Thanks 2012

Thanks 2012

Grandma Rosa's dill spiced oyster crackers

For years, we would have a backyard potluck most every Sunday evening with the neighbors, who ever wanted to come.  It was simple, just clean out what you got in fridge, bring a chair and it would be our Sunday community stress relief before the work week started.  At the time, we had no fences in the backyards, and we just had a great time together.  Then we stopped.  Some neighbors moved away, some neighbors passed away, some like us had some serious family health issues to attend to, and some new neighbors moved in and built fences.  Our days of the weekly community potluck ended, and I only have memories of those days gone by.

Thankfully this year, our family health issues have stabilized, we are able to have time to attend a day of thanks potluck with some of old neighbors and friends, and it felt like coming home again.  I got to sneak small pieces of turkey to the dogs and cats again, I got to see some of the kids (who are now adults) who came back to the 'hood for the weekend, and I got to remember how thankful and grateful I am for the friends and neighbors we have in Nashville.

The turkey

It was a pot luck evening and there was one stand out dish, Grandma Rosa's dill spiced oyster crackers. Grandma Rosa passed away recently, but these oyster crackers live on with loving memory of her.  Over the years, when the grandkids would visit Grandma Rosa, even in her aged health, she would always have a bowl of Grandma Rosa's oyster crackers as a snack for the road weary grandkids, and it was one of her ways of letting the grandkids know how much she loved them.  So, here is the recipe:  a bag of oyster crackers in a bowl, lightly coat and toss with canola oil (2 -4 Tbs), sprinkle an envelope of  powdered ranch dressing seasoning and as much dill as you want, and toss to coat evenly.  Yes, delicious.  Thanks Grandma Rosa.  RIP. 

The Spread

My contribution to the meal was diced potatoes with rosemary and garlic, and an organic cranberry sauce.  The potatoes came out great.  I used the Barefoot Farmer biodynamic organic local white potatoes and garlic, my organic rosemary from my garden, Italian grape seed oil, salt and pepper.  The recipe is 1/2 inch dice the potatoes.  Pestle the rosemary, salt and pepper.  Crush the garlic.  In a bowl, combine the raw potatoes, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and grape seed oil until evenly coated.  In a big skillet, add potatoes in 1 layer over medium heat.  Stir occasionally to skillet fry all sides of the diced potato.  Put the cooked diced potato in an oven save baking dish.  Repeat the skillet until all the potatoes have been skillet fried.  Taste the potatoes and add more rosemary, salt and pepper as needed.  Put the baking dish full of potatoes in the the oven to finish and keep warm before serving.

I originally was going to add parm cheese sprinkle to the top, but after I tasted the potato, the parm would detract from the flavor, so I left it off.  Simple and delicious.

The Tofurkey and vegan dressing

I also made cranberry sauce, which I forgot to bring to the potluck, so now I have 4 cups of this red yumminess I will freeze for later.  The cranberry sauce is an uber cranberry sauce, and I just can't go back to the canned stuff.  The recipe is this:  bag of organic cranberries, fresh squeeze organic orange juice, fresh grated Foggy Hollow local organic ginger, a dash of organic cayenne from my garden, honey from my friend's home where he saved a feral bee hive after a tornado took down the tree and home of the bees, and some Cumberland River water from my tap. Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat until all the cranberries burst.  The local ginger, cayenne and honey really make condiment the best cranberry sauce I have ever had and made.  It is not the worst thing for me to have forgotten to take the cranberry sauce because now I have this much more cranberry sauce to enjoy later.

Thanks friends and neighbors past and present.  I miss the ones who have left us, and I just am so happy to enjoy those who are still with us.  Friends and neighbors let's get together again really soon.