We’re coming up on the party round, and I have to decide what to take. Christmas Day is easy–we promised to bring the turkey. Being all about tradition, we’ve gone back to the days of Dickens and beyond and had a cookshop do our work for us. Yes, back in the day, people didn’t have much–if any–cooking equipment or room or safety in the home and they took their food to cookshops and had it done. We’re having a turkey smoked by L & S Catering, as we have been doing for a year or so. Good stuff.
I’m thinking about multi-grain bread and a couple of spreads. Mark Bittman had a recipe for a white bean spread the other day that looked really good. I’m going to one party that might have vegetarians present and another one that’s hosted by a vegan, and I think this and a couple others might fit the bill if I leave out the butter or use Blue Bonnet Light, which is loaded with chemical crap but has no animal products, so my vegan friend will eat it. I, personally, would rather spring for a pound of certified humanely acquired real butter, but that’s me.
I used to read folk tales when I was little in which people would be like, “I beg your pardon, Mrs. Cow, but could I trouble you for a cup of milk to feed this starving cat?” And the cow was like, “Why certainly, kind sir, if you will bring me a mouthful of the clover that grows just beyond the hedge.” So cooperative farming is nothing new to me.
Anyway, that’s my plan–bread and spreads. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Who am I kidding? I’ll probably forget all about it, once it’s eaten. But maybe not. Remind me, after Christmas.
WRITING PROMPT: Should I stop posting these writing prompts? Are they useful at all? On the off chance that they are, write a paragraph in which a character who has a dish he/she plans to cook is told an honored guest can’t eat it because of food allergies or principles or something.
MA
Jen Wylie
December 22, 2010 at 9:25amGreat post Marian!
It is hard to find food to take when there are those with food preferences. I recently discovered I’m intolerant to milk products. My poor family is scrambling trying to find ways to feed me over the holidays. 🙂
They aren’t changing the dishes, but more setting things aside before milk, butter etc added. The joys of food…
Happy Holidays!
Marian Allen
December 22, 2010 at 10:54amOh, Jen, that’s too bad! I don’t have any trouble not cooking with meat, but dairy…. Fortunately, our vegan daughter keeps chickens, so we can cook with eggs because she knows the chickens are well-treated. –Boy, are they ever! When I get too old to take care of myself, I’m going to glue on feathers and pretend I’m one of her chickens! lol
Nancy Williams
December 22, 2010 at 12:23pmI like your writing prompts. Not everyone will use them and that’s okay. Just a note, if you want to cause problems here is a fact. All you vegi friends will die of heart disease or a stroke unless they stay clear of those fake butter spreads. A trip to the doctor convinced me, some test came back and a visual of the globs of margarine jelled between my heart muscles did it. I switched to real butter, did nothing else, and in one year, all the test came back with good results.
“Your sure there’s no meat in this soup?” The neighbor said.
“Absolutely positive,” she answered. “It has, carrots, celery, tomatoes, noodles, Basel, thyme, dill weed…hmmm, what else?”
The neighbor was already eating it. “It’s wonderful.”
“Oh yes,” she said. “Beef broth.”
Her neighbor sip it out and coughed.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author
Marian Allen
December 22, 2010 at 12:48pmLOL! Love your scene! It kinda makes me think of the scene in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” where the bride’s relative says, talking about the groom, “He don’t eat meat? That’s okay–I’ll make lamb.”
You are so right about that fake butter spread. I bought some, so I could make some of my Christmas goodies for my vegan girl to eat, and she can have all of them–they taste like petroleum products, which the stuff probably is.