By Edward A. Forbes
The Bulletin
It’s that time of year again. Turkeys are nervous, and the grocery stores are gearing up for the big rush, and then another rush as the holiday season progresses.
I’m in the midst of food-ingredient purchases for holiday meals and then going to a nail salon for a manicure. They are playing Christmas music! That’s what we’ll be hearing now for weeks. Get used to it. Some of it is not bad.
My granddaughter, Anna, is taking culinary arts in high school. I am hoping she will help me with the pies I make - two or three varieties of pumpkin, a lemon meringue pie, a chocolate pie, a coconut cream pie and the Guy Pie.
I have made the Guy Pie every year since Emeril Lagasse declared Pam Mellor the winner of his pie contest in 2004. It is a banana, chocolate, coconut, almond-flavored wonder that only people who are coconut haters dislike. In my 20 years of making the pie, I’ve gotten to know who does and those who don’t like coconut.
We combine our three households to share the cooking, and everyone has their special contribution. Nostalgia plays an important part in our holiday menus. I make the dressing (formerly made by my children’s mother, who passed away in 2021), my pies - of course, a roasted turkey, a smoked ham and the gravy.
My son fries a turkey and brings mashed potatoes and the green bean casserole. My daughter makes my mother’s recipe for the broccoli-cheese casserole, her own macaroni & cheese (for the youngsters) and rolls. She usually gets to my home first and starts helping in the kitchen, too.
I am also making a sous vide turkey breast. (Sous vide is a precise, low-temperature cooking method that involves placing food in a sealed bag and cooking it in a water bath. Sous vide in French means “under vacuum”.) My first time - and if it is a failure - we have plenty of backup.
I’ve been asked “Why so much,” and the answer is we won’t be cooking for a few days, of course apart from the turkey sausage gumbo - really good stuff.
I may make a table on my treadmill and see if that helps negate the intake over those holidays.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful family get-together this holiday season. I wrote specifically about my preparations for Thanksgiving, but they could be applied for any family reunion or holiday.
We need to look at all the things that we have to be thankful for and offer a prayer for those blessings.
(Edward Forbes wants to hear from you. Email him at eforbes1946@gmail.com or send comments by snail mail to The Bulletin, PO Box 2426, Angleton TX. 77516.)
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