Throwback Thursday. Holiday Meals.

Lauren is our hostess this Thanksgiving week and she chose a great topic – whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not. The idea of a holiday meal includes any holiday occasion your family celebrates. That covers a lot of ground.

To participate, head over to Lauren’s post, read the rules and join in. Lauren gives a little guidance to get the creative juices flowing:

This week’s prompt is: Holiday Meals.  

I really don’t know how my mum used to produce such wonderful Christmas dinners, for so many people because money was so tight but she really always came up trump’s.
It all started Christmas Eve when we all went shopping with mum…. We all regardless of age had stuff to carry home. Everything was got then it was home and busy in the kitchen…mince pies were made, veg prepped, turkey stuffed, gravey prepared. The Christmas pudding and cake were made weeks before yet always tasted as fresh as if they had been made the day before. As fast as my mum made mince pies my brothers pinched them!
We had a tiny kitchen and how we all got in there to help here was a miracle.
Mum’s old gas cooker was very temperamental and often blew up.. nothing worse than singed eyebrows thank goodness.
There were eight of us plus numerous waifs and strays! No one was ever turned away from our door.
I have always followed my mum’s tradions, her menus and her panicks.
Breakfast : scrambled eggs and salmon with buckfizz.
Dinner:
Turkey and Ham or Pork or occasionally Beef. Stuffing, sausage meat, roast parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, basted with honey.
Coliflower and Broccoli cheese, Brussel sprouts, peas and gravy, Yorkshire pudding, bread sauce and Cranberry sauce, apple sauce and horseradish sauce!
Christmas Pudding, Cheesecake as mice pies.

I have had Christmases with no heating, Mother in law most years even though she was not keen on me and everyone knew it. She made it clear she would rather be at her other son’s. Christmas when Hubby was ill, some when he was away. Christmas Dinner in Pubs and with relatives!

We had one Christmas in Spain but that was very odd . The two older boys were with us but we did miss the rest of the family. It’s absolutely wonderful now we have grandchildren they make Christmas so special.

I remember one year when I was about fourteen years old. Dad was washing up at our Belfast sink ( before they were fashionable) he put the plates on the draining board, we dried them and put them on the dresser behind him. What we didn’t realize was that he was lifting the clean dishes and washing them again 🤣🤣