Today is Sunday, November 30, 2008. It is very late. I usually write in the morning but not today. It is Vicki's birthday. And the day has been sunny and warm.
A while ago I ate the last piece of mincemeat pie from our Thanksgiving day feast. It looked so beautiful. At Thanksgiving time we have two kinds of pie - pumpkin and mincemeat. As Vicki said "I like pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and then I am through with it for the rest of the year." That is my sentiment, too. And the same with mincemeat pie.
Only a few people in our family like mincemeat pie. My mother-in-law taught me how to make mock mincemeat using green tomatoes. When we had a big garden with lots of tomatoes, I would use the green ones left on the vine just before the first frost of the winter. The green tomatoes are chopped up, mixed with apples and raisins and lots of yummy spices. I would put the cooked mixture in bottles and cold pack them to use at Thanksgiving time.
Here in California I don't have so many green tomatoes and don't make it. At Thanksgiving time I haunt the stores to buy Borden's None Such Mincemeat which you can only find around Thanksgiving time. Fewer and fewer stores carry it. Mincemeat pie is definitely going out of fashion. Borden's makes two kinds - one with brandy and one without brandy. Well, we are a family of non-alcohol users and the brandy kind is not for me. Oh, I know. "It all cooks out." Well, I am sorry I don't use rum flavoring, or ccoking wine, or even wine vinegar. You can laugh if you want but I don't intend to change my plan. Anyway last year at Thanksgiving time I could find only Borden's with brandy. I scared up enough green tomatoes from friends to make a batch of mincemeat - enough for two pies. This year I was elated when I went to Raley's and found two brands of mincemeat - no brandy. I really wanted Borden's because I know just how it tastes. But I picked the brand in a bottle over the brand in a can. Neither one had brandy - YEAH!
I mentioned to the clerk at the check out counter how happy I was to find mincemeat without brandy. "I really wanted Borden's None Such but you don't have it. I want the kind without the brandy." He said, "Well, when they send it to us they send one small case of non-brandy and several cases with brandy. If you get here first you can get the non-brandy kind."
The pie making went well. The crust for both the pumpkin pie and the mincemeat ones were picture perfect. And they smelled so good baking. Wouldn't you know that this was the year our almost 11 year old granddaughter followed her mother's advice to try something new for Thanksgiving dinner and she choose to try mincemeat pie. Those of us who like it were excited. Maybe we would have another devotee.
And then we tasted the beautiful picture perfect mincemeat pie. Oh, my gosh! I wanted to cry. Emma dutifully carried out her trial. Of course, she didn't like it! Neither did any of us. Then I read the label - all the usual stuff but added to it were hard currants and citrus peel. Yuk! Who ruined the recipe for mincemeat with hard currants and citrus peel? We don't have another mincemeat pie lover. The rest of us couldn't pass up the beautiful pie crust so we cut a piece - scraped out the filling, took out the currants and the citrus peel, and kept a little of the raisins and spice mixture and devoured the crust with a big glass of milk.
Well, I certainly won't buy that kind again. Janet said next year I should take the first batch of green tomatoes in the summer and can enough for our two Thanksgiving pies. I think that is what I will do.
I'll talk about the yummy pumpkin pies another day and also about my reasons for having only two kinds of pie on Thanksgiving Day.
There are many wonderful kinds of pie we all like and we have pie on various occasions. But the pie for Thanksgiving remains - pumpkin and mincemeat.
That's all for tonight. I am going off to bed.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving
Today is Thursday, November 27, 2008. It is cloudy outside and looks like it might rain. Glen has gone off to take pictures of the Turkey Bowl Football game for Northridge Ward and I have our turkey in the oven.
There are so many things to be thankful for today. And every day. My list could fill pages. I got to thinking about past Thanksgiving days. I am trying to remember when I first ate turkey.
Growing up, Mother cooked mainly hamburger and chicken. That was all the meat we could afford. And we were both perfectly content. Some Sundays Myrtle Workman would invite us for dinner after Church. I loved it because she always had a pot roast. There was just the three of us, Mom, Myrtle, and me. And she would let me pick at that roast all afternoon. Lovely pieces of beef with a little sprinkle of salt.
When I was in Junior High I ate in the cafeteria. It was in the basement of the Memorial Building across the street from the school. If I had turkey then on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it would have been in chunks in the gravy over mashed potatoes. (We always went to school the week of Thanksgiving. Thursday and Friday were our holiday.)
I've been trying to remember when I cooked my first turkey. I don't remember it. I do remember trying various cooking methods - the aluminum foil tent, in the bag, inside a brown paper bag. It was in Milford, Utah, where I learned to cook it the easiest way. One of the sisters in our Ward had a roasting pan she cooked her turkey in. It was the juciest, tenderest turkey I had ever tasted. She told me she had that pan for years. I looked all over for a pan like it but never could find one. One year she gave me hers. She was downsizing everything and had found a smaller roaster. I was the happiest gal in town.
I used that roaster for years and years and about fell apart when I discovered two tiny holes in the bottom. We soldered over the holes and I used it for a few years more. Then there was no repairing it. I was so excited when I found the very same roaster for sale in Sears. I snatched it right up. That roaster is about 12 years old now. And I see the same kind offered for sale every once in awhile. (I probably should buy one now, come to think of it, in case they disappear again.)
This year our diners will be few compared to some years. While we lived in Bakersfield we invited people who were not getting together with family. Some years we had 36 or even more. (I was much younger and more energetic.) Of course, there were 12 of us to begin with. Glen and I and our nine children and my mother. There were certain friends who usually shared Thanksgiving dinner with us. We had the largest house and hosted those big get togethers. Good memories of good friends and good food.
We had a tradition of putting 5 kernels of popcorn on each plate. I had read somewhere that the first Thanksgiving dinner the pilgrims had been able to harvest just a little extra corn. After the blessing we took turns around the table using our kernels to share 5 things we were thankful for. And it couldn't be a repeat of what someone else had said.
This year there will be 14 of us around the table laden with all kinds of good food. And we will all be very thankful for all kinds of blessings. The lemons hanging over our fence from the house next door. The view of the sky (usually very blue) out our kitchen window. The big pink roses in our yard. This wonderful country of America. Eachof our dear children (that includes the ones who've married into the family) and our grandchildren. The list is endless.
Traditional foods for our family include turkey; Mom's dressing made from dried homemade bread, onions, celery and sage; mashed potatoes and gravy; pumpkin pie with real whipped cream; mincemeat pie; and fruit salad. The fruit salad is a must. It is Glen's favorite for Thanksgiving. The sauce is made with a mixture of homemade orange hard sauce and freshly whipped cream. YUM! There are other dishes, too, but these are the favored ones.
There will be hot rolls and Tami's special green beans, cranberry sauce and a relish tray (lots of olives for the grandchildren), sweet potatoes and maybe Linda's special carrots. We won't be hungry that's for sure.
I am so grateful to live at this time in this wonderful country of America. One Thanksgiving time we were in India. An Indian resturant offered An American Thanksgiving Dinner as a special treat for Americans living in India. A large group of us made reservations. It was a memorable Thanksgiving dinner. Bless their hearts, they did their best, but it was not quite like "An American Thanksgiving at the Wahlquist's Home."
That's all for today.
There are so many things to be thankful for today. And every day. My list could fill pages. I got to thinking about past Thanksgiving days. I am trying to remember when I first ate turkey.
Growing up, Mother cooked mainly hamburger and chicken. That was all the meat we could afford. And we were both perfectly content. Some Sundays Myrtle Workman would invite us for dinner after Church. I loved it because she always had a pot roast. There was just the three of us, Mom, Myrtle, and me. And she would let me pick at that roast all afternoon. Lovely pieces of beef with a little sprinkle of salt.
When I was in Junior High I ate in the cafeteria. It was in the basement of the Memorial Building across the street from the school. If I had turkey then on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it would have been in chunks in the gravy over mashed potatoes. (We always went to school the week of Thanksgiving. Thursday and Friday were our holiday.)
I've been trying to remember when I cooked my first turkey. I don't remember it. I do remember trying various cooking methods - the aluminum foil tent, in the bag, inside a brown paper bag. It was in Milford, Utah, where I learned to cook it the easiest way. One of the sisters in our Ward had a roasting pan she cooked her turkey in. It was the juciest, tenderest turkey I had ever tasted. She told me she had that pan for years. I looked all over for a pan like it but never could find one. One year she gave me hers. She was downsizing everything and had found a smaller roaster. I was the happiest gal in town.
I used that roaster for years and years and about fell apart when I discovered two tiny holes in the bottom. We soldered over the holes and I used it for a few years more. Then there was no repairing it. I was so excited when I found the very same roaster for sale in Sears. I snatched it right up. That roaster is about 12 years old now. And I see the same kind offered for sale every once in awhile. (I probably should buy one now, come to think of it, in case they disappear again.)
This year our diners will be few compared to some years. While we lived in Bakersfield we invited people who were not getting together with family. Some years we had 36 or even more. (I was much younger and more energetic.) Of course, there were 12 of us to begin with. Glen and I and our nine children and my mother. There were certain friends who usually shared Thanksgiving dinner with us. We had the largest house and hosted those big get togethers. Good memories of good friends and good food.
We had a tradition of putting 5 kernels of popcorn on each plate. I had read somewhere that the first Thanksgiving dinner the pilgrims had been able to harvest just a little extra corn. After the blessing we took turns around the table using our kernels to share 5 things we were thankful for. And it couldn't be a repeat of what someone else had said.
This year there will be 14 of us around the table laden with all kinds of good food. And we will all be very thankful for all kinds of blessings. The lemons hanging over our fence from the house next door. The view of the sky (usually very blue) out our kitchen window. The big pink roses in our yard. This wonderful country of America. Eachof our dear children (that includes the ones who've married into the family) and our grandchildren. The list is endless.
Traditional foods for our family include turkey; Mom's dressing made from dried homemade bread, onions, celery and sage; mashed potatoes and gravy; pumpkin pie with real whipped cream; mincemeat pie; and fruit salad. The fruit salad is a must. It is Glen's favorite for Thanksgiving. The sauce is made with a mixture of homemade orange hard sauce and freshly whipped cream. YUM! There are other dishes, too, but these are the favored ones.
There will be hot rolls and Tami's special green beans, cranberry sauce and a relish tray (lots of olives for the grandchildren), sweet potatoes and maybe Linda's special carrots. We won't be hungry that's for sure.
I am so grateful to live at this time in this wonderful country of America. One Thanksgiving time we were in India. An Indian resturant offered An American Thanksgiving Dinner as a special treat for Americans living in India. A large group of us made reservations. It was a memorable Thanksgiving dinner. Bless their hearts, they did their best, but it was not quite like "An American Thanksgiving at the Wahlquist's Home."
That's all for today.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Family and Friends
Today is Friday, November 7, 2008. It is sunny and warm. Last week we had a couple of rainy days but not today.
The days since I last wrote have been so full - of all kinds of things. And plenty to write about. I think I will first write about our Anniversary Party. On October 15 Glen and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary! My oh my! We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1958. Fifty years sounds like such a long time. I guess it really is. We've had wonderful times together.
To celebrate, our children planned a party, invited friends and family from all over the place, and planned the food. "Do you want a program, Mother?" they asked me. And then in the next breath, "Please don't want a program." Well, I didn't want a program. I wanted visiting and photos. "Do we have to dress some special way?" Before I could answer that one Glen said "Let them wear what they want. They will going to a party at the Church." OK, we didn't coordinate clothes for the photographs.
I asked if our nine children would sing one song for me. "As long as it is not 'The Ugly Bug Ball,'" was the answer to that question. (That song is from the movie, "Summer Magic" and they were so cute when they sang it as young children.) I wanted them to sing "Love Is Spoken Here."
We had all our children and most of our grandchildren at the party. We were missing one son's wife and three of his sons. Two sons are on missions and the other one had a football game he could not miss. (It would have meant his being kicked off the football team and we didn't want him to hold that against us for the rest of his life.) We also missed two of our grandchildren by marriage. But 17 boys and girls were there to have their picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa. Taking pictures can be such a production with that many people.
And most of the Wahlquist Aunts and Uncles came. That was a very special treat for all of us. They came from all directions - Utah; Idaho; Washington,D.C; and Maryland by way of Idaho. And many friends we had not seen for ages.
Family and friends are the best part of life. If one ever needs a cheering section or a fan club, that is usually where you can find one. Our family is especially knit close together. We recognize that not everyone can say that about their families. Oh, not that we always agree about everything. And not that we don't have our moments of angst. But overall, we love and appreciate each other. We have all learned to push to the side of our brains the unpleasant things and dwell mostly on all the good stuff.
It was a swell party and thanks to all who made it a big success. It will always be a wonderful memory. That's it for today.
The days since I last wrote have been so full - of all kinds of things. And plenty to write about. I think I will first write about our Anniversary Party. On October 15 Glen and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary! My oh my! We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1958. Fifty years sounds like such a long time. I guess it really is. We've had wonderful times together.
To celebrate, our children planned a party, invited friends and family from all over the place, and planned the food. "Do you want a program, Mother?" they asked me. And then in the next breath, "Please don't want a program." Well, I didn't want a program. I wanted visiting and photos. "Do we have to dress some special way?" Before I could answer that one Glen said "Let them wear what they want. They will going to a party at the Church." OK, we didn't coordinate clothes for the photographs.
I asked if our nine children would sing one song for me. "As long as it is not 'The Ugly Bug Ball,'" was the answer to that question. (That song is from the movie, "Summer Magic" and they were so cute when they sang it as young children.) I wanted them to sing "Love Is Spoken Here."
We had all our children and most of our grandchildren at the party. We were missing one son's wife and three of his sons. Two sons are on missions and the other one had a football game he could not miss. (It would have meant his being kicked off the football team and we didn't want him to hold that against us for the rest of his life.) We also missed two of our grandchildren by marriage. But 17 boys and girls were there to have their picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa. Taking pictures can be such a production with that many people.
And most of the Wahlquist Aunts and Uncles came. That was a very special treat for all of us. They came from all directions - Utah; Idaho; Washington,D.C; and Maryland by way of Idaho. And many friends we had not seen for ages.
Family and friends are the best part of life. If one ever needs a cheering section or a fan club, that is usually where you can find one. Our family is especially knit close together. We recognize that not everyone can say that about their families. Oh, not that we always agree about everything. And not that we don't have our moments of angst. But overall, we love and appreciate each other. We have all learned to push to the side of our brains the unpleasant things and dwell mostly on all the good stuff.
It was a swell party and thanks to all who made it a big success. It will always be a wonderful memory. That's it for today.
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