traditions - Shelley Beatty

Traditional American Thanksgiving 2015

January 18, 2016 by shelley

Traditional Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

We celebrate what is probably the most traditional American Thanksgiving dinner possible (1950’s style)…the kind every baby boomer remembers.

Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner

The Menu:

Turkey and Dressing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Yams with little toasted marshmallows on top, Green Bean casserole, Jello Salad, Rolls, cranberry sauce and pickles and olives and of course pies! Pies include pumpkin, apple, mince meat and pecan and this year lemon meringue and dixie with ice cream. Our only departure from tradition is no homemade ice cream but Murrays Ice Cream from Westport.

I buy a fresh (not frozen) turkey from the local grocery store. I order it ahead and then pick it up the afternoon before so I don’t have to keep it refrigerated long.

Turkey ready to serve

DRESSING

The dressing recipe is one my mother did (with my own updates until I arrived at one everyone seems to like). I stuff the turkey and make enough to also cook a separate casserole dish full of dressing. I make it the night before and let it refrigerate overnight which seems to help to make it even more flavorful.

dressing

Dressing recipe

Dressing recipe (.doc format) or (Dressing recipe-pdf format)

YAMS with little marshmallows

The yams with little marshmallows on top are the same as what my aunt Lola used to make for Thanksgiving.

Yams with little marshmallows

Yams with little Marshmallows recipe Yams with little Marshmallows recipe (.doc format) and

Yams with little Marshmallows recipe (.pdf format)

GREEN BEAN Casserole

The green bean casserole is right out of the fifties. I think everyone in America served the green bean casserole for Thanksgiving in the fifties…it was so trendy then! I decided to look up the history of the green bean casserole and had to share …so straight from the history channel!

THE ORIGINS OF THE MYSTERIOUS GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Green Bean Casserole

This mixture of canned soup, frozen green beans and fried onions has graced holiday buffets since the 1950s. But who came up with this trinity, and why has it become so famous?

Holiday tables are often divided over these three little words–green bean casserole. This mixture of canned soup, frozen green beans and fried onions has graced holiday buffets since the 1950s. But who came up with this trinity, and why has it become so famous? This week we’ll take a look at green bean casserole, from its humble origins in a test kitchen to the love-to-hate-it dish we know today.As anyone who’s checked out the kitchen section of an antique store can attest, recipe pamphlets were once a big business. Long before the Internet, home brands like General Mills, Cuisinart and Ball Jars regularly released these pocket-sized magazines full of tips, recipes, and instructions for their products. Glossy covers depicted the cakes or pot roasts detailed inside, and housewives loved them for their price and ease of use: why pay for a heavy cookbook when a recipe pamphlet could provide the same information for less money?The Campbell’s Soup Company had its own kitchen, in Camden, New Jersey, dedicated to pumping out recipe pamphlets. A home economist named Dorcas Reilly worked at the Campbell’s kitchen, and in 1955 she successfully devised and tested the infamous green bean casserole recipe. In numerous interviews Reilly gave years later about the invention of the casserole, she professed to not remember exactly how she came up with that specific dish. Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom variety had been around since 1934. It was widely used as casserole filler in the Midwest, popping up in enough Minnesotan hotdish recipes that it was sometimes referred to as “Lutheran binder.” But no one thought to add frozen green beans to the mix until Reilly came along. The fried onions on top were an easy way to add texture and brighten the color of a grey-green dish, and to add a certain festive touch to the proceedings.Reilly’s recipe was immediately popular. It was the perfect recipe for the holidays, as it was made with minimal ingredients that were almost always on hand, and it could easily be made the day ahead and reheated when guests arrived. And its popularity continues today, even in the face of America’s recent obsession with fresh, locally grown, artisanal foods. Campbell’s now estimates 40% of the Cream of Mushroom soup sold in the US goes into making green bean casserole.My recipe is the 1950’s version straight from Campbell Soup(I usually make it the day before.)

Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole recipe

MAKE-AHEAD TURKEY GRAVY

This year I had a recipe for make-ahead gravy. I liked having it already made so I will probably use it again. I used a recipe I found on all recipes.com. The only change I made was I used twice as many turkey wings…I like more flavor in my gravy.

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy

make-ahead turkey gravy

Chef John’s Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy – Printer Friendly – Allrecipes.com

MASHED POTATOES

Nothing special with the mashed potatoes. This year I tried Yukon Gold variety. I also add a little canned milk and potato water and just a little butter (if I don’t have my low-fat guests attending I use cream instead of canned milk and more butter) and salt and pepper to taste.

Mashed Potatoes with Yukon Gold potatoes

CRANBERRY JELL-O SALAD

Why a Jell-O salad? I grew up in Utah…need I say more?? At least it is not green. If you don’t understand read “Jello-O and Mormonism: The stereotypes surprising origins” or Jell-O Love: A Guide to Mormon Cuisine . During the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City the most collectable pin was the green Jell-O pin.

Olympics Jello pin

(My mom’s favorite Jell-O dish was orange Jell-O with shredded carrots and if she got fancy it also had crushed pineapple in it. We had it often.)

The Jello salad I make every year for Thanksgiving is one my mom used but it has “evolved” ….it is more a fruit salad held together with a little Jello BUT it does have cranberries in it.

Traditional Raspberry Jello Salad

Cranberry Fruit Jell-O Salad

CRANBERRY FRUIT JELLO SALAD (.doc format)

CRANBERRY FRUIT JELLO SALAD (.pdf format)

ROLLS

Rolls

ROLLS

ROLLS (.doc format)

ROLLS (.pdf format)

PIE TABLE

Pie Table

PUMPKIN PIE

Pumpkin Pie

PUMPKIN PIE recipe

PUMPKIN PIE (.doc format)

PUMPKIN PIE (.pdf format)

APPLE PIE

apple pie

APPLE PIE (.doc format)

APPLE PIE (.pdf format)

PIE CRUST

Pie Crust

Pie Crust Recipe

Pie Crust Recipe (.doc format)

Pie Crust Recipe (.pdf format)

Traditions Christmas Eve 2014

February 3, 2015 by shelley

Traditions Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas Eve means re-enacting the nativity:

Christmas Eve 2014

Hallelujah…we attend Handel’s Messiah at the Kansas City Symphony

January 27, 2014 by shelley

I love the Messiah and this year we attended Handel’s Messiah performed by the Kansas City Symphony. The Independence Messiah Choir, along with the Symphony Chorus and the Kansas City Symphony made the perfect kickoff to the holiday season.

Handel’s Messiah and the Kansas City Symphony

Kansas City Symphony performs Handel’s Messiah at the Kauffman Center

David Lockington (conductor), Joélle Harvey (soprano), Ryan Belongie (countertenor), Ross Hauck (tenor), Kevin Deas (bass), Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Charles Bruffy (chorus director), Independence Messiah Choir

The performance was superb. My only hitch being I am a traditionalist. And even though the performance was brilliant, I prefer to have the alto part sung by an alto (not a countertenor as in this performance). The solo “a virgin shall conceive” makes more sense (to me) when sung by an alto. But I did not let it mar my enjoyment of the music and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Handel’s Messiah

Hunting for the Perfect Christmas Tree…

January 27, 2014 by shelley

Bierman’s Christmas Tree Farm

The day after Thanksgiving has become our day to seek and find the perfect Christmas tree. Years ago I started the tradition of taking the kids to a Christmas tree farm. (When I was growing up my dad made sure every year our family had the joy of having a REAL Christmas tree- it was important to him. We never had an artificial tree.) When my kids were very small, (the first year we moved to the Kansas City area,) we started going to a Christmas Tree Farm to seek out and find the perfect Christmas tree. The first Christmas tree farm we ever went to was Tomahawk Pines, which at the time seemed to be far, far out of town. But developments encroached until houses were built all around it and then Tomahawk Pines disappeared…becoming a housing development. We found another one further out, but it also succumbed to the same fate. We found another one but it was difficult to get to…we went to that one only one (maybe two) times. For the past few years we have gone to Bierman’s Christmas Tree farm which reopened after being closed for a number of years.

Bierman’s Christmas Tree Farm

The irony of it all is we go to a Christmas Tree Farm, tromp around and look at the trees at the Christmas tree farm and then always buy one they have imported in (from somewhere like Minnesota). And if it is really cold we don’t even tromp around that much…we just go to the “imported in” trees and pick out our tree. Doesn’t really make sense, but I want a Frasier fir. I like the look of Frasier Firs, I like the smell of Frasier Firs, I like the shape of the Frasier Fir (the Frasier Fir says “Christmas Tree” to me)….but Frasier Firs won’t grow in this area. So why do we go to a Christmas Tree Farm?? Just because…that is the way I want to do it…I want to create the memories. Memories can be kept forever…

Bear, Carl, Bob, Wasim and Becca

Bob and Becca

My daughter, Becca

Bob and Becca

Father and daughter, Bob and Becca

Carl and Wasim

The lookout…to find the perfect tree…

Bob, Carl and Becca

Andrea, my sister, and her family always come and get their Christmas tree also:

Andrea and son Nial

Andrea’s son Zain

Aalia and Zain

Andrea’s three children; Aalia, Zain, and Nial

Some of the entertainment at the Christmas Tree Farm

Photo opportunity!

Nial, Zain and Aalia

Shaking out the tree:

Shaking out the tree.

The perfect Christmas Tree:

The Perfect Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving…a time of giving thanks.

January 27, 2014 by shelley

Thanksgiving decorations

Thanksgiving this year was somewhat quiet compared to other years. Our daughter Becca and her husband came home. My sister and family also had Thanksgiving dinner with us and our good friend Dr. Charles Jessup. Even though not everyone got to come home this year we still kept up with our usual Thanksgiving traditions; lots of homemade pies, homemade rolls, the tradition yams with little marshmellows and green bean casserole, mashed potatoes with turkey gravy and of course the turkey and dressing. Every year I also make a cranberry jello salad that has become a tradition. It is made with raspberry jello (using the juice from the pineapple and a fresh squeezed orange for the liquid), with chopped apples, chopped cranberries, chopped pecans, tidbit pineapple and pomegranates. I decorate it with raspberries.

Cranberry Raspberry Salad

Cranberry Jello Salad a Beatty Thanksgiving tradition.

Thanksgiving Turkey

Our Thanksgiving pie table includes pumpkin, apple, mince, lemon meringue and this year instead of pecan we had a Dixie pie:

Pumpkin pIe

Mincemeat pie (somebody couldn’t wait) with piece missing!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Apple Pie

The Pie Table:

Pie Table

And of course the traditional cookie turkeys:

Traditional cookie turkeys

The Thanksgiving table:

Thanksgiving Table

Enjoying the Thanksgiving Feast:

Enjoying the Thanksgiving feast!

Post Script:

Jen and Adam and family enjoyed Thanksgiving this year in Phoenix, Arizona with close family friends the Esplins. Just wanted to share an adorable picture of Henry, Caroline and Becca on their way back…completely tuckered out.

A tiring trip for Henry, Caroline and Becca