Are you a traditionalist or an innovator when it comes to the holiday menu?
Do all of the same dishes have to be on the table in the same way every year?
Is some deviation allowed?
Are a few new dishes permitted?
Or is there open rebellion if there’s maple syrup in the sweet potatoes rather than honey?
At my family holiday table it was simple: New dishes were permitted as long as all of the old ones were still present.
Of course, that can result in a groaning table…..
If you can add something new to yours – try this one….
Butternut Squash Gratin
Total time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 cups sliced butternut squash
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120gr) Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) milk
- 4 tbs Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Herbes de Provence
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 2 tsp olive oil
Instructions:
- Heat 1 tsp oil in a large skillet. Add shallots and sauté until tender, 5 – 8 minutes.
- Add squash and stir-fry briefly. Cover, turn heat off and let sit for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl lightly beat eggs, Parmesan, yogurt, milk, mustard, paprika and herbs.
- Add shallot / squash mixture and stir to mix.
- Brush the remaining 1 tsp olive oil in a baking dish large enough to hold the gratin easily.
- Pour gratin mixture in and bake for 30 – 35 minutes at 400F. Center should not jiggle when done (or only slightly).
- Remove and serve from baking dish.
Every morning, after I walk the dogs and have breakfast, I have my coffee.
I have my coffee at my computer, with the thought that I can check email and do a bit of mindless internet meandering while waiting for the coffee to wake me up.
The dogs, however, see it as an opportunity for me to have the supreme pleasure of petting them.
Bonnie sits on my left, poking me with her nose whenever I pause in my duties.
Guapa stands on my right, laying her head on my thigh whenever I take my hand off her back.
It makes it rather difficult to drink my coffee – and impossible to do anything with the mouse or keyboard.
On the plus side, I often end up reading stuff that I would normally pass over…. and some of it’s fun.
The other morning I read a bit about a new idea for a holiday food tradition.
Or maybe it’s a tradition of not having a tradition….
The idea is this: Everyone (old enough and capable enough to cook) is assigned a dish to make – as in a potato dish or vegetable dish or turkey or dessert or whatever.
The only rule is that the dish has to be something that has never before graced the holiday table and that the cook has never before prepared.
It has to be new.
And no trial runs to see if it’s edible.
No one can complain about a dish not ‘being as good as —– used to make’ because no one ever made it before.
And everyone gets to have fun making and trying new food.
If it’s totally awful…. Well, it’s fodder for conversation for years to come.
I rather like the idea.
If you want nutrition information for the recipe, try this site: Calorie Count
I serve a different Thanksgiving menu each year and people keep coming back. Karen
The squash should not wait for Thanksgiving! I think Saturday is open.
Your puppy talk really makes me miss mine … cold nose in the arm pit trick he perfected early on.
One Thanksgiving I printed recipes, did all the shopping then handed everybody a recipe to prepare. It was really fun and good eats.
We don’t do Thanksgiving. Xmas is our feast time but the summer temperatures of the southern hemisphere don’t mix well with the traditional northern Xmas fare! Whilst there are many variations of the more traditional turkey and ham, there is also a mix of many cultures so basically anything festive goes. It is fun.
I always roast a turkey, but the dressing and all the sides and desserts are variable depending on my mood and on offers from others to make their faves. If I make a pie, it is always apple, as I love it more than any other kind.
Karen, that’s because it’s always so good ;-))
Tanna, that’s a good idea…. Bonnie has the bad habit of poking hard with her nose to get attention – to both sitting and standing humans. She’s of a size that makes standing male humans very vulnerable LOL
Gil, I think, for me, a southern hemisphere Christmas would seem very, very strange. Even here in France it’s a little ‘off’. (I come from snow country in the US)
Pam, we used to vary the sides a lot when I lived in the US – but the turkey and pies (pumpkin and mincemeat) were sacred. I like pumpkin, loath mincemeat and would be with you on the apple…
Katie, I make new desserts every year. Never tried; just ones that sound great. Its fun.
Phoenicia, and I make them so rarely… Funny, I have my mother’s recipes and 75% of them or for desserts. You’ll have to go through them some day ‘-))