Nostalgia

It is Thanksgiving Day here in the US. I want to wish you all, wherever you are, a very happy and healthy holiday! Take the time to remember all of the blessings that you have received; we all have been blessed, even in times of great distress.

This year we are particularly thankful to be so close to family. My folks, my grandmother, and my aunt and uncle are joining us. We bought a 19lb. turkey from the PennState Poultry Science Club (first in the nation last year, second this year!). I wanted the 35lb. tom, but they told me that would be a bit much. (And I measured; it wouldn’t fit in the oven and we have a BIG oven!) The pies have all been cooked, great grandma’s Date Nut Tapioca Pudding is in the fridge (recipe to follow), the turkey is now in the oven, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has started. Oh, and there are 3 football games on today. Go Cowboys! So give thanks and enjoy this day!

Great Grandma McNamara’s Date Nut Tapioca Pudding*
Description:
They say it’s a salad, but it tastes an awful lot like a desert to me!

Ingredients:
4 C Water
1 1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. White Sugar
3/4 C Tapioca
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 C Chopped Nuts (Optional, but then it is a Date Nut Salad!)
1 1/2-2 C Dates

Directions:
1) Boil water, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar
2) Add Tapioca in above, cook till thick.
3) Add Vanilla, Nuts, Dates
4) Chill, top with Whipped Cream and dot with Maraschino cherries.
5) “Serve in a beautiful crystal bowl,” Mae E. McNamara

Number Of Servings: A bunch.

Preparation Time: 2 hrs w/ help from toddler

*At the dinner table Great Grandma todl us that the recipe is, in fact, from an aunt, and Mom said that she has since found it in an Amish cookbook. Given that Great Grandma’s father was a German baker it is likely that there is a common heritage.