The Feasting is Finished – Let the Baking Begin!

We are home from what I can say is the best Thanksgiving feast ever. Seriously good. It had everything a good feast needs. Amazing food cooked with love and dear ones close while consuming the awesome feast. We never have all our dear ones close, so I’ve learned to rejoice when we have ANY dear ones close.

You would think that food would be the last thing on my mind and honestly, I thought I’d never be hungry again. But our bodies do not rest on our feasts. They need fuel going forward, so when I saw this photo taken by the hubs, I knew I had to start off the month of December with it. I think that’s what temptation looks like when it is sitting on my shoulder. And I’m not sure if it is the devil or the angel. When it comes to food, I don’t think I have an angel. They both just try to beat each other to the post in tempting me.

As amazing as it seems, after feasting, we got to thinking about holidays past—and favorite foods. It’s crazy, but it is how we roll. So I thought I’d share a favorite family recipe with you all. If you don’t mind suffering a bit for your food….

Carrot Pudding

1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated potatoes
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup raisins*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp soda
1 egg

My original directions just said “mix and steam.” I wasn’t a savvy enough cook for that to work, so my mom added these instructions: Spoon the batter into canning jars or empty, washed coffee cans, filling on to about 2/3. Cover and steam in a pressure cooker (50 minutes, closed, 10 pounds of pressure) or boil in large pan until the batter looks dark and cake-like. Serve with Lemon Sauce (or your favorite flavor of sauce) and whipped cream or half and half.

*If you don’t like whole raisins, puree them and add to the mixture. They do help make the pudding more moist and flavorful. 🙂

Lemon Sauce for Carrot Pudding
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 cups water
salt
2 tbsp butter
lemon juice

This was the extent of the recipe in my grandma’s file. I guess they just assumed you’d know how to make a sauce. If you don’t know how to make a sauce, basically you, mix the sugar, flour, and salt together, then slowly add the water, mixing constantly. Bring this to a boil, then remove from heat, and add the butter and lemon juice (to taste). The sauce should be stored in the fridge and can be reheated.

When I reheat this (assuming there is any left), I use a double boiler or a piece of foil over boiling water. You can also use the microwave, but take care you don’t overheat. You want the pudding moist and yummy, or at least I do. Obviously, this recipe is NOT gluten-calorie-sugar-free. It is fully loaded with everything, which is why it is so yummy. But if you have any issues, approach with caution. Or run from it screaming.

My grandmother used to make this for the holidays—until she got to where she couldn’t, then my mom picked up the tradition. 🙂 We have some other family recipes that I’ve shared here. I might post some here that I haven’t added to the website if my baking/dreaming persists.

Does food figure in your memories of holidays past? Feel free to share! I love when people share and I love comments so much, I enter them into my monthly drawing for an AnaBanana gift basket worth $25! And (drum roll please) it is the first blog post of a new month, so we have a winner of the NaBloPoMo gift basket worth $50!

Julia aka Aberrant Crochet (a fun new blogger I met thru the blogging challenge!)

Perilously yours,

Pauline is dreaming of a treat-filled Christmas, because a white Christmas is not very likely in South Texas. When her dreams aren’t filled with carrot pudding and fudge, they are filled with mayhem of the romantic kind, which she writes into novels. For more information on her books and short stories, hop on over to her website. Be sure to sign up for her ezine, if you want to know when a new book releases!

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