For-no-reason celebrations

[Margaret Pilgrim]

D-i-l texted me to say that number one grand-daughter and Dad were going on a class camping trip this weekend and could I think up something special for the younger twin siblings left behind.     She said she had set up dual play dates for the morning but what about lunch and a treat.

 

So we came up with a lavish array of dim sum take out followed by banana splits.    The twins were ecstatic.   They had never heard of much less seen a banana split.   And desserts are rationed in their household.    I figures this had enough fruit to be moderately healthful.    Halved bananas, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, crushed fresh strawberries, whipped cream.    In the backyard.    A joyous afternoon.

 

What spur of the moment outrageous concoctions has your family enjoyed?

[heidih]

Oh how great!  I was the looney mom. Boys: we are bored. Me: go look up empanadas  It is US empanada Day. (oh the power of adult authority)  internet yes - smart phones not yet. Stuff like that. Food is such an amazing galvanizing and celebratory thing. In a multicultural neighborhood sometimes my ideas were their first exposure.  As we approach Halloween the annual pumpkin carve (slaughter) on the front lawn and seed roast comes to mind Many immigrant moms had no idea - they were as excited as the kids.

[ambra]

I love this kind of stuff! But I sadly have little to add. We made pigs in blankets with one of those canned croissant things and the kids thought they were the best thing ever. haha. My audience is easy. 😛

 

[chromedome]

On a miserably hot and muggy summer day, when my kids were younger and everyone was cranky and prickly (no AC in our lives at that time) I decreed that dinner would be waffles and ice cream. That was a hit, and utterly changed the mood of the day (it didn't begin as celebratory, but ended that way).

 

In that same house we had a functioning fireplace, so a periodic indulgence was an "indoor campfire" with our kids and their friends from the neighbourhood. They'd roast hot dogs and toast marshmallows over the fire, and tell ghost stories, and it was a grand time (before anyone asks, s'mores had not yet found their sticky way into Nova Scotia yet at that time...or at least I'd never seen or heard of them, which I guess is not necessarily the same thing).

[chileheadmike]

When the kids were little, my wife was just leaving for work one night. I needed to make something for dinner. We had ground beef so I was thinking some burgers on the grill. No burger buns, only hot dog. "Kids, tonight we're having burger-dogs." Kids loved 'em, my wife said they looked like something the dog left in the back yard. 

[Tropicalsenior]

When my kids were little I was a single mother working to keep food on the table and as anyone knows that has worked in the food industry, you don't always get Christmas off. When you finally do get home, there's no time or energy to make a big Christmas dinner. At one time or another I had started to stuff my kids stockings with salami, cheese, and crackers, which they loved. So for Christmas dinner, we would sit down and eat our stockings. I kept the stockings out all year and on particularly gloomy days I would re-stuff them and we would sit down and eat our stockings to cheer us up. It became a family tradition that is still followed to this time. Christmas stockings are always filled with cheese and salami and depressing times are times to eat your stockings.

[chromedome]

That's pretty special. I like it.

[MaryIsobel]

When my daughters were small (and for many years after) my husband and some friends aways did a week long fishing trip to the west coast of Vancouver Island. It became tradition that for one evening meal when he was away, the girls and I would drive into town and the girls could order any ice cream concoction that they wanted from Dairy Queen; the only game in town for ice cream. They thought it was the most decadent meal ever. 

[Darienne]

Just remembered one thing.  Not too exciting...but did the trick in our house.  When our three were young and my Mother and Father lived in our city also, I would pick up my Mother in the  morning and bring her to the house. 

 

Oh boy!  She always brought hamburger buns and those American cheese slices and for lunch when the kids were home from school...we lived just a few houses away...I would put the buns and cheese under the broiler and the cheese would puff way up.  They really loved that.   (You have to remember that we are Canadians and we had only one TV station and only a black and white television.  My kids are now 61 and 56, older than many of you.)

[heidih]

The topic title says "no reason" but I think there is always a trigger. Another one for son and I was finding really plump lychee. Into a big bowl with ice & water and popping them and slurping them.   Another some may relate to is the first day the ice cream truck comes down the street with its classic tune and oh the decisions - which one as the first one. And the first fish caught ever that nobody else in the beach rental would participate in. I cleaned and grilled simply - just off a pier in Morro Bay but sweet and special. One must celebrate the kid's first catch.

[Kerry Beal]

I read the title as -  'For no reason celebrities' - Kardasians came to mind!

[heidih]

39 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I read the title as -  'For no reason celebrities' - Kardasians came to mind!

Has everyone forgotten that the now dead Kardashian dad was OJ Simpson's attorney and there was talk of him hiding evidence?  I don't get celebrity status culture...  From Wiki  Kardashian was the man seen carrying Simpson's garment bag the day that Simpson flew back from Chicago. Prosecutors speculated that the bag may have contained Simpson's bloody clothes or the murder weapon.  Back to celebrations --- 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I still haven't figured out who/what Kim K is/was.    At some point, I quit spending time pondering it.   

 

Back on topic, son and @1 grand-daughter dropped by this afternoon.   She and I commiserated over how long it had been since she'd had a sleepover here.    I told her of several kitchen projects I had in mind for her.   She loudly responded that the project we had on hold from early 2020 was baked Alaska!    I had totally forgotten.   

[heidih]

And did you?  My old post https://forums.egullet.org/topic/80385-baked-alaska-questions/?do=findComment&comment=2274272

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Baked Alaska won't happen until after she/they are vaxed.   But THANK YOU for this quintessential recipe.   Will report back, probably after Thanksgiving.

[chromedome]

12 hours ago, Darienne said:

Oh boy!  She always brought hamburger buns and those American cheese slices and for lunch when the kids were home from school...we lived just a few houses away...I would put the buns and cheese under the broiler and the cheese would puff way up.  They really loved that.   (You have to remember that we are Canadians and we had only one TV station and only a black and white television.  My kids are now 61 and 56, older than many of you.)

My mom did that, but with regular bread. And sometimes she'd cut strips of bacon into quarters and put the mostly-cooked bacon pieces onto the bread so that when you cut the slice, each triangle would have its own piece of bacon. Good times.

 

When I lived in Newfoundland as a teen you could get CBC *or* CTV, depending which way your antenna was pointed, but not both. You basically knew which women watched which soap by the direction of the antennas (on Saturday, of course, they would all point to CBC for the hockey game).

[TicTac]

11 hours ago, heidih said:

Has everyone forgotten that the now dead Kardashian dad was OJ Simpson's attorney and there was talk of him hiding evidence?  I don't get celebrity status culture...  From Wiki  Kardashian was the man seen carrying Simpson's garment bag the day that Simpson flew back from Chicago. Prosecutors speculated that the bag may have contained Simpson's bloody clothes or the murder weapon.  Back to celebrations --- 

I was going to comment on the stupidity of our culture when it comes to 'celebrities', glad someone else did!  Most of them are not worth their weight and certainly should not warrant any attention more than a Doctor or Teacher should (the true 'celebrities' of our society) - we certainly have some things bass ackwards.

 

Back on topic - over the years I have formed the belief that "Hallmark holidays" are not when one should be limited celebrating with important people in their lives (Valentines day, Fathers day, etc) but rather any and every day is one to enjoy.  It's amazing how food (for most of us here) is the central factor when celebrations occur (perhaps a bit of booze as well!).  Being together with loved ones and friends should always be sufficient justification for enjoyment and celebration. 

 

Perhaps going above and beyond and cracking into the 'special' dried chili's from Mexico to boost your salsa up a notch, or dipping into the extra fine tequila for your margarita mix (can you tell we are having tacos tonight!?).  In other words, don't save the good stuff for 'special occasions'!

 

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by TicTac (log)

[JeanneCake]

13 hours ago, TicTac said:

 In other words, don't save the good stuff for 'special occasions'!

 

 

 

This reminds me of the essay Erma Bombeck wrote before her untimely death from cancer; she wrote of things she wished she had done differently - she would have burned the candle shaped like a rose before it melted from being stored has stayed with me for years   ..... there is something to celebrate in lots of moments we might consider ordinary but through the eyes of someone else, they become treasured memories that make you smile

 

If you're interested, here's a link to the essay : https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/49262-if-i-had-my-life-to-live-over-someone-asked

 

ETA: I thought she died of cancer, but it was complications from an operation she had for kidney disease.

Edited October 22, 2021 by JeanneCake (log)

[kayb]

When I was a little kid, my best friend's mother would make enchiladas and tacos for dinner from time to time. There were at that time no Latinos and no Mexican restaurants in our town, and even Memphis had only one or two Mexican restaurants. I have no clue where she learned to make them, but she made her own tortillas and the whole nine yards.

 

I absolutely loved them. So whenever she'd make them, she'd call my mother and tell her to send me up for dinner.

 

At home, the celebratory food, or at least the special thing I begged for, was my grandmother's teacakes. Sort of a cross between a shortbread and a sugar cookie, only mildly sweet, baked to just a light tinge of tan at the edges. I have her recipe but they don't taste the same.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On 10/21/2021 at 5:20 AM, TicTac said:

... don't save the good stuff for 'special occasions'!

 

 

I don't remember which California vintner said that she always kept a bottle of bubbly in the fridge.    Her logic, you never know when something wonderful will happen and call for a celebration; and you never know when a day will be so depressing that it demands some cheering.    I have taken her advice to heart.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

36 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I don't remember which California vintner said that she always kept a bottle of bubbly in the fridge.    Her logic, you never know when something wonderful will happen and call for a celebration; and you never know when a day will be so depressing that it demands some cheering.    I have taken her advice to heart.

 

I've had a bottle of sparkling cider in the refrigerator for going on three years.  Never figured how to get the cork out.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I've had a bottle of sparkling cider in the refrigerator for going on three years.  Never figured how to get the cork out.

 

Then there was the dinner party when I went to the kitchen for a second bottle and had trouble opening it.    I whispered to husband that I had shoved the cork into the bottle.    He looked at me twice and said, "It's a screw top."     Mmmm, I don't have much experience with those....

[TicTac]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I've had a bottle of sparkling cider in the refrigerator for going on three years.  Never figured how to get the cork out.

 

That sabre you carry around on your hip!?

[gfweb]

12 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I've had a bottle of sparkling cider in the refrigerator for going on three years.  Never figured how to get the cork out.

 

 

Bet that wouldn't happen if it were Champaign

[Tropicalsenior]

On 10/21/2021 at 8:11 PM, JeanneCake said:

she wrote of things she wished she had done differently -

Years ago my husband and I knew two young women whose mother was a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima. The younger girl, Susanna, said that when she was little she always saved the center of her watermelon to eat last because it was the sweetest part. One day before she could eat it her mother reached over with her fork, took it and ate it. When she complained that she had saved the best part for last, her mother told her that she should never save the best things for last because she never knew what the next moment held and she would be stuck only knowing second-best.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Tropicalsenior (log)