Sugar Cookies with Nutmeg

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!

Giving thanks and making relish

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.