NEW TRADITIONS
Over the years we as a family have had traditions that have come and gone replaced by the dynamic of a changing family and a home base that has moved throughout the entire North American continent. Whereas our roots have been dug up and replanted in place after place we now seem to have come full circle, at least for me.
We've now been back in the home of my teenage years for over a decade, a home my parents built. Since moving back we worked hard to turn the house from the home of my parents to a place that now carries our footprint. With this we've moved beyond the traditions of my parents and set up a new vocabulary for our holidays. Thanksgiving has become a moveable feast happening bi-annually at our home and shifting to San Francisco on the alternating years. Thanksgiving now involves not just the Thursday of Thanksgiving but is extended into a weeklong occasion with houseguests, friends and family. It all commences the weekend before with trips to the local airports in Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago to transport incoming guests, their luggage and non-liquid food products back to our house.
The house transforms into a B&B for the week with every nook and cranny becoming a place for someone to sleep. Even the bar doubles as a makeshift bedroom.
Once everyone has found a place to store their luggage it's time to begin the hunting and gathering process. Food shopping is high on the list requiring dozens of trips to local food purveyors and specialty shops even though the menus have been developed weeks in advance.
Then there's the alcohol, plenty of Cabernets, Brunellos, Tito's vodka, and Jack.
Simple meals are put together on the days leading up to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with meals like Danny Kaye's lemon chicken pasta, Bloody Mary's and a pizza party from Buck's Pizza, a Madison staple for decades.
Up to this point everything is on a spur of the moment basis with an inventory of the refrigerator calculated and a dash to the takeout menu box. But it is all a prelude leading up to a tradition we've woven into the fabric of our holiday for a growing amount of years, the Wednesday evening glazed ham with cheddar & sage biscuits buffet.
A full cooked whole bone-in smoked ham is scored, smothered in Dijon mustard and studded with cloves. The ham is then baked and basted every twenty minutes for three hours with a mixture of apple cider, dark brown sugar, maple syrup and a little more mustard until the skin splits and turns a dark juicy brown.
The biscuits are from Rick's recipe with the dough prepared the day before. He combines flour (it must be the
White Lily brand, a southern favorite and the flour Rick's Granny Shaver always used) with both butter and a bit of
Crisco shortening infused with fresh and ground sage and finally grated cheddar cheese. They don't go into the oven until the ham has come out so they can be served warm.
We invite family and friends in addition to our houseguests for our Wednesday evening informal fete. Everyone staying at the house has an assignment. Their hands and culinary skills are now an integral part in planning the menu.
Randy's whiskey punch was ladled out of ceramic terrine and served alongside a dozen different Italian and regional wines.
Susan and JoHannah competed with skillet cakes, one made with caramelized apples and topped with a sea salt caramel icing and the other made with three kinds of ginger, ground, freshly grated and candied.
Our daughter Emmy worked her magic with the flowers with an enormous amount of help from Susan. Every room had a signature bouquet with lush blush roses, miniature hydrangeas and seasonal berries.
This is how the pounds abound on the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday at the Shaver/Melahn home. Next the real meal with all the stops pulled out as everyone labors to beat their signature dishes from the year before.
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