My family actually had many traditions while I was growing up. Christmas Day was my absolute favorite day of the entire year. Actually it is still my favorite day and I'm almost fifty years old! I never realized until I got to be a parent myself how much work my mother put in to the holidays. No wonder she was just plain exhausted. NOW I get it. I only wish she were still alive so I could tell her how very much I appreciated all she did. My mom did a whole lot MORE cooking for the holidays than I ever do. But that's a post for a different day. Christmas morning was always UP EARLY, then we did stockings, then presents. Somewhere in there we grabbed a quick breakfast and got ready for church. After church we'd come home to a HUGE Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings. Honestly, I do not know how my parents did it all. And, looking back, it all seemed so perfect. Until some of my siblings began drinking. Ah, the curse of booze. Not good natured glass of wine. Nope. This was down and dirty GET REAL MAD and curse each other out MAD!! The not speak until the following year mad. But, I'm not going to get into that right now. I am going to tell you about my mom's terrific Banana Mousse which we prepared each and every Thanksgiving and Christmas because my brother came home on those two holidays. And, it was a very big deal to her to see her oldest son come home. She would cook for days knowing how much he enjoyed home cooking. He still enjoys home cooking. He is still single and 58 years old. Says he has seen too many of his friends get all strung out after divorce. So, he's happily single. Which is good. Now. To get back to the mousse...
Ingredients
About four ripe bananas 250 ml (1 cup) brown sugar
4 Tablespoons orange liqueur
2 cups whipped cream
A piece of bittersweet chocolate for grating
Purée the bananas in a blender;
Add the brown sugar and the orange liqueur; continue processing until smooth;
whip the cream in a large chilled bowl; gently fold in the banana mixture;
place into attractive serving dishes and refrigerate for one hour before serving.
Deborah over at the humblehousewife is hosting Fun Monday this week and this is her assignment:
I want to hear about or see a holiday tradition, recipe or event. It can be any holiday you like or that is special to your family. With Thanksgiving and the Winter holidays coming up, those would be especially apt, but anything that is special for your family is fine. If you have pictures - it's a bonus! Whether it's your Mom's famous stuffing recipe, going caroling on Christmas Eve, Diwali dances, or even the inevitability of Great Aunt Polly having one too many brandies and knocking over the Christmas tree - I want to hear about it!!!
Since the blog world is so global this might be a learning experience too - exposing us to other cultures and traditions - something I always welcome!
