Vicki Prock, Galliard Special Projects
While no one knows exactly how the first Thanksgiving feast was pulled off, it is certain cranberries were on the table. One of the few fruits native to North America, the cranberry was used as food, for dyeing fabrics and very likely were offered at that first community meal we now call Thanksgiving. While the inexperienced might view cranberries only as the gelatin the comes slurping out of a can once a year; where I live in Wisconsin the cranberry is a major crop and bountifully represented in hometown and church basement recipe books. My favorite is still the one my mom has brought to the table for as many years as I can remember
Ingredients:
1 lb. cranberries, cleaned and sorted.
One orange, peeled and cut into small chunks.
“About” ¼ cup sugar.
Directions:
Put cranberries in saucepan and cover with water. Heat to boiling and add orange pieces. Stir cranberries and orange as they slow boil and the cranberries begin to pop open (usually 10-15 minutes). Continue cooking until all cranberries are popped and mixture begins to thicken.
Cranberries are a bitter and sweet fruit so you can add sugar (or sweetener) to your own taste. The added orange in this recipe naturally sweetens the mixture so less sugar is typically needed.
Let ingredients cool and pour into a bowl. (My mom has used the same small cut-glass bowl for so many years I can’t even imagine not seeing it on the table.)
Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
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I learned how to make this recipe from my grandmother Leah (the wife of our Agency president from 1941-1985) and understand it came from Germany originally. We serve this on major holidays and it is the most sought after item on the menu. My father loves this so much that he will have seconds or thirds. It’s really rather ridiculous as we have turkey or ham and all the other fabulous items that go with family meals and yet it is always the wilted lettuce that is a focus.
For as long as I can remember, blue crabs have added an ingredient of fun to our family gatherings. As a child growing up in Florida, one of my fondest memories is of our frequent family outings to New Smyrna Beach (which is north of, and in those days was far nicer than, the more famous Daytona Beach). We would spend the day fishing and crabbing, and cook the day’s fresh catch right there on the beach. I can’t remember the last time we went crabbing, but we still eat lots of crabs.
Recipe
While living as a mother’s helper in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, I was introduced to some incredibly delicious recipes, some of my favorites I saved for my own family someday.
Step 2
I love food. Everything about it. Growing it, harvesting it, preserving it, cooking it…and especially eating it. So it was with great pleasure that I said “Sure! I am happy to offer a recipe for the Galliard Newsletter.” Lisë said, “Perhaps you have a family favorite recipe…or a story that goes along with a favorite food.” Well, yes I do, for so many wonderful foods I could list. But, honestly? At this crazy time of year, all I want is something tasty, good for us, and quick…so I can get back to baking, volunteering, shopping, wrapping, entertaining…you know the drill.
Ingredients and Directions:
My grandmother, Elisabeth Suzanne Linschied (Shifty – as she was known by her friends) was the granddaughter of German and Austrian immigrants. She was a rebel and remained so until her death, two weeks shy of her 102nd birthday. At the age of 30, she was a feisty and determined spinster – destined to live with her ailing father and spend the rest of her days as his caregiver. That was, until a striking young man, 10 years her junior and one-half Apache Indian, came to work on the family farm. She was smitten, he was smitten and a clandestine affair began. They eloped, to the shock and shame of the clan, and gave birth to my mother, Joan, just under a year after. It was the only child they ever had. Sadly, my grandfather, with his russet skin, twinkling blue eyes and prematurely white hair, became ill quite early in their marriage and passed almost 50 years before my grandmother.
Hi, Folks. As many go back to school, I am reminded of making my family’s favorite cookie to tuck into our lunches – Snickerdoodles. Often, I made them with my youngest brother who is 8 years my junior. So when I was in Junior High, his little preschooler hands reveled in being in the dough, rolling the dough balls and then rolling them in cinnamon. And, of course, the powerful scent of baking cinnamon made it hard to wait until they cooled enough to eat and to save some for lunches! This recipe is adapted from my mother’s 1969 Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, which itself is dusted with flour and butter splatters.