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Friday, November 9, 2018

Two common/popular items I will not use for my Thanksgiving dishes

There is no Pumpkin Pie Spice in my kitchen. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves are included in my pumpkin pies, all made from my mother's recipe. Yes, I measure out each from their own little spice bottle.

Many people use Poultry Seasoning for their turkey dinner. Rubbed Sage , salt, and pepper are rubbed onto my turkey or other poultry at aThanksgiving meal.  Mama did it this way, and it suits me, too. I have no need for all the ingredients in McCormick Poultry Seasoning.

I must check the dates on these spices to see if I need to replace them this year.  I would suggest You check your spices early in order not to be running store to store at the last moment to find what you need. In the past, I have been caught short.

Someone expressed surprise that I would use my mother's exact recipes instead of making them my own. Well, all the time I read recipes that belonged to someone's grandmother or mother.

Plus, my children loved pumpkin pie and turkey and dressing. Mama did say I used too much sage, so I cut back on it the next time.  She did not volunteer her opinion as I asked her the first time she ever ate my stuffing and gravy with sage. The sage was not as subtle as it should be!

Do you follow and cherish your family's recipes? Do you use Poultry Seasoning and Pumpkin Pie Spice or pumpkin spice or do you use the separate seasonings for pumpkin and poultry?

15 comments:

  1. I do follow some family recipes. My MIL was a great cook and no one wanted her book of hand written recipes so they are all mine now and I love having them.
    My mom has a couple I use, but she was not a very good cook, so I don't use most of hers.

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    1. I only have a few of Mama's recipes, only because I asked for them. As far as I know, she had few written down. My maternal grandmother was a good cook, but I have no idea about Daddy's mother. She managed to feed 12 children through the Depression. Hungry children are easy to please. I do have two handwritten books of recipes I use.

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  2. Neither my mother or MIL were particularly good cooks. My mother was utilitarian in her cooking, but did make some wonderful things. She never followed recipes, though. She had the ability to read a recipe once, and remember it, so I have no idea how to make her signature dishes like creamed onions, and oyster dressing. My MIL was just awful at cooking. She knew nothing about food, nor did my DH before I met him. So, sadly, I have no family recipes. I WILL, however, hand mine down to my kids.
    I have never used pumpkin pie spice. I don't understand why anybody would use it. How difficult is it, really, to measure out your spices from separate jars? Besides, I don't care for cloves. The same goes for poultry seasoning--I make my own seasoning mix each time I roast a chicken or turkey. Plus, I don't care for sage!
    I have declared the holiday season upon us in my home. School is out Monday, then Thursday and Friday. The following week is 1/2 day Wednesday, off Thursday Friday. Today, I baked a cranberry cheesecake to celebrate. (My own concocted recipe--I hope it works!)

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    1. Meg,
      Utilitarian cooking can be delicious! Sometimes, I read a recipe and make it later because of the fact that some things are put in in large amounts and other items in smaller amounts. But, it is not something I do often.


      in a container of mixed spices, some spices settle, so the taste is different over time. Less ginger suits me fine.

      If the kids are out of school, the season is upon you whether you like it or not...lol. Thanks.

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  3. Hi Linda,
    I was blessed with a mother who was a great cook! I use many of her recipes, and cherish those in her hand writing! I generally use single spices rather than blends.

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    1. sbr girl,
      Recipes in her handwriting are a blessing indeed. No blends! Happy Thanksgiving cooking!

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  4. I too, only use Sage on my turkey. As an immigrant, I don't have any old family recipes to use. However, I do bake traditional South African goods for Christmas and it's a must to have trifle for dessert. I just buy pumpkin pie, because I've tried making it once and it was a disaster (and I'm a good baker).

    I found big Great Value spice bottles for 98c at Walmart this week. I stocked up on Allspice and Cloves.

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    1. Ms Goose,
      Did you not have the memory of recipes to bring with you? We all have our tastes and I have never had trifle except for what I have seen here in US. You must have inadvertently done something wrong with the recipe since pumpkin pie is really easy. That is a great deal on WM spices. Thanks.

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    2. I do have lots of SA recipes Linda. I should have mentioned that I don't have any Thanksgiving recipes, since we don't celebrate Thanksgiving there. I was raised with English/British ways, so we eat quite a lot of English food. We do have our own traditional foods too, that I cook often.

      I started cooking at age 12, since both my parents worked and have many recipes in my head.

      We always had trifle and Peppermint crisp fridge tart (icebox cake) for Christmas dessert, since Christmas falls during summer there. I might have to try making pumpkin pie again. If it fails again, then I'm just gonna stick to store bought...lol

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  5. I don't like pumpkin anything, so I admit to buying two pies and Cool Whip. I don't use poultry seasoning either (too salty for me), and have been known to be heavy-handed with the sage. I love to cook a little chicken broth with the giblets, some celery and fresh sage. I let it simmer on the stove the night before Thanksgiving as I'm prepping everything. When I clean the kitchen I let it cool, refrigerate it, and in the morning cut up the giblets and use some of them in the dressing and gravy.

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    1. Catrina,
      I see. I like pumpkin pie and bread, no pumpkin spice in anything. That is how Mama prepared giblets. I tried to pretend I did not know the heart and liver were in what I was eating...lol.

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    2. My giblets are cut up pretty finely. I have kids, and now grandkids, who would not approve if they knew. LOL

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    3. Catrina,
      How kind of you...lol. Mama did the same, so I could not see the giblets readily. I like chunky gravy, little chunks.

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  6. about the spices - if you smell them and they smell 'good' they are good enough.

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.