On Family Recipes

I said sometime recently that I bought the makings for "Thanksgiving" because that's what Hubby Guy was hungry for.

When I was growing up Thanksgivings and Christmases were generally "peacetime" in our complicated family. We all packed ourselves into my grandparent's teeny-tiny house in Meridian, MS. My grandmother cooked for days and fed an army of people. Those holidays are the bright spots in my memories.

As with anyone, I believe MY grandmother was the best cook on the planet. My mouth still waters thinking about holidays at her house. Unfortunately she is almost 93 and doesn't know who she is anymore. Moreover, she was the type of cook that went from memory and never wrote anything down. This has proven problematic. My mother can do a pretty decent imitation of some of the things. She, unfortunately, cooks the way my grandmother did... from memory. The problem with that system is that she never remembers exactly how much of anything goes into the recipe.

A few years ago my mother was visiting us in VA. I decided she should make "Thanksgiving" so I could watch and write down what she did. You should see what I wrote down. I should scan it so you can laugh. It's not even a recipe. It has random stuff and random amounts and reads like a really broken flow chart.

Well.... I studied the broken flow chart and figured out what exactly it was that I should buy to make an honest effort at the "best" part of said meal - the "dressing" as we call it in our family. I've never eaten anything like it anywhere else. Instead of the typical "over-saged" stuffing people try to pass off as edible, it's a light bread based side that's really yummy.

My brother, "Uncle Todd", was coming for the day on Saturday so I decided to make "Thanksgiving" that day. Uncle Todd knows what the meal should taste like and I knew he would tell me the truth.

I am still tickled and pleased to report that I nailed it. He was impressed. We all ate ourselves sick in the typical family "Thanksgiving" style. It was awesome.

I don't consider myself a "good cook". I can pull off a couple of dishes really well but I'm not all that handy in the kitchen. I'm just so happy that the good stuff has been preserved. I'm gonna actually write out a recipe. My oldest asked if one day I would teach her so she could pass it on. My heart swelled. I'm glad our family favorites won't be gone forever.