A few reflections from Shakespeare’s
”
Hamlet
”
seem fitting as we kick-off this holiday season of 2003.
”
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
”
A few reflections from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” seem fitting as we kick-off this holiday season of 2003.
“And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.”
The preparations for the feasting and good times between family and friends even today seem to become almost spiritual, and certainly leaves all partakers with a wholesome good feeling. Food and fun for family and friends! Enjoy every minute.
I decided to ask others to share some of their favorite food-related Thanksgiving stories for the background of this article. But first, let me share something I started years ago with my family even though we sometimes forget to do it now. But we always “remember the time when…”
Gather up some books of poetry or books of famous quotations and copy several onto little pieces of paper and tuck them under the dinner plates. At just the right time during the dinner, ask everyone to stand and read their messages. Little kids, great-grandparents, everyone gets to participate. Funny, serious, thought provoking – you get to choose.
And how many of you have cooked a turkey with the little plastic or paper bag of giblets still stuck into the neck cavity? If you have not stuffed and cooked that turkey yet, check it out to make sure they are not still in there! It could be hiding, just waiting for you first time turkey cooks to forget to remove it.
Janet VerVaecke of Hollister has a great pumpkin cheesecake story to share. She said this happened a few years ago when she was just learning to cook. At an office party everyone had brought food to share. The recipe for the pumpkin cheesecake was given to Janet as well as one of her co-workers to prepare for the party. Each went home to make the cheesecake for the event. Two cheesecakes from the same recipe, but both looked and tasted different. Janet’s was light and creamy, the other one was darker in color and was firmer. Everyone loved each one but of course the comments were questioning. How could two people use the same recipe and the final product look and taste so different? They went through the lists of ingredients and everything checked out: Eggs, pumpkin pulp, sugar, vanilla, cream – it was a match. Until the other person asked Janet if she had the oven set at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Her response was “What oven? I did not know we had to bake it!”
Today I have a recipe for a wonderful traditional German gingerbread house that you can make from scratch. No kits. When my two children were little, we started baking gingerbread houses during Thanksgiving vacation. Perhaps this would be a fine tradition for your family as well. Everyone loves to get into the act. This type of gingerbread house is very sturdy and if made now can be still standing at Christmastime. Gather up some colorful candies for the decorations and let the house building begin.
Read through this recipe carefully and follow all of the special notes. It is easy, but it does take some time.
GINGERBREAD HOUSE
6 cups all-purpose flour, sifted or lifted
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 1/4 cups white granulated sugar
4 large eggs (measure to end up with 7/8 cup)
1/2 cup honey (liquid, not creamy)
In a very large mixing bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and sugar. Whisk it well to blend everything. In another bowl whisk the eggs with the honey and then add to the dry ingredients. With a spoon mix together and then dump it out onto your counter. With clean hands, start to work it into a ball. At this point it is very dry and crumbly and you will think it is not right. DO NOT ADD ANY MORE LIQUID! Just keep working and kneading with your hands. It may take 10 minutes. Eventually it starts to stick together. Put the ball into a bowl, cover and set aside for 2-3 hours. This allows the honey to be absorbed completely by the flour.
Design your house. You will need 2 side walls about 5 by 7 inches is size, two end walls about 5 by 6 inches. Cut windows and doors as desired. Cut some dough into chimney pieces. Create a sloped or pitched roof to fit the dimensions of the house frame. Be creative! Cut leftover dough into cobblestone shapes for sidewalks.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the dough ball into 4 sections. Roll out one section on a lightly floured board or counter to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out the house pattern, using your homemade templates as above. Or simply cut out gingerbread cookies. Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake each sheet of cookies or house parts about 12 minutes, or until browned. It is better to bake them a little longer than not enough. But of course, do not burn them. Allow the parts to cool on cooling racks. This gingerbread is very hard at this point and needs to be dunked into some hot coffee or cocoa. After a few weeks, it softens. It needs to be this hard in order for your house to stay upright.
Use a wooden board or a large plate for your platform. To glue the house together, heat 1 cup white granulated sugar in a flat skillet until it bubbles and turns a very dark brown. One by one, dip the ends of a house part into the glue and quickly adhere it together. Be careful, the syrup is very hot. When you have the frame put together, add the roof parts, and then put on a chimney and other touches. Work quickly during this step as the glue will harden. You can drizzle a little of the glue into the cracks of the house to help hold it together, if necessary.
Using commercial meringue powder (available in specialty gourmet stores) following the package directions make the fluffy white snow icing. You can also make a traditional recipe for Royal Icing or powdered sugar icing for the snow, if desired. Pile the fluffy meringue icing in and around your house, decorating it with colorful candies or cookies. Licorice, jelly drops, hot shots and wafer cookies make great decorations.
The meringue icing will harden rock hard within a few hours. This allows the candies to stay intact. Even big fingers have a hard time picking at the decorations until a few weeks have passed. Eventually the house will soften and you can eat it if you like. Most people admire it, and eventually it gets thrown away instead. Enjoy the experience!
