For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving was my & my grandma’s holiday. Our combined love of food and family made this the perfect excuse for us to spend days in the kitchen together preparing for the big day. Even when I relocated to the bay area, we would exchange emails and shopping lists so we wouldn’t have to stop once we got started.
We’d send all the men off to the golf course and the ladies would find our happy place in the kitchen. My Mum was in charge of finding the perfect chick flick for us to listen to as we sliced and diced the day away. So many happy hours, so many happy memories. The day after we would de-brief, making notes, adjusting quantities, etc. However, we always had way too much food and the old standby’s were always on the menu.
My grandma was a different type of cook than I am. Her recipe collection was filled with newspaper clippings and the scalloped cardboard labels from the CoolWhip tub. Now that she is gone (sniff, sniff) I try to recreate these Hall family classics year after year. I get frustrated that most of the recipes, although in her distinctive handwriting which I cherish, are written completely incorrectly. Ingredients referenced in the method section that were never listed in the ingredients (which are never listed in order!) One in particular is for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. Honestly, I don’t care for it, but I wouldn’t dream of not having it as an option for the after dinner viewing of Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving. My family may never show up again if there wasn’t PCP! So, my grandma’s recipe says 1/2 a tub of coolwhip (no size indicated), 2 packages of vanilla pudding (no size or type indicated – is it instant or slow cook? family size or mini?) So, I decided to search on line for it. You would not believe how many recipes there are for this title, but none of them are THE one. Which leads me to write this post and say to you all that I miss my grandma! I miss the way she just knew how to make the things that define my childhood and now my heart is aching that I cannot recreate it.
This year, the table will boast sweet potato casserole with coconut, brown sugar and pecans, corn pudding, and of course, pumpkin chiffon pie; all just the way she would make them. And for the first year since 2005, my grandpa will be joining my grandma for Thanksgiving. Now, I miss them both.
We’d send all the men off to the golf course and the ladies would find our happy place in the kitchen. My Mum was in charge of finding the perfect chick flick for us to listen to as we sliced and diced the day away. So many happy hours, so many happy memories. The day after we would de-brief, making notes, adjusting quantities, etc. However, we always had way too much food and the old standby’s were always on the menu.
My grandma was a different type of cook than I am. Her recipe collection was filled with newspaper clippings and the scalloped cardboard labels from the CoolWhip tub. Now that she is gone (sniff, sniff) I try to recreate these Hall family classics year after year. I get frustrated that most of the recipes, although in her distinctive handwriting which I cherish, are written completely incorrectly. Ingredients referenced in the method section that were never listed in the ingredients (which are never listed in order!) One in particular is for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. Honestly, I don’t care for it, but I wouldn’t dream of not having it as an option for the after dinner viewing of Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving. My family may never show up again if there wasn’t PCP! So, my grandma’s recipe says 1/2 a tub of coolwhip (no size indicated), 2 packages of vanilla pudding (no size or type indicated – is it instant or slow cook? family size or mini?) So, I decided to search on line for it. You would not believe how many recipes there are for this title, but none of them are THE one. Which leads me to write this post and say to you all that I miss my grandma! I miss the way she just knew how to make the things that define my childhood and now my heart is aching that I cannot recreate it.
This year, the table will boast sweet potato casserole with coconut, brown sugar and pecans, corn pudding, and of course, pumpkin chiffon pie; all just the way she would make them. And for the first year since 2005, my grandpa will be joining my grandma for Thanksgiving. Now, I miss them both.
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