Dear Newbies, Some of my children put together and gave me a document scanner for Christmas. I hope some of you can tell me cleaver ways to use my new toy. (I'm still trying to master the camera they gave me last year!) A most blessed, healthy New Year to one and all. Mary McCanney Finley
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 didnt 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
Awesome gift! A most Blessed & Healthy New Year to you, too, Mary!! ((HUGS)) On Mon, Dec 26, 2011 at 7:21 AM, Mary Finley <marmfin@verizon.net> wrote: > Dear Newbies, > Some of my children put together and gave me a document scanner for > Christmas. > I hope some of you can tell me cleaver ways to use my new toy. (I'm still > trying to master the camera they gave me last year!) > A most blessed, healthy New Year to one and all. > Mary McCanney Finley > > ******************** > > 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 > -- ----- Kathleen Bowen Simons Falls Church, Virginia "I don't really care that they label me a Jesus freak - there ain't no disguising the truth." Newsboys, Jesus Freak <http://www.myspace.com/roderickcsimons>