This is one of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving. When I was young, about 4-5 families (including Oh Judy's) would all gather up at our friends the Stevensons in Omaha. We all brought our assigned food and drove up to their huge house to hang out for the day. And holy cow, the FOOD!! I remember Oh Judy's mom's rolls, and our friend Cimony's mom's homemade pies. (We always managed to snitch some LONG before dinner). The best part was we were always together about 2 hours before dinner so we would run around, play games, play on their piano, listen to the christmas music, and SNACK. My mom was always in charge of the relish tray. Now this is no ordinary, store-bought relish tray. It's the real deal. She definitely always made 2, because certainly one was gone before dinner even was served. I've tried the last few years to make one, and make things feel like home, but I know I still can't live up to hers. I try. Here's a sampling of what you get on Jill's famous relish tray.
carrots
celery
cumcumbers
broccoli
cauliflower
olives (black and green) --I'm not a fan of the green except on pizza, so it's just black for me.
marinated artichoke hearts
baby corn
dill pickle spears (Matt likes the baby dills because they are more crunchy)
sweet pickles (These have to stay in the jar, lest they be mixed up with the dills. ..ewh. . .and I really can't be a MAR and like sweet pickles. . .so it's just for Matt's aunt that actually likes them)
Not only all this but it is carefully displayed and balanced and there is certainly an order when creating such a masterpiece. Fresh greens on the tray then carrots and celery round about. Broccoli, and cauliflower toward the center. Pickles carefully laid to rest amongst the carrots/celery (some snuck underneath for a surprise find). Cucumbers and olives delicately nudged in with the broccoli and cauliflower. Just enough artichoke hearts and baby corn to those that are smart enough to grab them. And pearched in the middle is a fantastic crystal bowl containing the best Hidden Valley Ranch dip known to man!!!
***DANG it! I gotta go, I nearly burnt my first set of rolls because I was blogging!!!!! (Poor rolls, death by blogging. . .I guess I better eat all of those right now!!) Happy Thanksgiving.
7 comments:
I miss you so much on this day!!! I was just telling Topher about all our lip sync's --like to Billy Joel's "The Longest Time." Remember that beauty?! And don't forget all the soda we could drink on that day! (I mean POP, sorry, I've been living in Utah for 14 1/2 years now. . . ) And some great, awesome 80's movie. . . (and remember the Stevenson's extra special bathroom :0)?! ) Have a great day! I will be thinking of you and Cim so much!
You said that your mom's veggie tray was a good one but OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!! That thing weighs as much as all my kids put together......
I can just picture small Lisa and Wendy lipsynching and teasing Gina... good times.......
Happy Thanksgiving
Makes me feel like you are with me this year. You have learned well. No cherry tomatoes?
We saw your updated blog while we were making our own relish tray. Heidi has made the rolls. Sterling is preparing the potatoes. I just enjoyed the yummy heart and liver we've been boiling all morning.
-Mom
Heart and Liver? I didn't know you could do something with those.
Happy Thanksgiving!
LVC, we went to a movie today and I was thinking about how we would always pitch a fit when we were too young to go with the older kids. . .I totally remember seeing Back to the Future II up there!!
Mom, cherry tomatoes?? How did I forget that? And where would I put them?
Hollie--oh yes, that was my mom's favorite. Luckily for her, there was no one else fighting for them.
Mmmm liver.
Wendy,
I remember the great relish tray from a few baby showers! It is truly super yummy and much better than the store bought ones (although a ton of work, for sure)! Happy Holidays!
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