Thanksgiving memories: Some good, others ... not so much

Growing up, Thanksgiving was pretty laid back in my house.

As I've mentioned before, I grew up in Oshkosh, but both of my parents were born and raised near Valentine and that's where most of their families still lived.

My dad worked for the local power company; he and a lineman were the service crew for the area. Someone always had to be there "on call." He worked over Thanksgiving so he could take Christmas off and spend it in Valentine with family.

So usually, it was just Mom and Dad and me. Occasionally some of the crew from Valentine would join us, but that was rare.

Even just for the three of us, Mom cooked a feast. We always had the standard turkey, stuffing (not dressing), mashed potatoes, gravy, a salad, a vegetable and dessert - usually pumpkin pie. The only things that ever varied were the salad and the vegetable. But there was one extra dish we always had at Thanksgiving and Christmas: Grandma's homemade noodles.

Those are the good memories.

But, honestly, my most memorable Thanksgiving was the first one I cooked on my own right after I got out of college.

I was going to host a "friendsgiving" before that term even came into being. Me and 11 of my best friends at the time were going to gather in my small Lincoln apartment for a holiday feast. I would provide the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy; the guests would bring salads, sides and desserts.

When I say "small apartment," I mean tiny. The galley kitchen was 7x7 feet square at the most.

I bought a turkey, about 15 pounds or so, but what was I going to cook it in? The only thing I could come up with was a 13x9 cake pan. Hey, the turkey fit, so why not?

Only, remember I said we called it "stuffing" and not "dressing"? That's because we stuffed it in the turkey. (Really not recommended these days for food safety reasons, but this was more than 30 years ago.) And remember I said this was the first Thanksgiving I'd actually prepared on my own. What I neglected to think about from my days watching Mom cook the holiday dinners was that stuffing expands as it bakes. And expands ... and expands ... and expands.

I cleaned out the turkey, mixed up mom's traditional sage and onion stuffing, shoved it in the turkey in the cake pan and stuck it in the oven.

About an hour later I decided to check on it and this stove didn't have a window in the door. When I opened the oven, I was struck by the sight of the stuffing oozing all over the place. Down the sides of the turkey. Over the edges of the pan. Everywhere.

The only thing I could think of was to put a cookie sheet under the cake pan and keep going. I mean, I had 11 people set to show up in a couple of hours expecting turkey and stuffing. And I still had to set the tables, and prepare the mashed potatoes and gravy. I didn't have time to worry about stuffing. And it kept expanding. Who knew dried bread chunks could absorb that much liquid?

When the turkey was finally done, the mess was nothing like I'd ever seen before. (The stuffing was pretty tasty, if I remember correctly and no one died of food poisoning.) But the stuffing that had oozed onto the cookie sheet had hardened, as had the stuffing that wouldn't fit on the cookie sheet and settled on the oven rack and the bottom of the oven. (Thinking about it later, I wondered why I didn't line the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil. It might have helped at least a little bit!)

After all that, the dinner was a great success. I wish I could gather that group together again. It was a fun time.

But the next morning reality set it: I had to clean up that mess somehow if I ever wanted to use that oven again! I don't know how many hours (or how many cans of Easy Off) it took to clean the oven, but it was a lot. The cake pan and cookie sheet were beyond help; I just threw them away.

I learned a valuable lesson that year: Thanksgiving with friends is fun, no matter how dirty the oven is!

My mom’s famous (at least in our family) Strawberry Nut Salad is my favorite. Made with strawberry gelatin, sour cream, pineapple and nuts, it’s tasty and colorful for a holiday table.

Strawberry-Nut Salad

1 (6-ounce) package strawberry gelatin

1 cup boiling water

2 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple

3 medium bananas, mashed

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 pint dairy sour cream

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Fold in strawberries and juice, crushed pineapple, bananas and walnuts. Turn half of chilled strawberry mixture into a 12-by-8-inch glass baking dish. Refrigerate until firm.

Spread top with sour cream. Spoon remainder of strawberry mixture on top. Return to refrigerator. Serve plain or on crisp lettuce.

Makes 12 servings.

Grandma’s Egg Noodles

4 eggs, well beaten

4 tablespoons half and half

8 cups chicken broth

Flour

Salt

Combine the beaten eggs and half and half. Add enough flour to make the dough stiff enough to roll thin. Cut in thin strips (a noodle cutter is the best way to do this, but you can use a knife if you don’t have a cutter) and drop into salted chicken broth that has been brought to a boil. Reduce heat and cook slowly for about 20 minutes until the noodles are done.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Mom’s Corn and Macaroni Casserole

1 can whole kernel corn (do not drain)

1 can cream-style corn (do not drain)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup macaroni rings, uncooked (see note)

1/2 cup butter, cubed

2 tablespoons minced onion

Salt and pepper

Note: Any small pasta will work, but rings are preferred.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9x12-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine all ingredients and pour into baking dish. Bake about 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.