skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The love of my life and I, together with Perle the Cat, will travel next week to our home across the state to be with family for Thanksgiving. Today I am making lists of what I want to remember to pack, turning my mind not only to feast preparation but also the coming Advent and Christmas season. The day after Thanksgiving is a day when the three sisters hang out doing girl-things, and our men (including Dad) do something manly together. At the end of the day we all gather for a simple meal, and to play some games (maybe Quiddler!)
I have pulled out my granny's cookie cutters and will stash them in my tote, just in case I can convince my sisters we should begin holiday baking that Friday. It is an unlikely long shot. I can already hear them. "We just had Thanksgiving! Don't rush it, already." Still, I'm going for safe rather than sorry. They take up very little room and using Granny's cookie cutters is all part of the magic of holiday baking for me. One of her tips for the best sugar cookies in the world is to add a pinch of nutmeg to the dough, and be generous with the flour when you roll them out. That makes for a cookie that is perfect for dunking in a cup of tea!
Thanksgiving is just a week away and with it, my mind turns to the traditions and rituals of the years past. Homemade cranberry relish was an event in my childhood kitchen. There was a little black child's chair that was set on a mat of newspapers in the middle of the kitchen floor. The television was brought from the living room on its rolling cart, and lined up opposite the chair work station, tuned to the annual broadcast of "The Sound of Music." Mommy clamped a cast aluminum food grinder that had followed her from her childhood home to the front edge of the chair. A large baking dish was placed beneath to catch all the fragrant offerings that poured forth under the labor of the three daughters. Mom stood at the counter sending us a steady supply of oranges, pineapple, cranberries and walnuts that we alternately ran through the grinder. As we filled the baking dish, she scraped it into her large kettle where the magic happened and ground fruits became a fragrant holiday treat. We sang along with the music, and by the time the show ended we had made enough cranberry relish to see our family through the holiday season.
Tomorrow, we pick up our turkey from an organic farmer up the road a piece and with that drive, mark the beginning of holiday meal preparation. Many of Mom's favorite serving pieces are on the shelves in my kitchen, and I feel so close to her as I go about preparing for these special meals and holiday entertaining. She loved us all deeply and she shared her love of family and holiday, nurturing that love through recipes and techniques taught, meals shared and hospitality extended. This year I will again offer a prayer of thanksgiving for my wonderful family, and having been blessed with a mom like no other, deeply missed.
Mid-autumn found my family in a lodge tucked in the woods, on the side of Winslow Hill in Benezette, PA. It has become a family tradition to travel back to the place my forebears settled back in the 1830's each fall to see how it's changing, and view the revived Elk herd.
Growing up, my sisters and I spent many a night in the cabin our Grandad built just up a piece from a curve known as the 'Devil's Elbow." Inside a one room log cabin, we slept on straw tick mattresses on double-sized bunk beds built of timbers felled on the property. We dipped our water from the creek that cut through the woods, and had a crock with the lid held down with a rock buried in the same creek for a cooler. A couple of summers in the 1960's my uncle, Dad's older brother, took his 2 and Dad's 3 girls to the camp for a week. What a brave man. We cooked on the campfire, played Monopoly and Racko, sang silly songs and most importantly - we laughed. He taught the 3 youngest (I was the baby) how to go to sleep; get in bed, close your eyes, keep your mouth shut and don't move for 5 minutes. Anyone still awake after 5 minutes was allowed to get up and play games with him and 'the big girls.' Not one of us ever got out of bed before morning light.
This year, my aunt and uncle joined us for the annual trip, and we had a terrific time. We explored Winslow Hill, took lots of photos of the homes and farms of the people who came before us, shared stories and memories. Dad is in his 80's and his health isn't terrific, so each time we can travel back it is a true gift. We saw more wildlife than ever - flocks of turkeys, an owl, hawks, deer, and elk. The fellow you see in the photo walked across the road in front of our vehicle taking his good old time as though he owned the place, which of course, he does!
A trip to Benezette and the Elk Visitor Center is not to be missed. Here's a link:
http://elkcountryvisitorcenter.com
The scenic beauty inspires my art, which you can view at http://www.etsy.com/shop/composegrace
