Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Nostalgia

This year I will be spending Thanksgiving Day and sharing dinner with my boyfriend's family ~ while I'm sure it will be a wonderful feast filled with all sorts of midwest delicacies, I will miss my two favorites: The Cranberry Log and Cope's Dried Corn ~ two of my family's traditions!

While I don't remember our cranberry log being served in such a grand manner, no matter how it was served, there were never any leftovers. Too bad my mom didn't happen upon the ad below ~ I'm sure she would have put me to work making this masterpiece. The image below is from a great posting on the history of this delectable "sliceable sauce" by the bewildered brit.

The other dish I will miss is John Cope's Dried Sweet Corn ~ I don't think it is even available in Kansas City as it is a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe and I think this brand is the only one left of its kind. Cope's corn is produced in Lancaster, PA ~ I have a vague recollection that my dad's family is somehow related to the Cope's family ~ I'll have to look into that so I don't make a liar out of myself while name dropping!


Trust me, while stewed corn or baked corn casserole doesn't conjure up a very appetizing image, however my mom prepared the dried corn (I'll bet she followed the directions on the package!), it was always something I looked forward to at holidays. If you are adventurous, looks like you can order online here and try some for yourself. I always thought to myself that this corn was what the pilgrims and indians ate at the first Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cope's dried sweet corn can be found in Kansas City -- I've bought it at the Prairie Village Hen House, in the baking aisle, top shelf. I bought mine near Thanksgiving, so I don't know if they carry it all year, or if it was just a holiday thing.

Richard said...

Thanks for the shout out! I love that advertisement, don't you? I tried to use a cookie cutter to make exciting shapes out of the cranberry sauce, just like in the picture... but all we had was a mini gingerbread man cutter, so the effect wasn't quite right! :)