Last Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful Thankgiving celebration with Kari and Jonathan. They were the hosts, and they welcomed us into their warm and cheery apartment, complete with sparkling Christmas tree, holiday music, and Chex Mix! One of the things that was so heart-warming about this Thanksgiving is how simply American it was. Mark and I love France, there's no doubt, but we find our hearts yearn to be home too, especially at this time of year. So, to be welcomed with Chex Mix!!!...it couldn't have been better, and it tasted sooooooo good!
I think that because I was feeling a little homesick this year, I wanted to search out old family recipes that I remember from childhood. I asked my mother for the recipes, and after a bit of a search herself, she happily provided them. I chose recipes from both of my grandmothers.
Here is the menu:
Chex Mix
Deviled eggs
Spinokopitta (spinach filled pastry) for the vegetarians, and roasted Guinea Fowl (a bird native to Africa, and one we saw being hunted by the Hadza tribe when we were in Tanzania!)
Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy
Cornbread stuffing
Sweet potato casserole (amazing, delicious recipe
here)
Green bean casserole
Frog eye salad (my Grandma Jensen's recipe)
Buttermilk dinner rolls (my Grandma Baxter's recipe)
Pumpkin pie (thanks to a can of Libby's, provided by Kari)
As usual, I forgot my camera, but thankfully, Kari is a wonderful photographer and documented the occasion very well on her blog. Click
here to see her photos!
In the comments section of Kari's blog, people seemed a little disturbed by the idea of frog-eye salad. The salad is actually made from little spheres of pasta that resemble tapioca and also little frog's eyes when cooked! So, in order to dispell all worries, here's the recipe (I downsized it substantially, as the original recipe serves at least 25 people):
Frog-eye salad:
1/2 cup Acini de Pepe pasta (or Orzo would work too), uncooked
1 can pineapple chunks
1 can mandarin oranges
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups of whipped cream (or to taste)
1 cup shredded coconut (optional)
1 cup mini marshmallows (optional)
other desired fruit (marachino cherries, for example)
Cook the pasta in unsalted water until al dente. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Set aside.
While pasta is cooking, drain the canned fruit, saving the juice and setting the fruit aside. Pour the fruit juice into a small saucepan and mix with the egg, sugar, flour and salt. Whip with a whisk until well mixed. Heat saucepan with medium heat, and keep whisking until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool.
When pasta and sauce are cooled, combine in a large bowl with the pineapple and mandarin oranges. Stir well and then store overnight in the refrigerator (the pasta will absorb much of the sauce, taking up the flavor...mmmm....).
The next day, mix the pasta/sauce mixture with the whipped cream and other desired ingredients (coconut, marshmallows, etc.). Let chill for 2 hours or until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Mmmmm... And we enjoyed the fruits of our efforts for many days with the leftovers! Since I saved half of the dough for the dinner roll recipe, I think I'll make cinnamon rolls today!
And so, thank you Kari and Jonathan for being such wonderful hosts, thank you Mom for finding me the recipes, and thank you Grandma Jensen and Grandma Baxter for so many happy Thanksgiving memories...and recipes too!
So, I am going to link to Kari's blog yet again, because her photos turned out great. Plus, she did a great job describing the history of the festival, which brought it to life to me more, even after the fact.
