Giving thanks to the past and the present

This Thanksgiving was full of a lot of firsts, so many, that we had to take a day to revisit the past.  Today, we made my mother’s Thanksgiving meal – three days after.  True to her recipe, the turkey was not brined, it was not stuffed with anything fancy but it was patted with a lot of butter, salt and pepper.  We made her rolls and I taught the kids to form the rolls into little balls with smooth sides – pinch, tuck and twist, pinch, tuck and twist.

Almost like Mom’s rolls recipe

We made her green bean casserole with the cream of celery soup instead of the cream of mushroom that’s on the can of french onions. Finally, we made her mashed potatoes with milk, salt, and butter.  None of these recipes were fancy but they were what she used to make and it was great.  Did I mention the gravy? I’ll admit that I had to look up some tips to make a proper gravy because my memory had failed me the year before and I had not been able to recreate her gravy from the pan drippings.  Thankfully, I was able to refresh my memory by using an existing online recipe.  I was reminded to pour out the pan drippings, reintroduce the fat, make a roux and then add the rest of the juice and broth.

GRAVY RECIPE

Then, the menu veered from the classic and nostalgic.

One of the bigger benefits of being so involved with the school is meeting great people and learning from them.  While volunteering at the school on the days the parents brought Thanksgiving to our teachers, I was exposed to two great new recipes – curried fruit and cornmeal stuffing with oysters. I had never had either and I decided I could veer from the classic menu to jazz the plate up a bit.  After all, we had several years where the cranberry was out of a can and I have to admit that the bread stuffing always left a bit to be desired.   Here are the two recipes I used

CURRIED FRUIT with no nuts

SOUTHERN CORNMEAL OYSTER STUFFING

We finished off the meal with apple and pecan pies with the obligatory scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I miss you Mom!