Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Experimenting at the Holidays...or not by Melinda Curtis

I know the holidays are a time of joy and togetherness. In our family, we had 4 of 7 grandchildren
come to Grandma's for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful seeing them all and fantastic seeing Grandma light up and talk to each one.

One thing that Grandma has always loved is experimenting with recipes, especially at the holidays. What she didn't learn (after having 3 kids go off to college) is that those kids return home and want the recipes they're used to. Here were some of the regular dishes they requested:

Turkey breast, cut for sandwiches (they didn't really eat much of it during the actual feast)

Honey baked ham (put a dent in my brother's wallet)

Mashed potatoes made by Mr. Curtis (he has the secret to creamy taters) and his southern gravy

Jello fruit and nut cups (made with less liquid to have the consistency of a cupcake - portable snack!)

StoveTop Stuffing (as opposed to the stuffing sometimes made by Grandma with olives and rice)

Banana Cream Pie (instead of pumpkin)

In the tradition of my mom, I ignored my own advice and experimented with the sweet potatoes and added blueberries, which although looked at with a jaundiced eye by the college returnees, were a hit.

What dishes are a must have at the holidays, even if they aren't exactly traditional?

Melinda Curtis is an award winning, USA Today bestseller.  She writes  sweet and emotional romances, the latest of which is Christmas, Actually from Harlequin Heartwarming. Brenda Novak says: “Season of Change has found a place on my keeper shelf”.  

Join Sweet Romance Reads in December for our annual holiday party on Facebook!

4 comments:

  1. I'm bringing lemon meringue back to our Christmas meal, just to make one son and me happy. If there's any left, we'll share!

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  2. Isn't it funny how we expect the holidays to taste the way we remember, as well as everything else going that way?

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  3. My mom always makes green beans the southern way...boil forever with liquid smoke and either ham hock or ham seasoning. AMAZING! This year she decided to make a new green bean casserole. I wasn't thrilled. And the recipe wasn't great. It used a lot of bread crumbs all over the top so it dried the casserole out. She ended up scarping the bread crumbs off and adding mushroom soup to rehabilitate it some. I'm guessing the real green beans will make an appearance next year. (or possible Christmas).

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