Recipe

My word for today is recipe.  It seems very fitting for this time of year because this is when I long for all the things my mom used to make.  My mom was not big on pastries or desserts (except pies made in the summer and frozen for when the berries and rhubarb were out of season).  She was, though, an exceptionally good cook.

As stated previously, we were spoiled.  Special occasions such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas generally rated a ham and a turkey because at least one of us wouldn't eat one of them.  The rest of the year, though, Mom worked on the "it's on your plate, eat it" method of menu-planning.

I wish I had her recipes.  They lived in a drawer.  Not the drawer right under the dish drainer.  That one was for Dad's Raleigh coupons.  The recipes lived in the drawer to the left of that one.  Some were hand-written on 3 x 5 cards and stored in an old Tootsie Roll box.  Some of those cards, in particular the one for Gen Sewell's Banana Nut Bread, had seen better days.  They were stained and spilled upon and much the worse for wear.  There was also a brown, spiral bound loose leaf book with some hand-written recipes.  We didn't use the book much.  We didn't use the box much either, to be honest.  Most of Mom's recipes were in her head.

Some of Mom's recipes live on.  Her recipe for glorified rice, traditionally served with the ham, is still being served at my house, at my daughter's house, and, as I recently learned, at my nephew's.  Mom would be pleased.  I have no exact measurements for this recipe because I don't think my mom ever "measured" anything, unless she was baking.  Maybe that's why she wasn't fond of it.

Cooked white rice (and no, Uncle Ben's instant won't do.  You need to actually cook the rice).
Crushed pineapple
Whipped cream (and no, cool whip won't do.  You need to actually whip it).
Mini marshmallows
Coconut

That's it.  Mix it all together till it looks right, all blended and moist.  The directions in parentheses are courtesy of Juls, whose Glorified Rice last year was so  much better than mine the year before.  I tend to take shortcuts.  Sometimes they work.  In this case, not so much. This also makes a wonderful "morning after Holiday" breakfast, if there's any left.