It's Christmas night and I just finished making ham salad out of leftovers from the big ass ham that Mom served. Ham + mayo + sweet pickle relish chopped in a food processor. Everyone likes it except me, I don't touch it. I don't know, I think it's the combo of mayonnaise and ham.
And that was the most work I did all day.
It was a Christmas like most Christmases before. Except for the one Christmas that I spent in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, which was pretty amazing. I know that someday I'll think of these ordinary home Christmases as amazing too.
Well, maybe I'll think that now. Dad makes pancakes and bacon. Mom cooks up a storm for dinner, including a family recipe for some dessert called "marshmallow creme." And we get oodles of gifts even though we're all in our 40's and maybe we haven't been nice enough to get gifts that are marked "From Santa." We're together and fortunate to be comfortable on Christmas and it's all pretty amazing.
And another thing that's amazing are these Party Potatoes, another family recipe:
8-10 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
Add to them: 1 8 oz. package cream cheese and 1 cup sour cream
Beat all until light and fluffy, then add salt, paprika and chives if you want. Spoon into a buttered casserole dish and then dot the top with butter bits. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
I just made ham salad this morning with leftover ham from MIL's xmas eve dinner. I like it but my husband LOVES it and LITERALLY eats himself sick on it.
The consistancy is off-putting, I'll admit. My mom used to make ground bologna & pickles (same concept) my sister and I ate it every day for lunch by the pool every summer growing up. The thought of it now makes me ill . . . and taste chlorine.
Posted by: lg | 26 December 2012 at 01:20 PM
For some reason the ground bologna and pickles, even though it's basically the same, sounds totally gross to me, especially as it bakes in the summer sun. Oh my.
Posted by: blaugra | 26 December 2012 at 08:48 PM