Sadly I didn't blog about food during the Thanksgiving and Christmas periods - simply because I was too busy cooking it. Unfortunately the holidays are now one big blur so it is hard to remember exactly what I cooked and how I did it, but I'll try jotting a few things for posterity. Thanksgiving was a blast. I love cooking turkey - what a fantastic bird! This year I decided to search for the holy grail of turkeys - the super juicy, tender kind - by soaking it in a brine marinade the night before, including honey, sugar, allspice berries, oranges, thyme, bay leaves, etc. I had to buy a special plastic box just for the occasion, and my husband patiently helped me put it in the garage as I struggled to carry it when it was filled with the brine and the turkey - although he did sigh a few times, I seem to remember. But so ecstatic was I at the prospect of this exciting process of marinading the whole bird that I think even he may have caught the vision.
The next day I insisted that every child help prepare the dinner, and as they were wandering around the kitchen, I prepared the bird - wrestling it out of the brine, patting it dry, smothering it with butter, etc. I had to do it when they were there - as far as I'm concerned, this is the stuff of life-giving memories, the kind of memories that sustain you when life is disappointing or seems meaningless. 'Remember the year that Mom had to take the turkey out of that brine .....?'
I have a particular memory of Thanksgiving - one among many, but still one that sticks out. I remember my mother setting out breadcrumbs in a big bowl to make the stuffing, and then combining the breadcrumbs with chopped onion and sliced celery. She poured hot stock over the mixture to moisten it. I remember the smell was exquisite. I still don't think I can make stuffing as good as my mother's.
Other memories include my Grandma Hamilton's mustard pickles and baby onions, inhaling my mother's white bread rolls, cranberry sauce out of a can that retained the shape of the can once in the serving dish, my Dad's turkey gravy, getting up early and seeing the pumpkin pies laid out from being prepared the night before, dressing up and using the best dishes, and the first course of jello salad served on a bed of iceberg lettuce!
The turkey was wonderful, by the way.
Next post, Christmas.