This is my favorite uncle, Grover ... my dad's older brother. Uncle Grover was a bachelor most of his life, and until he married when he was in his 50's he spent every Thanksgiving at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. Moreso than any other holiday, Thanksgiving is about traditions ... and one of Uncle Grover's favorite things to eat on Thanksgiving was a salad that his Mom (my Grandma) always made, so every year my Mom would make that salad for him. It's an old fashioned cold fruit salad, made with pineapple chunks, lil' cubes of mild cheddar cheese & sliced bananas ... all tossed in a sweet/sour sauce made with the pineapple juice, sugar & a lil' vinegar & thickened with cornstarch.Not many people in my family liked the salad (actually Uncle Grover and I are the ONLY ones that liked it) but Mom would make it every year, just for Grover. Uncle Grover died over 20 years ago, but Mom continued to make the salad every Thanksgiving until she passed away about 10 years ago ... and then I continued the tradition & began making it every year. We always just called it "Grover's Salad" ... I made it yesterday ... nobody ate it but me, but that's not important. What's important is that it made me think about my uncle for a couple hours. As long as I draw a breath, I'll continue to make Grover's Salad every Thanksgiving day ... you know ... family traditions and all dat.
This is my Dad and Uncle Grover. The picture was probably taken in the early/mid 30's ~ pretty snazzy threads for a couple of poor Kansas clod-hoppers, eh?
Sounds good, I'd try it!
ReplyDeleteRibDog
John,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you are keeping your "family tradition" alive. That is such an important part of "family," which, nowadays, seems lost in the rush of everything.
Len
Because of all of the "Black Friday Sales", and malls that opened at midnight, there were stories on the news about people tailgating in mall parking lots. At 7 pm, Thanksgiving night. Deep frying their turkeys right there in the parking lot. I may be a COW (crazy old woman), but what the hell is wrong with this picture? Give me Grover's Salad. Give me my dad's creamed onions. give me my grandkids spilling cranberry on the tablecloth. You can't buy family traditions on sale at a mall.
ReplyDeleteYou got dat right, MzPat ... and when, exactly, did "Black Friday" become a national holiday, huhhh?? I musta missed dat memo....(g)
ReplyDeletewhat a great tradition. I am glad that you still carry on with it and you never know, with the new members of family , someone may like it as well.
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