This Offbeat Life
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Stuffed stuff

by Martha Strom

What a perfect time of year to talk about "Getting Stuffed"---- with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. There are all sorts of "stuffed" food stuffs that are quick and simple.

How about Stuffed Celery (cream cheese and blue cheese mixed together and spread in a celery cavity). There are Stuffed Eggs, everyones favorite and the first thing to disappear from any party tray. Stuffed baked potatoes a la Mark Hopkins which is a wonderful potato dish that requires just a little cream, some crisp fried bacon bits, curry powder and snipped chives, salt and pepper added to the mashed potato meat and stuffed back into the scooped out shells. Sprinkle the tops with parmesan and paprika and bake until hot through. Outstanding!  Or how about stuffed whole canned pimientos stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, chopped sweet pickles and chopped walnuts? Very rich and very Christmasy (red pimientos and green pickles). Serve on a bed of lettuce and top with a little thinned mayonnaise. It was a favorite item in my mother's menu.

Looking back on the holiday menus,  how did we avoid the cardiac ward?   Research on the holidays and "Getting Stuffed" led me to a cookbook that belonged to my husband's mother called 20th Century Cookbook published in 1908. Thanksgiving Day Dinner was as follows:

Cream of Tomato Soup

Broiled White Fish in Cream Sauce

Next came: Roast Turkey with Oyster Stuffing

Cranberries

Olives

Mashed White  Potatoes

Baked Hubbard Squash

Apple-Nut-Raisin Salad with  French Dressing

I think I'm becoming ill and we're only half way through!

Mince Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Indian Steamed Pudding with Maple Hard Sauce and, what else--whipped cream

Nuts

Coffee and

Ice Cream

MY ARTERIES ARE HARDENING AS I WRITE!  

Research lead me to another very interesting cook book called Butte's Heritage Cookbook. It's a fascinating book of recipes and stories that you'll love spending time with. While there's no specific reference to Thanksgiving it's full of turn of the century  history and recipes of a time when Butte was an extremely wealthy rip-roaring mining town. The recipes are those from the various ethnic groups who lived and worked there. Several "stuffed" recipes are included. If you're looking for a recipe  from a specific nationality for the upcoming holiday season this book might be the place to find it.  

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. Don't eat everything in sight and stay off the bathroom scale!

Love, Mom

Our own Thanksgiving over the years was only a little more "calorieless". Here's a sample of  a typical menu from our household.

Baked Ham with Pineapple Stuffing

Roast Turkey with Cornbread Stuffing

Gravy

Cranberry-Orange Relish

Sweet Potato Pear Bake

Creamed Onions

Relish tray (our feeble attempt to introduce something low in calories)

Fresh string beans

Pumpkin pie

Banana Cream Cake.