Turning to Family Traditions, Again and Again...
Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, which means I’ll be revisiting a lot of family traditions. I spent most of the weekend in Seattle for the Emerald City Writers’ Conference, but I’m up early this morning to prepare a holiday feast.
My family loves the old standbys—turkey with bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. Today it’ll be roast chicken because only four of us are sitting down to dinner. There’ll also be buttered carrots, brussels sprouts and, of course, pumpkin pie for dessert.
One of my favorite side dishes is baked squash, a recipe I modified from my Grandmother McKenzie’s old cook book—the
Modern Priscilla Cook Book—which has been passed down to me. The cover is quite shabby and the copyright page is missing, but I believe it was published in the 1920s.
I’ll start with the original ingredients for the original recipe.
Squash au Gratin
2 cups mashed squash
2 tablespoons melted butter
salt, pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup grated cheese
buttered crumbs
Yes, this cook book uses a lot of butter. And the recipe says that if the squash is very dry, “a little cream may be added.”
I substitute a little olive oil for some of the melted butter, add a sprinkling of nutmeg for flavor, and replace the buttered crumbs with chopped cashews. But the egg and squash combination still create the original souffle-like texture that made this side dish so appealing.
Squash qu Gratin (Lee's version)
2 cups cooked, mashed squash (butternut is my favorite)
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
a generous grating of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
finely chopped cashews
Here are my instructions, modified from the original, as you can tell by my use of a microwave!
Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place the two halves cut side down in a shallow, microwaveable dish. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the dish and microwave on High. Cooking time will vary, depending on the type of microwave you have. You can also bake the squash in the oven for half an hour or so.
Let the squash cool, scoop the pulp into a bowl, and mash it. Stir in the olive oil, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Add the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly. Put this mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle the top with the chopped cashews. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Serves 6.
Either version is very tasty. I hope you enjoy it!
Until next time,
Lee
Labels: family, holiday recipes, Thanksgiving, traditions
Daughters
We've been talking this month about girl friends or sisters. I grew up in a family with three brothers, so I haven't had much experience with sisters. Now I have two grown daughters, and I am thankful to count them as my friends. Having daughters for friends is a blessing.
Although daughters are not quite the same as sisters, we can still do some of the same things that sisters do. We like to go to chick flicks together and shopping even though my shopping style is a little slower paced than theirs. We share advice and recipes. I get fashion advice from them that hopefully keeps me young, although I still like my comfy sandals that they consider "old lady shoes." We laugh, play games and exercise together. One of my favorite things is taking a walk on the beach with them or sitting on beach chairs with our feet in the water.
I just wish they didn't live so far away.
What kinds of things do you like to share with your daughters?
Merrillee
Labels: family, friends, mothers and daughters, sisters
My Grandmother
Today would be my grandmother’s 97th birthday. We lost her nearly five years ago and not a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of her.
For one thing, she was a teacher. I have her stapler and her picture in my classroom.
For another, she loved to read. We loved to talk books, especially Nora Roberts and Mary Higgins Clark. Not long before she died, we discovered a series by Anne George about two senior citizen sisters who solved mysteries. We LOVED those books. Gigi (my grandmother) called them the “sister” books. She loved how the two women would call each other “Sister,” as Gigi’s siblings called her, and she loved the idea of the Vulcan statue in Birmingham, with its bare butt. I never did find a good picture of him.
We both love TV. I know she would get a kick out of CASTLE. Probably BONES, too.
We both have a sweet tooth. The last few years, Gigi would stay at my house during the week and go pick up my son and brother from school. Every morning, I’d make muffins or cinnamon rolls and coffee. We’d always have candy and Coke in the house because that was her lunch (hey, she lived to 92, don’t knock it!) Every year for Lent, she would give up candy, which was hard for her because she LOVED Easter candy, especially Peeps!
Another thing I miss is that she loved trying new things, either products at the grocery store or a new restaurant. Every time I try something “just to see what it’s like,” I think of her.
She loved the change of seasons, especially fall and spring. So cool fronts and pretty days make me think of her.
That’s a legacy to leave behind, isn’t it? To have so much joy in simple things that simple things remind people of you after you’re gone?
Labels: family, MJ Fredrick
One of my favorite side dishes is baked squash, a recipe I modified from my Grandmother McKenzie’s old cook book—the Modern Priscilla Cook Book—which has been passed down to me. The cover is quite shabby and the copyright page is missing, but I believe it was published in the 1920s.
I’ll start with the original ingredients for the original recipe.
