November with Nannie

Believe it or not, Thanksgiving arrives soon. Are you ready for it? My memory says yes and recalls an abundance of good times seeming like only yesterday. Thanks to Nannie, my paternal grandmother, this holiday holds a special place in my heart. As a kid, my family always spent Thanksgiving at her house and feasted on some of the best country cooking in the south. Nothing fancy, just down-home goodness honed to perfection from years of practice.

While the rest of the family gobbled down turkey, I preferred the side dishes, especially Nannie’s dressing. The only way to describe it is a chunky mishmash of cornbread and biscuits held together with chicken broth loaded with chopped onion and celery. Creation of her Thanksgiving masterpiece began the week before because she claimed only days-old cornbread and biscuits produced the right consistency. Not a fan of poultry seasoning, she sprinkled it lightly and relied more on letting all the flavors permeate the concoction while chilling in the refrigerator a few days. On Thanksgiving morning she baked the pans of dressing until a golden crust formed on the top and the center passed her toothpick test, moist but not soggy. OMGoodness, my mouth is tasting that scrumptious flavor just typing these words.

To complete the meal, she added deviled eggs with a sweet pickle tang, homemade mashed potatoes laden with real butter, fresh green beans slow-cooked with a ham hock, and a congealed salad always containing pineapple. No one left the table that day mad or hungry, and everyone saved room for dessert. Known for her love of sweets, Nannie always made our choice difficult, so we enjoyed two rounds of dessert, one with lunch and another about an hour later. Which homemade yummy would you pick—pumpkin pie, pecan pie, egg custard pie, butter pound cake, or chocolate fudge? With such a delectable selection, I confess most of us ate a small slice of each one. Hey, I suspect a good number of you would do the same if you knew how delicious they were.

These days all of her grandchildren agree Nannie loved to cook and loved on her family through cooking, always offering us a homemade treat on every visit. Not once did I see her use a recipe, and over the years my attempts to reproduce her dishes have been based on watching her cook. With a varying success rate and all of them lacking Nanny’s perfection, I’m beginning to believe some of her secrets to making extraordinary Thanksgiving dinners might have been her ancient electric stove and even older set of cookware. One fact I do know is I’ll be forever grateful for her love and making every childhood Thanksgiving a day to remember.

What’s one of your favorite Thanksgiving foods or memories?

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