christmas memories and whatnot

Well, christmas is here, and with it comes the nearing of a new year. for most people christmas is a time of reflection and family, this is true for me as well. however this christmas is a bit poignant, as i sit here writing i am remembering my aunt ruth. ruth was the quintessential "christmas maven" many were the holidays spent with her, watching her create feasts that still lodge in my memory to this day.

ruth was technically the "keeper of the recipes"in the family (in reality my father, and now i have about half of them) these recipes are a collection of family culinary treasures that have wandered from generation to generation and have been jealously guarded for literally a couple of hundred years. every couple of generations we seem to have one cook pop up that will rework or just plain add new recipes to the ever expanding hoard.. my grandmother was one of these stellar cooks, and in the grand tradition she handed over the recipes (well, some of em anyway) to her daughter (ruth).

it must be said that she didnt turn them over easily or without much grumbling. but the decision was made to pass on the torch after a disastrous incident involving my grandfather.

meemaw (my grandmother) was going to be out of town for a couple of days visiting friends, and knowing my popoo's (my grandfather) absolute inability to boil water, had left him some turkey tetrazzini, fearing that he might in fact starve if left to his own devices (incidentally popoo loved turkey tetrazzini, and meemaw absolutely DESPISED the stuff..... such is love, she made it for him anyway)
she had left it in a tupperware container in the refridgerator with explicit instructions on how to prepare it, what rack in the oven, what temp, how long etc....
this should have been the end of things.. but ohh no.....
ruth gets a call on saturday morning (day after meemaw went out of time) from popoo asking if meemaw had left any of the tetrazzini with her, and if so would she mind if he stopped over that evening and had some.. when questioned by ruth as to what happened to the tetrazzini that meemaw had left for him.. he simply stated "he overcooked it"..
meemaw had in fact only left the tetrazzinin for popoo, but ruth being... well.. ruth, said sure dadi have some, come on over at 6 for dinner, we'd love to have you. at this point ruth made a mad dash for the store to get the ingredients to make turkey tetrazzini, several frantic hours later she completed her tetrazzini (which she had seen meemaw make many many times) just in time for popoo to arrive for dinner. after the meal when asked how he had enjoyed it, he stated "mother must not be feeling well, it wasnt like she usually makes it, i'm glad she got to go take a break for a few days.
well, ruth took things in stride, as popoo did not know, and was not trying to be mean, he was just being his usual straightforward self (he was always a little oblivious to the goings on in the family), and propmptly discussed the incident with meemaw after she returned from her trip...
upon investigation (meemaw never asked popoo what happened) she found a charred lump of plastic with bits of equally charred tetrazzini still embedded in it stuffed in the bottom of the wastebin. it seems popoo followed the instructions EXACTLY.. putting the tetrazzini in the oven plastic container and all. meemaw was NEVER to repeat this mistake, and with some back room dealing it was decide that ruth would get the recipe book, and that in any future trips, popoo would eat with ruth and her family..
and thus the recipes were handed on....
the tetrazzini was made many times by ruth after that, and the comment was always the same... it was good ruth.. but it just seemed to miss something..
ruth never got hurt by this, as meemaw did have a habit of omitting a "sceret ingredient" or two from her recipes... and in fact quite often recipes of hers made exactly from the instructions, often failed to match the output of her own kitchen..
it was not until many years later (shortly before my popoo passed away) that ruth finally gave in and called my father to ask if he happened to know what the secret ingredient for the tetrazzini was, he laughed and told her the secret 1/2 cup of scotch... the first time she had ever made the tetrazzinin for popoo, she had made him a small scotch on the rocks for before dinner, and with drink in hand had gone over to give the tetrazzini a stir, and dropped the drink into the food...
popoo loved it.. and she never had the heart to omit the scotch again...

that is love...... so, next time you sit down and eat a meal with your family.. consider.. if it is a "family recipe" what the story behind that recipe is, you might be surprised.

peace
-dawg