felt tip pen

Dip your grandkidlette’s feet into the paint and gently place them on the card stock being careful not to move them - the kids or the feet. Let dry - the paper. Wash the children's feet. Glue two googly eyes on the ball of the foot and the pom pom on the heel. Draw in black antlers. I was so hoping my DIL wouldn't notice the brown paint on the kids feet.

Santa ornament

The infamous salt dough ornament is resurrected for this project.

½ cup flour

½ cup salt

¼ water (a little more or less)

Knead until a stiff dough forms. Make an impression of your grandkiddo’s hand and using a knife cut around the shape. Be sure to poke a hole (for hanging) at top. I used a skewer. Bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours. Paint, seal and hang. The grands gave these to their parent for Christmas presents. Just what they wanted!

Christmas Simmer
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg - or one whole nutmeg
1 tbsp star anise - or two whole star anise 
1 tsp ginger
1 qt. water
Simply raid your kitchen cupboard to make this household potpourri. Stir all together and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then simmer on lowest heat. Add water as needed. Christmas fragrance - it is a good thing!

Disclaimer: I am not a chef or trained cook but I do know how to boil water. Two of these recipes contain peanuts. If you are allergic to peanuts, do not eat them or the cookies. Please note that results may vary. If you dislike any recipe on this blog, you have obviously messed it up somehow.