I live in an area of the country that thinks nothing of the holiday season showing up on the coat tails of Thanksgiving, and I'm talking even before the turkey can be put away. Lights are strung outside on porches and Christmas trees find their way into the designated space of a living room even before the mums and pumpkins have been removed from sight. Merchants have been taking advantage of that moment in time for years, and it seems to be getting earlier and earlier every decade. I actually saw the holiday merchandise coming out with the ghosts and goblins this year! When I was young, glimpses of holiday decor in private homes usually didn't make their way on the scene until somewhere around the third week of December. In my house that was still considered early! It seemed like everything Christmas was put off by my parents until the last possible minute. There was no indication of a holiday inside our home until the eve of Christmas eve. For us, going out to buy a Christmas tree was not a wholesome family activity either. My father would go out later in the day on Christmas eve and come back with whatever tree he could find - always the very last of slim pickins. I felt like our house was the designated second home of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree! Every year many a tear was shed in a remote area of the house to prevent my parents from seeing my extreme disappointment. If I had grown up in Lancaster County, there would have been a good chance that I would not have had to go through such disappointment. There are many places to buy both pre-cut and fresh trees here in the county. In the case of the latter, if you are one of the "lucky" kids in the world, you can go out with your family in a horse drawn wagon to tag and cut down a live tree that you choose yourself. This was never a Christmas experience for me but even so, somehow every year by the time our "needle bare twigs" were dressed with lights, tinsel, and a gleaming star on top, I thought it was the most beautiful tree in the whole world!
How did I become such a fan of the Christmas holiday when I had such a deprived "pre holiday" childhood??... you ask. It may have been deprived right up to the very last moment, but after that it hit with a furry! After setting up our tree, we would have dinner and, while watching a Christmas show of some sort (probably an Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas special), the sound of our doorbell would suddenly pierce the air. My paternal grandparents and various friends of the family would be welcomed in for a holiday celebration. There was an array of food and drink that was only known to us at the holiday season. Happiness, laughter, and lots of eating took place in all rooms on the first level of our home. What made this time of social gathering extra special for me was the fact that there was never that many people around at any other time of the year. A dish of mixed nuts, still in their shells and requiring a nut cracker, sat on the kitchen table. Various cheeses and slices of summer sausages graced the end tables in the living room. A Whitman's Sampler was perched precariously on the ledge of the dinning room hutch. And eggnog...glorious eggnog, was served by the pitcher to one and all. Sometimes I would take a few sips of a glass mixed up by my grandfather and intended for an adult. It had a very strong, yet delicious flavor, but I would go back to my special mug and be happy with that, as he kindly topped my child's version with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg (talk about a mega dose of cholesterol)!
The party would continue for about an hour or so and then it would be time to put out the milk and cookies for Santa. After many goodnight kisses and good will wishes, my mother would gather her three children and take us upstairs. Before our baths we would find a brand new set of Christmas pajamas laid out on each of our beds. That was the highlight of the night for me! Sometimes we would even get a new set of sheets!! It would then be time to say our prayers and settle in for the longest night of the entire year. The seasonal candles placed in the windows, again at the very last minute, cast an orangy glow in the bedroom that my sister and I shared. We would sit by the closed door and listen to all the jubilation that was occurring just a few feet down the hallway and a short flight of stairs from our room. Besides the light and the noise, the atmosphere in general was not conducive for sleeping. As time went by, we would swear that we heard the prancing and pawing of each little hoof on the rooftop above. Then what seemed like the endless rustle of paper sounded as my mother brought out all the bags of gifts that she had been hiding in the shower stall of the master bath for weeks. We always knew the shower was her hiding place but I, myself, never peeked as I learned early in life that being surprised was the most exciting part of a gift. It's funny but I never questioned where those gifts went the next morning, as the majority of what we received under the tree was from Santa. Because I didn't look, I never noticed that the wrapping paper on my mother's gifts was the same exact paper that Santa used!
Despite the fact that Mr. Sandman was not kind to me on Christmas eve, and that once I was resigned to my room for the night and left with nothing more than an extremely vivid imagination, those annual evenings hold many fond memories for me - the best being the gathering of family and friends intermixed with the special holiday foods that have stayed with me throughout the years. In memory of holiday parties and new pjs I thought I would share with you a few appetizers that I love to make. They would have been the perfect thing for our Christmas eve parties in the past. They are extremely easy to prepare and I always get compliments when I serve them. This Christmas eve somewhere between our "hellos" and the original version of "Home Alone" (a Christmas eve tradition started in our family when the kids were younger), they will be served and consumed with happiness and visions of promises to come. Later, the Sandman and Santa will work their magic on the eve of a very special morning!
MUSHROOMS STUFFED WITH BLEU CHEESE
8 ounce container of Crimini mushrooms(makes approx 16 servings), or larger depending on how many guests you'll be having. I usually make 32-64 servings at a time.
4oz container of crumbled bleu cheese (one container would probably be enough for 12 ounces of mushrooms
1/4 stick of butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wash mushrooms carefully, as they are fragile, and remove their stems.
Drain on a paper towel.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place the mushrooms on the cookie sheet evenly spaced.
Fill each mushroom with bleu cheese.
Slice a 1/4 inch of firm butter and cut this into 8 very small cubes. Cut as many cubes as you will need for the amount of mushrooms you are making. Place a cube of butter on top of each mushroom.
Place cookie sheet in the oven for approximately 5-7 minutes until the cheese begins to melt.
Turn off and let the mushrooms sit in oven for another 2-3 minutes.
Garnish with some dried parsley and serve immediately.
SHRIMP DIP
8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
2 Tbsp minced onion
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp horseradish
1 can (4 1/2 ounce) tiny shrimp, drained
Mix all ingredients, except the shrimp.
Fold in shrimp carefully.
Chill, garnish, and serve with crackers.
If desired, chill in refrigerator for 24 hours and then shape into a ball and roll in chopped nuts, or put in a mold.
HOLIDAY PUNCH
2 small packages of cherry Kool-Aid
2 small packages of raspberry Kool-Aid
6 ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate
6 ounce can frozen orange concentrate
3 cups sugar
4 quarts water
1 quart gingerale
Garnish with sliced oranges or an ice ring.
Makes approximately 1 1/2 gallons.
ICE RING
Boil more than enough water for your mold and cool for a clear ice ring. Pour a small amount of water into a ring mold and freeze. Place various pieces of fruit ( ie: grapes, sliced oranges or limes, etc.) on the ice and freeze. Add more of the cooled water, a little at a time, so the fruit will not float or move in the ring, and freeze again. May make several "layers" as desired to fit within the mold. After the last freezing, remove ice ring from mold and place in the empty punch bowl. Slowly add punch to the bowl to prevent splashing and your mold will float nicely in the punch for serving.
Keep the size of the mold to 6 cups or less - any larger and the punch may become diluted.
Another version is to fill a ring mold half full with Sprite. Fill within one inch with water. Add orange slices, lemon slices, and or cherries. Freeze hard. Turn out onto tin foil; wrap and store in freezer until ready to use.
No comments:
Post a Comment