Re: [gardeners] Getting ready already
pennyx1@juno.com (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 22 Nov 2002 16:10:43 -0500
George, how many will be coming on Sunday? How young is the baby?
We traditionally use yams for our holiday casserole -- they are
naturally sweeter, I believe. Do you prefer the paler 'sweet potatoes'..?
And is that rather a universal choice down south? Nothing finer than a
well baked yam split open with butter and salt --- oh, yessss.....
Our original family of 23 (plus 4 dogs who had to be locked in
separate bedrooms..) is now down to 12, with one canine who keeps
getting into trouble and is sent to his cage... Never could figure out
that cage bit -- it hits me as cruelty above and beyond. And what's
more, if the world has now decided that the cage should be used for
punishment and for sleeping hours, then what's the matter with using
it for the children..? We had one great nephew who always insisted
upon tormenting my young grandson -- sticking his foot out to trip him,
you know the kind. I would have gladly hit him over the head with a
cast iron frying pan, to put him out of commission, but I was
restrained by Jimmie. Had I the choice of ordering him into his cage,
I would have done it with alacrity -- and every year, at that!
As usual, Cousin Dick continues his assignment of bringing enough hors
d'oeuvres for everyone. When his wife was alive, they would concoct
all sorts of yummies as a team, and we had 6-story baloney & cream
cheese triangles; a large eggplant studded with tooth picks full of
rollups of various kinds; devilled eggs, both curried and plain; many
cheeses with many crackers; and sometimes things like goat cheese
from Norway... Now that he is alone, he still makes up the devilled
eggs, and supplements the feast with lots of dips and cheeses from
Trader Joe's. It's fun.
The hostess, Cousin Judy, always makes the turkey and stuffing,
the yams, cole slaw or a salad, and her very special cheese cake.
Her daughter, Laura, now a college freshman, is the brownie
specialist.
Penny brings at least 3 cakes -- they all used to be home made,
such as pineapple upside down, lemon chiffon pie with graham
cracker crust, sand torte with corn starch instead of flour (for the
allergic), and such. After 50 years of doing this, I discovered that
they all were just as happy with good store-boughten cakes, and so
that's what they get. I do bring along a gallon casserole of curried
canned fruits, yummy, yum -- peaches, pears, mandarin oranges,
sometimes apricots, sometimes green grapes, covered with a
sauce of mixed brown sugar and curry, and baked for an hour.
Cousins Marion and Leona bring wine, enough to go around just
fine.
It's a help-yourself from the sideboard dinner, after all the nibbelungen
and daiquiries first in the living room, and then comes the big surprise:
nobody has to stay to do the dishes. Judy and Al and Laura beg us to
allow them to do it themselves. Terrific!
The trick is staying awake for the hour's ride home on a holiday night.
T'aint easy.
Happy Holiday, all of you -- and we'd love to hear how you celebrate!
Penny, NY
.
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