What A Wonderful Trip-and great memories. Traveling with food to a family get together is always a challenge. You sure got a handle on it. Happy Happy Holidays. Carol NJ On Mon, Dec 26, 2011 at 8:43 AM, Kith-n-Kin <Kith-n-Kin@cox.net> wrote: > Holiday time. I usually don't have things like recipes to share, but this > time I do! Enjoy. > > Well, yesterday we drove 60 miles to some calabash relatives (our daughter's > husband's parents) for Christmas dinner, and had an interesting time of > making and transporting various dishes. > > So, at 68, I learned some new things, or made them up, along the way. > > I was making much more of my "famous" Waldorf/cranberry/nut salad than > usual, and for "people of unknown food habits/intolerances" so I did two > things. > > First, I made the dressing (cup of mayo, 1/4 cup each sugar and lemon juice, > 1/4 teaspoon of salt) in a big bowl. > > Then, I chopped the celery and put it in a different container (2 C celery). > Finally, I chopped 6 crisp apples (Braeburn, I think), and put each apple > right into the dressing and stirred it around to coat each piece, then added > the cranberries (about a cup) and the celery. This order of things meant > that the apples didn't turn brown, and I didn't have to drop them in lemon > water while I did the rest of the operation.  Finally, I chopped the walnuts > (sometimes I use pecans for this part, but I was making pecan tarts, so > didn't want to overdo that), and put them in a separate bowl, so people > could use them for garnish. Good thing. There were two 88 year-olds who > loved the Waldorf, but couldn't eat the walnuts. > > Then, what about the dressing and gravy.  First, because I didn't have > access to the turkey (which was going to be deep fried), and therefore no > giblets, I had to have a plan B.  That consisted of buying a few turkey > thighs and legs as soon as the fresh turkeys arrived in the store.  Then, I > simmered them for hours (this began about Thursday), separated the > broth/stock, and refrigerated the lot. On Friday, I picked the meat off the > bones, minced it and returned it to the fridge. I then simmered the bones, > skin, and other gristle for another few hours for more stock. > > Saturday morning, reduced the stock by almost half, added a quart of > vegetable stock, made a roux (butter and unbleached flour) and from there > made three quarts of wonderful gravy, reserving a quart for the dressing. > > The dressing consisted of 2/3 cubed stuffing bread (Mrs. Cubbison's) and 1/3 > dried cornbread (I used some cornbread that had sugar, won't do that again, > the dressing was a bit sweet), celery, and sautéed onions. I was making two > batches, one with mushrooms (fresh, soaked in broth for a half-hour before > adding). Because of the length of the trip, I couldn't figure out how to > keep the "cold things cold and hot things hot," so I found out we could bake > the stuffing there. But, even then, the pans were too big for my small cool > chest.  Hmmm. So, I put together the dressing, minus the broth, and put it > in plastic bags for the trip.  That worked great. Only thing -- next time > I'll combine the ingredients IN the bag, instead of in a bowl and then > transferring. Duh, my daughter taught me to do that with tossed salad years > ago, and I "forgot" -- well, ok, didn't make the "information transfer." > > I also made pecan praline tarts, but that's a story for another day. Suffice > to say, they tasted great, but perhaps just a little too done. More like > candy on a cookie. > > All worked well, fifteen adults, 2 little kids, and two babies (who didn't > eat much). Too much food, but a generally relaxing day.  I was able to > interview Grampa (my son-in-law's grandfather) to gain a wealth of > information about the family. I'd done my research, but some things weren't > quite "fitting."  Late in the afternoon, someone mentioned "well, you know, > Grampa and Gramma were cousins."  Fannie of this line was Frances of that > line! WHAT!??? No wonder things didn’t fit, I didn't have four families, I > had three. Now, I can get this down in the database and it'll make sense.. > Just one more example of those little family "things" that are so much a > part of the fabric of the family that no one thinks to mention them. > > We arrived back in Tucson about 9 pm, with cats and dog very happy to see us > and get their Christmas dinners. > > Watched the end of the game, went off to bed, and woke up at five this > morning. What??? I NEVER get up at five unless I have a plane to catch! > > Happy New Year. > > Pat > In Tucson > > > > > > > ******************** > > Gen-Newbie's website: > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~newbie/ > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GEN-NEWBIE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message