HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY FROM NANCY & STEVE!

ANOTHER GREAT COUNTRY COOK

Born Diana Ellen Judd in Ashland, Kentucky, Naomi Judd is one of Country Music’s all-time greats.   A singer, song writer, author and actress, she is also a great mother (daughters Wynonna and Ashley) and a fabulous cook.  In fact, she wrote one of my best and most-used cookbooks (Naomi's Home Companion: A Treasury of Favorite Recipes, Food for Thought and Country Wit and Wisdom) .  I’d give anything if she’d write another cookbook!

 

 

Here is a recipe Naomi for a beautiful Thanksgiving casserole that you’re sure to enjoy.

NAOMI JUDD’S SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

"My mama was a cook on a riverboat in Mississippi. My mom knows her way around the kitchen. First of all, her grandmother, my great-grandmother, owned a little restaurant in our town. We lived in a one Dairy Queen kinda town, Ashland, Kentucky. The Judd family traditional holiday dinner is all made from scratch, and I think if I didn't make my Sweet Potato Casserole, Wynonna and Ashley would think they were orphans. They’d walk into the woods and never be heard from again… This is our traditional recipe" – Naomi

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds of sweet potatoes)
1/2  cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2  cup milk
1/2  stick or ¼ cup butter, melted
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

1/2  cup packed light brown sugar
1/2  cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or other nuts
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a shallow 2-quart casserole.

In a medium bowl, stir together the potatoes, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, butter, salt, and vanilla and scrape the mixture into the prepared casserole.

Making the topping: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, nuts, and flour. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Dot with the butter. Place the casserole on a baking sheet.

Bake, uncovered, in the 350 degree oven until heated through and lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM OUR FAMILY, TOO!

To Grandmother's House We Go -- Thanksgiving in Florida, 1962

Daddy carving the Turkey -- 1964 and 1965

Me and my sister Linda

Steve takes on the Thanksgiving Turkey

CAN’T HAVE THANKSGIVING WITHOUT YAMS

Want a real showstopper at your Thanksgiving Dinner Table?  Make your very own Cranberry Sauce.  My friend David’s Mom Joan always makes her own.  She has seven sons and each likes a different way of doing the sauce s she makes several kinds.  Each is different and delicious and you’ll be glad you tried them.  They’ll become a tradition at your holiday gatherings.  Thanks for sharing , Joan!

Cran-Raspberry Sauce

2 cans  (14 oz. each) jellied cranberry sauce

1 bag  (10 oz.) unsweetened frozen raspberries

Combine the cranberry sauce and frozen raspberries in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high power, stirring occasionally, until the cranberry sauce has melted, about 8 minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Strain, if desired, to remove any seeds. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.   Serves 10.

Fresh Orange-Cranberry Sauce with Walnuts

1 12-ounce bag cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

1 medium seedless orange, all peel and pith cut away, fruit diced

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

 

Combine first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook until cranberries are tender and mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in orange pieces and walnuts. Transfer to bowl. Cover and chill until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.   Serves 8.

Another Orange-Cranberry Sauce with Pecans

1 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more to taste
1 strip orange or lemon zest
1 orange, quartered (unpeeled), seeds removed
1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, quartered (unpeeled), seeds removed
1/2 cup toasted pecans

 Empty cranberries into a saucepan, reserving 1/2 cup in a small bowl. To the saucepan, add 1 cup of the sugar, the lemon or orange zest, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Roughly chop the apple and orange in a food processor with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Fold into the cranberry sauce along with pecans. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

JELLIED CRANBERRAY SAUCE

This jelly bears no resemblance to the stuff in the can —it's definitely worth the effort. Though we call for 4 bags of cranberries, the yield is only 3 cups because all the solids get strained out. You'll be happy if you have any extra cranberry sauce when you make sandwiches with the leftover turkey.

 

4 (12-ounce) bags cranberries, thawed if frozen

3 cups sugar

3-1/3 cups cold water

2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (from three 1/4-ounce envelopes)

Bring cranberries, sugar, and 3 cups water to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until all berries have burst, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into a large fine-mesh sieve set over a 2-quart glass measure or a bowl and let stand until all juices have drained through, about 30 minutes. If necessary, press on solids until there is enough juice to measure 3 cups, then discard solids.

Stir together gelatin and remaining 1/3 cup water and let stand 1 minute to soften. Bring 1 cup drained cranberry liquid to a simmer in a small saucepan, then add gelatin mixture and stir until just dissolved. Add gelatin mixture to remaining cranberry liquid and stir well. Pour cranberry sauce into lightly oiled mold and chill, covered with plastic wrap, until firmly set, at least 12 hours.

To unmold, run tip of a thin knife between edge of mold and cranberry sauce. Tilt mold sideways and tap side of mold against a work surface, turning it, to evenly break seal and loosen cranberry sauce. Keeping mold tilted, invert a plate over mold, then invert cranberry sauce onto plate.

WHAT WOULD MARILYN MAKE FOR THANKSGIVING?

Over fifty years have passed since she died, but there is still a shroud of mystery surrounding the legendary Marilyn Monroe.  While she might still be one of Hollywood's most recognizable icons, Monroe remains an elusive figure, having been found dead in her Los Angeles home in 1962 at the young age of 36.

Those who knew her said she was often misunderstood. She was not the dumb blonde she might have portrayed in her films. She was smart and driven.   Monroe was known as a bodacious bombshell who oozed confidence and charisma. Off-camera, however, her psychological state was frail. Her love life was a continuous roller coaster and she dealt with bouts of depression.

Her death had been ruled a probable suicide, but those who knew her found it hard to believe she would kill herself. Forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht told People magazine he has a strong suspicion she might have been injected.

A few weeks before her death, Marilyn's career and personal life, in a sense, were on the rise. She was invited to a number of new film projects and spent a weekend with Joe DiMaggio at Lake Tahoe.    They planned to re-marry.

According to eyewitnesses, August 4, 1962 was a pretty typical day in Marilyn's life.  She apparently, did not sleep well and was a bit annoyed. Monroe spent most of her day with her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who noted a distinct change in the state of the actress, and explained it with Nembutal (a barbiturate). In the evening Joe DiMaggio visited her to discuss their reunion. 

 

 

Sometime after 10 p.m. on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe slipped into a coma caused by an overdose of sleeping pills. She would never regain consciousness.

 

Following the autopsy, Marilyn's body was released to her family. Marilyn's mother, who was institutionalized, did not take custody of the body. Instead, Former husband Joe DiMaggio claimed her remains and arranged a small and quiet funeral for the woman he would continued to love until his own death. Finally on August 8, 1962, she was laid to rest in Los Angeles' Westwood Memorial Park in the Corridor of Memories, in a pink marble crypt at Corridor of Memories, #24..

Marilyn Monroe was buried in what was known at that time as the Cadillac of caskets -- a hermetically sealing antique-silver-finished 48-ounce (heavy gauge) solid bronze masterpiece casket lined with champagne-colored satin-silk. Before the service, the outer lid and the upper half of the divided inner lid of her casket were opened so that the mourners could get a last glimpse of Monroe. Hollywood makeup artist Whitey Snyder had prepared her face, a promise he had made her if she were to die before him.

The service was the second one held at the newly built chapel at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in West Los Angeles, and only 25 people were given permission to attend. Monroe's acting coach, Lee Strasberg, delivered her eulogy. An organist played Over the Rainbow at the end of the service. 

DiMaggio had a half-dozen red roses delivered to her crypt three times a week for the rest of his life. He never spoke publicly about his relationship with Monroe. He never recovered from her death and he never remarried.

 

The image of a bombshell cooking her way to nirvana may seem unlikely.  But back in the 1950s, a Hollywood starlet was not expected to squander her talents chopping onions.

Marilyn Monroe's stuffing recipe recently surfaced in "Fragments", a collection of her writing snippets from 1943 to her death in 1962. Marilyn's stuffing recipe showcases not only a knowledge of cooking, but also a surprising use of European methods for making a poultry dressing. 

MARILYN MONROE’S THANKSGIVING STUFFING

6 ounces pain au levian (sourdough)

1/4 pound chicken livers

1/4 pound ground sirloin

1 cup mirepoix  (a mixture of chopped celery, onions & carrots.)

2 bay leaves

1 cup chopped, fresh parsley

1 hard-boiled egg, chopped

1/2 cup raisins (substitute any dried fruits)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

2/3 cup cooked chestnuts, chopped

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Soak the pain au levian in water for 15 minutes. Drain the bread in a colander for 5 minutes and squeeze it dry. Pull it apart into small pieces.

While the bread is soaking and draining, prepare the livers and ground beef. Boil the livers for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are done. Finely chop the cooked livers. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, and transfer the meat to a bowl.

Sauté the mirepoix and bay leaves in the remaining beef fat for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and stir together the shredded bread, cooked livers, browned beef, sautéed mirepoix, parsley, eggs, raisins, cheese, chestnuts, salt, pepper, and dried herbs.  Marilyn's stuffing recipe makes approximately 10 cups 

Marilyn Monroe's Kitchen in her Brentwood Home

ONE OF THE FUNNIEST JOKES EVER:

A man walks into a bar with a small dog under his arm and sits down at the counter, placing the dog on the stool next to him.

The bartender says, "Sorry, pal. No dogs allowed."

The man says, "But this is a special dog -- he talks!"

"Yeah, right," says the bartender. "Now get out of here before I throw you out."

"No, wait," says the man. "I'll prove it." He turns to the dog and asks, "What do you normally find on top of a house?"

"Roof!" says the dog, wagging his tail.

"Listen, pal..." says the bartender.

"Wait," says the man, "I'll ask another question." He turns to the dog again and asks, "What's the opposite of soft?"

"Ruff!" exclaims the dog.

"Quit wasting my time and get out of here," says the bartender.

"One more chance," pleads the man. Turning to the dog again, he asks, "Who was the greatest baseball player that ever lived?"

"Ruth!" barked the dog.

"Okay, that's it!" says the bartender, and physically throws both man and dog out the door and onto the street.

Turning to the man, the dogs shrugs and says, "Should I have said Dimaggio?"