In the book "The Full Plate Diet" in a colorful chapter which the the virtues and varieties of salads are being extolled, there is a fun fact bubble in the upper right hand corner of page 84,where the author writes that the coleslaw got its name from the Dutch word kool sla meaning "cabbage salad." As a child, I was repulsed by any form of coleslaw. Words always had so much more meaning than met the eye to my striving little soul, so when a teacher at school,began to talk about root words, and origins of words, I my already overly active imagination was stoked. I thought that cole slaw had something to do with the nursery rhyme Old King Cole, and I was not grateful to a monarch who would put such slop on the dinner table, especially at thanksgiving! What was he thinking? So, I was pleased and amused to know that I was as wrong as I always has suspected.
My mother would serve tow kinds of slaw at Thanksgiving. One may have been traditional creamy version one associated with a KFC side,thought I cannot recall But there was a green version called Pepper slaw. It was recipe my mother has said that her grandmother would traditionally serve at Thanksgiving. This year for thanksgiving, I wanted to take that to the extended family dinner on my side of the family, and for my mother, thinking she might enjoy something from her own childhood, which has been long forgotten, as i have not seen it since my sister kindly took the burden of feeding the masses to her home.
MY Great Grandmother was Blanche Viola, Williams-Dierich. I believe from observation that the last name suited the family well, as they were of industrious hard-working immigrant stock. I never met her, but I did meet her husband, who played a two-edged harmonica which I own and prize. My own grandfather, her son, who lived five decades in Alaska, loved to cook, and I hope to post a thing or two if I ever get a smoker. But now, I give you
Pepper Slaw
green cabbage finely grated
green bell pepper finely grated
a very small carrot, VERY finely grated, just fora splash of color
celery seed, a very small amount (I forgot this when I made it...I might choose to always forget it
simple sweet & sour dressing (sugar and cider vinegar)
Mom said to she used 2 parts sugar to one part vinegar, I used as little of this mix as possible
but I used 2 parts vinegar to one part raw sugar. I allowed the sugar to melt in the vinegar until all was liquid
Combine and chill until serving!
Next up is a Thanksgiving table tradition form my Husband's grandmother Ruth Metzgar Saylor. She made me feel like on of the family,. and I remember this dish at her table very early on in my visits to Johnston to her house with my husband's family. Granny, as we called her once the kids came along, has been gone for almost exactly 16 years as I write this. if i think about that fact too much, I might cry, so I will inject a funny memory here. When you are about 80, the taste buds start going. Granny lived to be over 90, and I had to laugh that she would put sugar on tomatoes in her garden salad,and we would all have a laugh about it. She could handily laugh at herself.
I use no sugar, and I make a tofu sour cream. My recipe can be found in another post on our Thanksgiving table a few years back. http://talesofafrustratedfoodie.blogspot.com/2012/08/thanksgiving-recipes-from-my-other-blog.html
Hot Slaw
4 cups shredded cabbage (grated)
cook in 2 tablespoons of butter and a small amount of water-just enough to keep it form scorching.Cook until done and as dry as possible.
[Sweat it down, with lid on, then remove led and stir frequently,,,do NOT burn it...it must stay green and a little crisp...my words here]
Prepare dressing:
1pt. of coffee cream [real cream, whipping cream?] or sour cream [which is what she used the time I helped prepare it]
1tsp flour
1/2 cu. sugar
1/4 cu vinegar
1tsp salt
pour over cabbage, bring to a boil for 2 minutes
Now, I offer two more slaw recipes of my own.
KFC -Like Cole Slaw. Although KFC recipe hacks list milk, buttermilk, white vinegar and sugar, I have not. I might at some point try a soy sour cream for the dressing rather than prepared mayonnaise, because I feel a bit reflux-ish from prepared mayonnaise. I serve this in summer as a picnic food, and the holidays to provide balance from cookies and candies. it would be a great addition to battered fish dinners, and sandwiches. This is how I have made it so far.
Coleslaw
green cabbage coarsely grated
one small carrot
a tablespoon of white onion grated and fine
salt, white pepper
a tbsp pf white or cider vinegar, cider is better to eat that white, but white would keep the slaw whiter when done
then do not over do it on the mayonnaise,or later water will form and separate and make it too runny, so go easy
Last slaw recipe, and the most healthy thus far:
This is an adaption of a recipe which can be found on the same page of the book which told the meaning of the word coleslaw. https://fullplateliving.org/ is the website
Healthy Colorful Slaw
shredded green cabbage,I would say 1/2 a head, cored obviously
I use the thinnest slicing blade on my food processor
red cabbage (purple) for color. no more than 1/4 of a small head
one large carrot very finely grated
the freshly squeezed juice of one orange (not orange juice form a carton :P
1/2 - 2/3 cup of walnut pieces, rinsed
combine and serve
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