‘CHRISTMAS PARTY’

/ janpriddyoregon

In the 1980s and 90s, we hosted an Open House on the Sunday before Christmas. For weeks I would make and freeze holiday cakes and appetizers. We cleaned house and invited neighbors, co-workers, and friends. No alcohol was served, which is probably why nothing awful ever happened. Well, there was the incident with the dog . . .

A full-size Dundee Cake from another year, served with whipped cream

We stopped throwing these parties after the year both my brother and mother failed to attend. It seemed sad to work so hard if my local family couldn’t be bothered.

But I am retired now and I love any excuse to bake. We had talked about reigniting the tradition this year, but then, you know, this pandemic.

No gatherings here or in Portland for Thanksgiving. The up side of this is that I do not have to avoid the foods people do not or cannot eat. I can cook with gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts. I could make my spiced carrots. My pumpkin pie can include cream. There was an article in The New York Times this week about traveling and arriving exhausted and still having to cook, about adjusting to individuals’ preferences and dietary needs, and about having to eat multiple Thanksgiving feasts with each partner’s family. (Gary and I did that until we moved to Oregon.) Apparently other women have found the same silver lining. Less work, less stress when it’s just the two of you. Articles have acknowledged that holiday expectations are especially hard on women, and offered all sorts of suggestions about easing into a lockdown Thanksgiving: cook everything but in smaller amounts for two, cook the one thing you like best, cook nothing and order take-out, or reheat something frozen or just drink.

My solution was different. I am cooking a complete meal in easy stages. One dish a day. I made the wild rice and mushroom casserole a few days ago and we’ve eaten half of it. The rest is for tomorrow. I made twice-baked potatoes with cheese, and we’ve sampled that too. Yesterday I made my regular vegetarian herbed dressing using my own sourdough bread cubes (thank you again, Mary Jo and Dale), celery, onion, parsley, herbs from the garden, homemade stock, and cranberries. We had some of that for dinner last night. I might bake two loaves of cranberry bread this afternoon, but at least the pumpkin pie. (The Delicata squash I am using for the filling was roasted and puréed earlier too.) The trick will be keeping Gary out of the pie—pumpkin pie is the holiday dish he’s most fond of.

Stretching out the Thanksgiving feast preparation has been relaxing. I enjoy cooking, but it’s a lot of work for just one meal. We have enjoyed the Startbefores even more than the Leftovers in past years. It means that tomorrow I will make the apple salad with dates and walnuts first thing in the morning and we’ll have some for breakfast, and later roast Brussels sprouts for the big meal. I only have to reheat everything else.

The next holiday is Hanukah beginning 10 December, and we will burn candles. I was afraid I’d given away all the apricot jam, but after my initial panic, I found there is still one jar for the rugelach.

Then Christmas. The cards are more than half-addressed. I will miss not having Prissy’s wreath on the door, but we have lights and the just-for-show fake tree can go up soon after Thanksgiving. We are not buying a cut tree for the first year ever. (Even during the Big Mess when Gary and I, our two preschool children, and six dogs camped in 500 square feet for nine months including Christmas, we put up a tree.) My collection of clippy glass birds will stay in their boxes. The Swanson-Vance flying animals will hang on the pre-lit white paper “birch” tree from Costco. Just this once.

Another of Gary’s favorites is a Dundee cake, traditional for Boxing Day. My dried fruits—three kinds of raisins, pineapple, mango, and cherries—are soaking in rum as I type this. It only needs freshly grated lemon and orange peel. (I fear it will not be as good as last year when I used Scotch and home-candied orange rind.) There will be no one here to share that rich cake, so I plan to make us a six-inch round, which is still too much for two people.

In recent years our sons and their families have come for Twelfth Night in January. That’s not happening this season either, at least not as a physical get-together.

We are planning Jitsi or Zoom group meetings with family. Gary and I might watch Home for the Holidays, and certainly we will watch When Harry Met Sally. We will not stay up till midnight on New Years Eve—we almost never do. We will manage fine because we have remembered to tell people we love them. They might not be in the room, but there is room in our hearts,

19 thoughts on “‘CHRISTMAS PARTY’”

  1. All very sweet!!! (literally too :)) Thanks for sharing the details! Love the idea of Startbefores stretching out the week before! My husband btw slices and then grills Delicata squash we get from a nearby farm, adding some curry before grilling, and it tastes amazing.

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      • Oh yes please! I make my grandma’s recipe Dundee cake but anything pumpkin pie, rice and mushroom casserole or cranberry bread related would be very much appreciated 😀 (and only if it’s not too much trouble – if you have to write them all out don’t worry…I’m just being greedy).

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      • You realize this is the recipe, but I usually freelance!

        wild rice and mushroom casserole
        a beautiful side for a holiday meal • serves 8
        I first made this casserole from Mary Emmerling’s recipe in 1987. I have made it pretty much every Thanksgiving since, and every year I change it a little. By 2015, I was looking for ways to make holiday meals non-allergenic and vegan. It was easier to alter this recipe than I expected.

        1 c. wild rice
        4 c. water
        bring to a boil, then lower temperature to simmer covered for about 60 minutes until rice are mostly done, drain rice and set aside to steam dry

        6 T. butter
        1/2 c. fine chopped onion
        melt butter and sauté onion until golden, add and sauté until moisture is evaporated
        3 c. chopped mushrooms (wild are nice)
        1 green onion minced

        gradually add and stir to make a roux
        3 T. flour or 1/4 c. potato flour or add 2 T. cornstarch whisked into liquid below

        whisk in and stir while cooking until it thickens
        3 c. half and half or 3 c. soy milk or 2+ c. rich vegetable stock

        season
        1 t. thyme
        1 t. kosher salt
        pepper to taste

        Remove pan from heat, stir in the wild rice, turn into a low casserole and set aside.

        Crush Ritz crackers or gluten-free crackers or gluten-free cereal and sauté
        1 1/2 c. fine cracker crumbs
        1/4 c. butter

        until slightly toasty-golden, and cover the top of the casserole. Use a template to sprinkle paprika int he shape of a star on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°.

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      • I took two large loaves and one small loaf out of the oven this morning. We ate the little one. I always at least double the cranberry bread recipe:

        cranberry bread
        from Fanny Farmer • makes 1 loaf
        So quick, easy, and wonderful that I usually make several loaves at a time. This is one of Gary’s favorite foods for the holidays. I have to love you a lot to share cranberry bread with you.

        1 t. salt
        1½ t. baking powder
        ½ t. baking soda
        2 c. unbleached white flour
        stir dry ingredients together with a whisk in order to combine

        1 c. sugar
        1 egg
        coarse grated peel from 1 orange
        1/3 c. melted butter
        ¾ orange juice
        beat egg and sugar; combine liquids and stir briefly into above, then flour mixture, then when only partially stirred, add fruit and nuts (below) just until combined (do not overmix as this can make the bread “tough”)

        1 c. whole, halved, or coarsely chopped cranberries
        ½ -1 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped, or not chopped
        Turn into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350° for 50 minutes.

        *optional: use frozen or dried cranberries. use pecans or filberts in place of walnuts or leave out the nuts for people who don’t like them.

        Serve warm, cold, or toasted as a breakfast, dessert, or holiday side dish.

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      • I have made “pumpkin custard” so many times without a recipe for my granddaughter, this is only the recipe I used to follow. TWO pies, please note.

        pumpkin pie
        1970s • makes 2 pies • serves however many
        This is close to the recipe found on many cans of canned pumpkin. It works with 5 cups of baked and mashed fresh pumpkin. Acorn, butternut, or Delicata squash makes a much tastier pie. I have to make two pies because it’s the one thing Gary really, really loves about Thanksgiving. Everything else can go, he says, so long at there is pumpkin pie. I used to make two so that he could have one all to himself, and even now, that’s the way it often goes. One for company, the other just for Gary.

        stir together or mix in a mixer:
        5 c. cooked & mashed pumpkin,* (or 1 large or 2 15-oz. cans)
        1½ c. brown sugar
        1 T. cinnamon
        2 t. ground ginger
        1 t. ground nutmeg
        <¼ t. cloves, optional (too much makes a bitter pie)
        4 eggs

        then add:
        1¼ c. whipping cream + 1 c. milk (or coconut milk or evaporated milk)

        Pour into two unbaked pie shells. Bake at 350° for almost an hour, till the center puffs slightly. Cool.

        Serve with sweetened whipped cream flavored with a little vanilla extract.

        *Choose a sugar “pie” pumpkin. Halve and steam or bake pumpkin, and scrape out of shell; or (harder) halve, peel and cube pumpkin meat, and steam. Puree pumpkin and measure 5 cups.

        OPTIONS: Butternut or Delcata squash are much better alternatives to canned or even fresh pumpkin and everyone will assume your pies are “very good pumpkin!” unless you tell them. You can also substitute canned coconut milk for the dairy cream and milk. Grated fresh ginger is good too.

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  5. Well, there ‘s always a bit from the dog even if we don’t see it yet—I was at these gatherings and I’ve been told I had a good time even if I can’t remember—Jan cooks, I clean and a splendid time was guaranteed by all—maybe next year in the holy land, ’cause I’ve been to Oklahoma. Cheers, and as my fellow duck tape enthusiast says, keep your stick on the ice.

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  6. Jan, a lovely post filled with that love you carry in your heart. So much of what you wrote applies to my husband and me this holiday season. No Thanksgiving gathering, no Christmas get-together, New Year’s Eve the same as always, and no Twelfth Night celebration. One sentence stood out for me: “Apparently other women have found the same silver lining. Less work, less stress when it’s just the two of you.” Indeed, the same silver lining! Thanks for this lifter-upper.

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