This Little Piggy…

May 12, 2010

“This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home,

This little piggy had roast beef,

This little piggy had none.

And this little piggy made the family laugh

‘he he he’ all the way home!”

Meet our family practical joke!

Okay – maybe I better explain.

You see, I have a rather eccentric aunt who has a habit of watching the shopping networks late at night. She tends to buy things – interesting things.

One of her most memorable purchases was an 18 inch plastic Bubble Bunny that moved in circles while playing “It’s a Small World” and blowing bubbles.  It terrified small children.

So a few years ago when she moved from her apartment and gave my mom several boxes of stuff, we really had no idea what to expect. My Mom went through all the boxes and then shared some things with my sisters and I. There were some nice things in those boxes that we split between us  – and then there were the pigs.

We were speechless as we gazed in amazement at the ceramic momma sow with several nursing piglets. Then we burst into laughter.

Hmm…which one of us wants to put a lactating pig on our mantel piece?! I’m country – but not that country!

The more we looked at it – the more we laughed!

I’m not sure at that point how the legend got started – but the piggies disappeared soon after  that only to reappear, all wrapped up and under the Christmas tree.

We had a good laugh at my sister’s shocked face when she opened them.

A practical joke was born.

That sister hid them away for awhile until everyone forgot about them, then rewrapped them and gave them to another sister at a birthday party.

That sister in turn, re-wrapped them and gave them to a brother-in-law, who re-wrapped them and gave them to another family member… and on and on the joke continued.

These little piggies have made an appearance at birthdays, Christmas gatherings, graduation parties, and, for the first time last weekend, at a Bridal Shower.

Since I was the last recipient of the piglets, it was my honor to choose the next home for the little piggies. I thought it was the perfect to way to welcome a new family member – to include them in a family tradition. So I wrapped them up and gave them to my niece at her bridal shower.

I know – I’m such a good aunt! :) (And yes – I did give her a real gift as well!)

I think my niece was honored. I’m not so sure about her fiance!

I doubt that momma pig will ever grace the mantel at their new home – but from the glint in my niece’s eye – I’m sure our family joke will live on.

Hmm…I wonder who’s next?

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (9)

Bridal Satin Memories

April 14, 2010

There’s “wedding” in the air!

With my parent’s 50th Anniversary Celebration coming up this week-end and my niece’s recent engagement – it seems like every family conversation involves weddings.

It’s making me a bit nostalgic. :)

But then spring always brings back memories – I starting dating Jan in the spring and he asked me to marry him a little over a year later.

When I heard about the super-romantical proposal my niece received – it made me wonder – how did Dad propose to Mom?

I remembered back to the afternoon when Jan proposed to me.

It was sweet.

It was simple.

It was Jan.

It was (and is) priceless.

But the proposal is just the beginning – then the wedding planning starts!

Fifty years ago my mom made her own wedding dress on her treadle sewing machine. She went on to make wedding dresses for all four of her daughters – me included.

Last week-end she cut into bridal satin once again as she started on my niece’s wedding dress.

I remember how exciting it was to see all that beautiful satin laying there – and knowing it was going to turn into the wedding dress I would wear down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams!

I’m sure my niece was as starry eyed as I – as she watched Mom lay out the material and pattern.

I know she was excited when she heard about the white Bible tradition!

When Mom got married she carried a small white Bible she received from her grandma. All of my sisters and I carried it with our bridal bouquets as well.  As soon as my niece heard the story – she was anxious to “carry” on the tradition.

I’m glad that in the midst of all this planning and excitement we have a weekend together to remember what all the fuss and preparations are about.

It’s about a man and a woman promising before God to love and honor each other till death do they part.

It’s not just about bridal satin and white Bibles – they are only the beginning – the celebration!

It’s really about the marriage.

The commitment.

My folks have kept it for 50 years.

Now that’s a tradition to pass on!

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Memories | Tagged , , , | Comments (8)

So How Do We Iron Chef?

April 29, 2009

One of our favorite family traditions is our Annual Iron Chef Competition at the Remix.

Since we are a family of foodies (people who love to read about, talk about, think about, make, and eat food) our very own Iron Chef Competition just makes sense.

Our rules are simple. The official judges (Nana and the grandkids) chose a secret ingredient and announce it a few weeks in advance. Any one – of any age – can enter as many entries as they wish.

The day of the event all of the entries are placed on a table, labeled and given a small plastic cup to hold the votes. Whenever we are all assembled and quiet (now that’s a major undertaking!), each chef shows their dish and describes the ingredients.

Our Iron Chef Dishes

Then we all go around the table taking samples of everything. We each have a small cup of M & M’s that we use for voting by putting them in the cups of our favorite dishes.

This year’s secret ingredient was apples.

We had everything from apple muffins to apple salads. We had apple brownies, apple snacks, and apple desserts. We even had apple butter pancakes!

Some of the amazing entries were:

Thick Skinned Apple

The simple: “Thick Skinned Apple” – an apple that was peeled, then peanut butter was used to re-apply the peel.

Chocolate Bars

The Chocolate: Caramel Apple Bars

Apple Salsa

The Unique: Apple Salsa

William Tell's Son Cake

The Artistic: A Rice Krispie sculpture of William Tell’s Son complete with apple and arrow!

It was a fun and delicious family activity!

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Family Traditions | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Swedish Potato Sausage

March 4, 2009

Potato Sausage

Having married a man of Scandinavian descent with roots deep in Minnesota (the land of a thousand lakes and lutfisk), I have learned to appreciate and even enjoy certain traditional dishes.

Potato sausage is one of them!

This spicy combination of beef, pork and shredded potatoes is a filling and very economical dish.

Traditionally it is stuffed in sausage casings and boiled in hot water to serve. But if you, like me, don’t have sausage casings sitting around, just make them into patties and fry them.

We like to make a batch before Christmas and freeze the patties to enjoy all winter. Our favorite way to serve them is with waffles and hot applesauce on a cold, snowy winter night.

Swedish Potato Sausage

15 pounds potatoes, peeled
3 pounds onion, peeled
3 pounds boneless pork roast
3 pounds ground beef
1/3 cup flour
5-7 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons pepper
3 teaspoons allspice
1 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 – 3/4 cup milk

In a food grinder using the course disk, alternately grind the potatoes, onions and pork.

Combine with the ground beef, mixing well.

Combine all of the dry ingredients and sprinkle over the the meat and potato mixture. Add milk and mix well.

Stuff the sausages into casings or make into patties and freeze individually. (I like to lay them out on parchment lined cookie sheets in the freezer until they are frozen solid. Then I put them in zip lock bags to store in the freezer.)

This recipe makes about 20 pounds of sausage.  It can halved or cut into thirds, or even doubled or tripled if you have that much patience and potatoes!

Ja, Ja, is goot food.  Mange tak for stopping by.

Ha en god dag. (Have a good day – in Norwegian of course!)

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Happy Ground Hog’s Day!

February 2, 2009

800px-groundhog2So have ya’ll got your ground hog trapped and skinned for the big shin-dig ta-night?

Yep, we got us a good one this year. We’re fixin’ to have a real feast ta-night. Ground hog, collard greens, fat back and biscuits.

What? Ya’ll don’t enjoy ground hog on this holi- day?

It’s a tradition here in the hills where I comes from.

All the chillen’ look forward to this here feast. It means February is finally here and winter is almost over.

Yes sirree, it’s a time to be a’celebratin’!

Go out and grab you a hunk of ground hog at the local supermarket and have yourself a feed ta-night.

Yes, your grocery store carries ground hog – they all do. It’s common enough where I come from.

Now just think a minute- what is ground hog? A hog is another name for a pig.  And what is ground pig called- you got it now!

Sausage!

Hurry on out and get some of that “ground hog” for supper ta-night. The looks on the faces of your chillen’  when you tell them they’re eating ground hog will be worth the effort!

Happy Ground Hog’s Day, everybody!

By Country Gal | Posted in Critters, Family Traditions | Tagged , | Comment (1)