MY BROTHER-LAW

What wonderful memories Mom, Linda & I made on our many visits to the Navajo Reservation in Kayenta, Arizona and Monument Valley, Utah.  Visiting the trading posts and even attending all-Indian rodeos!  We developed a friendship with an Indian family which continues to this day. 

Somewhere along the line, my sister Linda met and married a local from the Reservation.  Although they divorced about two years later, they met up again after thirty years and remarried in 2007 and today they live on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. 

  My brother-in-law is Native American actor-now-minister Wil Yazzie.  Like me, Wil is a football fan AND a Diabetic, and I have chosen some fun Holiday Diabetic recipes which I think he will love.

First, this fry-bread recipe came from the reservation newspaper, The Navajo Times.  We had it at every meal we ate in Arizona and New Mexico.

NATIVE AMERICAN (NAVAJO)FRY BREAD

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
milk (enough to mix)

Mix all ingredients. Divide the dough into parts and shape each into round pone about the size of your skillet and 1/8th of an inch thick. Fry the bread in about 1/4 inch hot cooking oil until golden brown on each side. Cut into wedges and serve hot. Delicious with butter, jams or other sweet spreads.

Diabetic Butter Cookies

1 c. butter
3/4 c. splenda
1 egg
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together the butter & Splenda, mix well.   Add egg and vanilla, mix well.  Blend in flour until dough forms, 2-3 min. cover & chill dough for 45 min. 

Sprinkle flour onto counter & rolling pin.  Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness 

Cut out shapes with cookie cutter.  Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 5 min.  Cool cookie sheet between batches

Diabetic Cocoa Mix

2 c. nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 c. lower-fat powdered nondairy creamer
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
10 packets Splenda or 1 tablespoon Splenda Measure
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional) 

Mix together all ingredients. Transfer to a self-sealing plastic bag. 

When ready to use, place 1/3 cup of the mix in a heat-proof mug. Add 3/4 cup boiling water and stir. (Makes 2-2/3 cups, enough for eight 3/4-cup servings) 

Per serving: 104 calories, 8 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 2 g fat 

Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (nonfat milk)

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.