The Harvest Ham and the Blizzard Turkey

An hour ago I returned from a trip to Champaign and the grocery store to purchase the necessary items for our Christmas dinner and brunch the following morning. I had carefully gone through all the ads and determined which grocery store had the best values and I had my list in hand.

Now we have had blowing snow in the last day or so and parking lots are icy and slick so I was taking my life in my hands. The last thing I needed right now was a broken bone but the groceries were necessary so I braved the elements and persevered.

Up and down the aisles I went, sometimes repeating myself for forgotten items, crossing them off my list as I went. At last I was finished and headed to the check out counter. Half my groceries had been scanned when it dawned on me that I had gotten whole turkeys and not turkey breasts. Now I was getting two, one for our dinner and one for my daughter in law. Too late to return them to the meat department. So now what do I do? I could use the whole turkey for our dinner but Michele wanted a breast only.

And then I thought of Phyllis, the originator of the Blizzard Turkey and the Harvest Ham. Oh I wish you could hear her tell the story of the ham but you will have to trust my memory for the jest of the story. You have to know Phyllis to really appreciate this because no one can tell it like she does  and it is so like her. Her husband is a farmer and of course is busy morning to night, especially during harvest time. Now Phyllis is a woman who thinks ahead and, as she tells it, she goes to Sam's Club and buys a big ham and has them slice it. She also buys several loaves of bread and a big jar of mustard. Then she clears off her table and lays out a multitude of bread slices...slap a piece of ham on each, squirt on some mustard and top with more bread. Toss each one in a baggie and into the freezer they go. Every morning her husband grabs a bagged sandwich and maybe an apple for dessert and off he goes for his days work.

Our elevator during harvest

Every winter when the turkeys go on sale Phyllis buys a big one and pops it into the freezer. Then when a blizzard swirls across the country and the snow is blowing around she puts that turkey into the oven and says the smell of that bird make her feel warm and happy. That is a Blizzard Turkey and I now have that extra one I bought today safely in my freezer awaiting the next blizzard in G'ville.

Recipes and Socks

What is it about both recipes and socks that cause them to disappear, one somewhere between the washing machine and the dryer and the other from our memories?

How does one sock somehow entwine itself in the corner of a fitted sheet to disappear for weeks or cling to a sweater, now put away for the summer, only to reappear next fall? So the question is, does one save those left and lonely socks for the future just in case the mate should appear? Should there be a small drawer for the sole survivor to wait? Is there a website somewhere where lonely single socks can find a new
mate?

I write a page for my quilt guild's newsletter every month that features recipes. I usually try to use ones that have come from fellow quilters  that we have oohed and aahed over at the various gatherings or groups. I also receive several email newsletters that offer good ideas. This morning I spotted a recipe for a cake that I have made for my family long ago in the past but had forgotten about and it started me thinking about many old recipes, long forgotten and lost (like the socks). I remember treats my Mother and Grandmother used to make for us as children but have no recipe for them. What about the chicken and dumpling recipe I made for my kid when they were little? How could I forget that. I made it multiple times.

So, when all the hustle and bustle of this Christmas season is past and winter makes it's presence felt here in G'ville,I make a pledge to myself to delve into those piles of paper, printed from online, all those recipe cards stuffed in various boxes, and the collection of books in a dining room cabinet. I am going to find as many of those old time, favorite, and remembered recipes as possible and find a way to preserve them for the next generation. Maybe I will build a cookbook for my grandkids so they will never have to wonder whatever happened to that recipe for.......