HOLIDAY CONTEST!
I'm sorry in advance because blogger will not let me space between paragraphs.
My Aunt Wanda (Great aunt actually) always made pickled carrots every year for the holidays. I always looked forward to them at Christmas, and other people did too. Aunt Wanda was a petite woman with a very kind and gentle nature. I think that may be one of the reasons why I loved them so much because she was just so delightful and kind. Aunt Wanda died when I was still in High School. I don't think that a sweeter person has ever walked this earth. Anyway back to the carrots. They are as wonderful and delightful as Aunt Wanda was, and now I can make them. Well, I sort of make them and have had success in the recreating of her carrots. I have it all figured out after trial and error. I had no idea how challenging canning could be. I have her recipe, but I never could get them to turn out exactly the way hers did. Probably because I am not her, so they will never the same. They have passed the test because my Dad has always loved Aunt Wanda's pickled carrots, and he told me that they tasted just like them when I made them last year.
I did some research on Alum which was used for pickling in this recipe. I was not able to find it in the stores, so I just had to find out why it was so hard to find. It turns out that Alum is banned because it is actually toxic to humans. I now use pickling salt instead of Alum which was one adjustment that I had to make. Other than that they are exactly the same. They do taste pretty much the way that hers did. I also made another adjustment this year. Makayla's mommy has moved beyond peeling and slicing bags and bags of carrots because it took hours to make these last time and only about 30 minutes this time. We will see how it goes. I know there will be lots of disappointed folks because they loved the long, skinny nature of Aunt Wanda's Crunchy, beautiful carrots. Guess what! She was a retired lady with nothing but time. I on the other hand am limited on time, so this year folks you are getting measly baby carrots because I am not willing to peel and slice for hours.
Okay, Now it is contest time! I have made 1 extra jar of these pickled beauties for 1 of you. I have told you all about 1 of my favorite family traditions, and I would absolutely love to hear about yours. In just 1 week I will have Nathan pick a number at random based upon the number of comments that I receive for the contest. The number that he chooses will match the number for your post. For example the first person to comment will be #1 and so on. I am so excited to be able to share this family tradition with one of you. Don't hold it against me if they are not good because I am not Aunt Wanda, so I will not make the perfect pickled carrots every time. Even if you don't want to be considered for the prize I would love to hear about everyone's family traditions. If you don't live here I would love to ship them to you if you win. If you do live here I will just swing by and drop them off while I am out and about sometime.
Don't be scared of you don't like carrots. These are no ordinary carrots. I promise that they are the most delightful holiday treat that you will ever have the priveledge of eating. They are the perfect blend of spicy and tart. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
6 comments:
I have spent every Christmas holiday with my family, and I was so blessed to continue that tradition when married. Eventually my new family will take precedence over my old, but for now its nice!! Every year we open ONE present on Christmas eve. When we didn't have a lot of presents, we started opening presents one at a time one Christmas day, that way it lasts longer!! And I always hide the biggest and best present for my baby sister, and make her have a "treasure hunt" with clues to find it. She is twenty now, and stilly loves it and wouldn't have a Christmas without it. :)
-Sarah <><
This kids unwrap a brand new pair of Christmas PJs and slippers. We bake cookies for Santa and enjoy pizza for dinner. Once the kids are tucked in DH & I have some drinks and finish wrapping and getting everything set up. This usually runs late into the night so its an early morning when the kids get up ready to go.
The traditions in my family are: kids wear the same Pjs for Christmas day, opening their gifts from Santa's bag, eating chestnuts and panetonne. :)
Okay, so my family's holiday tradition is making my dad's famous ham. Yes, most people have turkey for Christmas, but dad gets a fresh ham. He marinades it in special seasonings over night, then slow cooks it in a roaster. It is so sooo good! It melts in your mouth!
Jesse and I are still trying to make traditions for our little family. Last year (with your help) I started an ornament collection for each of them to recieve each year, from hallmark. It may seem silly to them now, but years from now, they will be worth many memories!
A tradition at our house is one that was started on Lee's (now 30) second Christmas. He wanted to play with all the ornaments and I took his circus animals that had been on his crib mobile and hung them on the bottom of the tree. These were his ornaments that he could play with. We laugh now that we keep putting them on the bottom of the tree because they do not really look like Christmas, but they do bring back special memories. Aunt Connie
We don't have any special traditions, other than getting together to eat! We have a set menu and all, but nothing real special for Thanksgiving.
For Christmas we made my great grandma's Sweedish meatballs for dinner. On Dec. 23 everyone gathers at my mom's house to make meatballs. There are usually 10-15 of us rolling and then we guess how many meatballs we've made. Last year I won the guessing game with 932! :-)
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