Boggle Mama

Canned Corn, Mashed Potatoes and Mayhem

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is over?

My Christmas tree is already up. For Thanksgiving, I decorated it with links of autumn colors made with construction paper. So, it blended well with my other fallish colors for my family feast.

Thanksgiving dinner, as usual, was at my home. I made the bird, the sausage stuffing, canned corn, and canned jellied cranberry sauce. Oh, yeah, canned turkey gravy, too.
Although I'm a good cook, or, so I've been told, I am equally good at opening cans.

Thank God for all my children ! They brought the side fixins'. Colleen made the mashed potatoes this year.

There was a rumor that Megan's husband, Guy, didn't like the potatoes last year. Doug, Erin's husband had made them. So, as hostess, I had to ask Erin not to make them this year. I was very diplomatic. I told Doug that Guy hated his mashed potatoes and that Guy suggested that someone else should make them this year. Actually, I was more subtle than that.

Doug and Erin's offering was a delicious salad made with craisins, walnuts and feta cheese with a balsamic vinegar dressing. It was so good that I had it the next day for lunch.
Doug's Mom and Dad always join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Jane brought sweet potato casserole and butternut squash. And, of course, Corky, who is in the wine business, brought a variety of reds and whites.

My ex hubby joined us this year. In the past, I've invited him but he could never come. This year he took me up on my offer and didn't come empty-handed. Besides a case of Yuengling and a case of Corona lite, he brought three pounds of cooked shrimp that he made with beer and his secret ingredients. He also made the very spicily yummy cocktail sauce.

Peter and Shannon brought the dinner rolls and Shannon's specialty, Green Bean Casserole. You cannot have Thanksgiving without Green Bean Casserole. Mmm Mmm good !!!

I totally forgot that Colleen made a signature drink for the festivities. I'm not sure what she called it, but it was pink and alcoholic and yummy. Colleen is well known for discovering wonderful concoctions. One of her all-time award winning signature drinks can be found here on her Freshvintage blog. Make sure you check it out. Talk about a drink made in heaven !!! And here is another equally super recipe for your imbibing pleasure. I don't know where she inherited her inventiveness to put together a superlative alcoholic beverage. I"m just a milk and cookies kind of gal myself.  Wait, one sec while I get my tongue out of my cheek.

Heather and her family ate at her in law's house. And Megan and Guy ate at his mom and dad's house. But Megan and Guy and the four boys came over for dessert.

All in all, twelve out of my fifteen grandkids were here. There was a lot of swashbuckling going on. The liquor helped to drown out the incessant screaming and running and general mayhem. 

I've already decorated my Christmas tree. I'm ready for the rest of the holidays. Bring it on !!

Baked Beans at the Automat and the Lemon Meringue Pie Debacle

The Automat

Oh, how I love the Automat,

The place where all the food is at !

I like to watch the milk run out

And join the coffee at the spout.

I put a nickel in the slot

And watch to see what I have got.

The little door then opens wide

And gives me what has been inside.

There's cakes and sandwiches galore

And pies and cooked things by the score.

Oh, yes ! I love the Automat,

The place where all the food is at.

ELIZABETH  M.  KOEHNLINE,

Life Magazine, 1938

Have any of my readers ever been to a Horn and Hardart's Automat and Cafeteria?

My Irish Grandmother, Memommy, used to take us there for lunch on special occasions. We would take the El to downtown Philadelphia, shop at John Wanamaker's Department Store, then go over to H&H. It was a thrill to be handed a bunch of nickels and let loose in the Automat. My favorite thing to get was their baked beans. What flavor !!! I honestly don't remember what else I bought. I'm sure my grandmother made sure that I had some pork with my beans.

I guess you could say that Horn and Hardart's was in our blood. My Irish cousins worked as waitresses in the H&H restaurant when they first came over to live in America in the late 50's/early 60's. In fact, I remember going to the one where they worked, and being waited on by them. There were a lot of waitresses with brogues.

During the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school, I too, worked in a H&H restaurant located near my home in northeast Philly.

These are some of the memories of that time:

• I hated it. I was a piss-poor waitress.
• I loved the food, and could eat whatever I wanted for free. And I did. Mostly, baked beans.
• I gained fifteen pounds over that summer.
• I developed a bad case of acne.
• Somehow, I managed to snag my first boyfriend, Jimmy Townsend. Who dropped me like a hot potato in junior year.
• I introduced my sister Patty to her now husband of forty-some years. He was the short order cook and now he is a nuclear engineer. You go, Bill !!!

And, last, but not least, one Sunday morning, I dropped an entire piece of lemon meringue pie on an unsuspecting and quite livid customer.  It was a man, and I made the fatal error of trying to wipe off the pie, which had landed directly on his crotch. Bad move !! I ran into the bathroom and cried hysterically and would not go out until those people left the premises.

A few years ago, I bought a book called The Automat written by Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart.

For those who have memories of Horn and Hardart's and would like recipes for some of their best selling food, you will find this book a great read.

I have made their baked beans, and would like to share the recipe with you. Enjoy !!!

Horn and Hardart's Baked Beans

Amount	Measure	Ingredient	Preparation Method
1	lb	Great Northern or Navy beans	soaked overnight in cold water
1	c	Onion	chopped
4	sl	Bacon	diced
2	tb	Sugar
1	tb	Dry Mustard
½	ts	Cayenne pepper
2/3	c	Molasses
2	tb	Cider Vinegar
1 ½	c	Tomato juice
		Salt

• Drain the beans and place them in a large saucepan. Add fresh water to cover the beans.

• Bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, until beans are almost tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Drain.

• Preheat oven to 250°F

• Place the beans in a baking pot or casserole dish.
   
• Stir in the onions, bacon, sugar, dry mustard, cayenne, molasses, vinegar, tomato juice, and 1 cup of water.

• Bake the beans occasionally while baking and add more water if necessary, to prevent the mixture from drying.

• Season with salt to taste.