Kindred Footprints: Advent Calendar ~ Holiday Foods

My family's Christmas dinners have always been pretty traditional. I make the exact same meal every Christmas and it's exactly the same as what my Mother always made. As I'm writing this I'm thinking that sounds pretty boring. Maybe I should stir things up a bit? Or I could just look at it that I'm following a tradition. It's Roast Turkey, Gravy, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Cole Slaw and a Vegetable or two. Those I mix up from year to year. Everything is homemade. I think I'll stick with that, no need to mess with perfection.

If I had my choice, dessert would be traditional Plum Pudding, but everyone else here says Yuk, so that's out. I also love Fruit Cake, but again nobody else does so I don't get that either. I usually make them a Lemon Meringue Pie or two.

I start baking cookies and bars about a week before Christmas but never seem to do the same thing. Every year it's always something new. What I really want is my Mom's Mincemeat Bars. She made them every Christmas when I was growing up. The recipe came from her 1961 Betty Crocker cookbook which I inherited, but for some intriguing reason the only page missing from the book is #197. You guessed it, the Mincemeat Bar page. If anyone has this book, please, please send me the recipe! I removed the duct tape that was holding the book together for the sake of the picture ;-)

Thank you to Geneabloggers for hosting this Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories

Update: In less than an hour after posting this I received a message from the lovely Elizabeth at Little Bytes of Life that she has this cookbook (also from her Mother) and will scan page 197 and send to me. How unbelievable is that? So Happy... ;-)

Dear Ancestor

Your tombstone stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marble stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder how you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
~ Author Unknown ~

5 comments:

sladeDecember 2, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Missing page 197? Hmm...

http://www.oldcookbooks.com/product/BCB5747PG/Betty_Crockers_New_Picture_Cook_Book_Cookbook_Binder_Replacement_Pages_19611968.html
Elizabeth O'NealDecember 2, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Wow! I have that exact, same cookbook, which I also inherited from my mother!

I love that book - mostly because it brings back so many memories, but also because it was my mothers. She wasn't the best cook, but this book was special.

I'll scan page 197 and send it to you. :-)
Janet IlesDecember 2, 2009 at 6:52 PM
I have that cook book too. It is well used. It was also my mother's.
GiniDecember 3, 2009 at 12:20 AM
I too have the same Betty Crocker Cookbook! I do have page 197 but I am missing the front and back cover. I have held on to it because my mom gave it to me, it means alot to me even though it's pretty used up! Maybe if we all put ours together we will all have complete books!
CarolDecember 3, 2009 at 9:32 AM
How wonderful to get a scanned page from Elizabeth. If we had smellaputers, you could share while you cook! How bout a photo when you bake them?? Great story! Great response!

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Advent Calendar ~ Holiday Foods

5 comments: