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Cheap Family Thrills and Leftovers

Posted on 30 November 2009 by Elaine

As cheap family thrills go, it’s hard to get any better than Saturday’s return of the lighted holiday boat parade.

My daughter loved it. She had never experienced the free event before. It started its hiatus the year before she was born.

The boats decked out in lights on the water were beautiful. But it was the context of everything that made the evening special.

I kept thinking of the generosity of the parade participants, who spent hours decorating their boats and gave the entire community an early Christmas present.

Yes. It did take the boats about one hour to get to the levees at Kiwanis Park and in Clarkston where many of the spectators were, but that was part of the fun.

We bumped into some friends. Our kids stayed warmed and burned off energy rolling down the levee hillside while the adults chatted.

My nephew noticed how gorgeous some of the lights were from people’s homes as they reflected off the water. And in between the pockets of spectators, there was a solitude to the levee that isn’t there during the day.

Afterwards we went to my husband’s parents’ house, where they had leftover turkey and noodles with brownies and garlic bread waiting for us. We spent the rest of the evening playing board games. It was a night for the good memory bank.

And speaking of leftovers, here’s an idea about what to do with what is the orphan of what the family didn’t eat on Thanksgiving–squash.

Turkey, Jello salad, rolls and even green bean casserole have a way of disappearing on their own. But let’s face it, if you have squash at the table it’s probably there because some long gone relative wanted it and nobody can remember how having it got started and everyone is afraid not to make it for fear of offending someone.

This recipe, a sort of cheesy squash lasagna, gives squash a whole new identity, but doesn’t disguise the squash enough to sell non-squash lovers on it. It’s purposely flexible to help absorb the random bits of ingredients that may be left when the family leaves.

Cook one to one and a half pounds of ground beef in a skillet with a chopped stalk of celery or two and a small to medium onion if you have it. The meat is done when it’s no longer pink and the veggies are done when they’re tender.

Set aside. Melt three tablespoons of butter in the same skillet and add in about the same amount of flour or as much as the butter will absorb. Then gradually add a quart of 1 or 2 percent or whole milk or cream stirring constantly. Keep stirring until it boils and thickens. Then add in 3 cups of shredded cheddar (Any kind of cheese other than soft types like American would work.) and 1 cup of Parmesean. Continue to stir until that’s all melted. Set aside.

Next take two to three cups of squash or mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes or a mixture of any of them and spread them on the bottom of a greased 9 by 13 inch pan. Place half the meat on top of that and then half the sauce. Then put 1 cup of bread or cracker crumbs or a combination of the two on top of that. If you have it, put a tablespoon of fresh sage, chives, oregano, thyme or basil or a combination of them on top of that. Then repeat the steps in the former paragraph once.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350. You can cut the preparation time considerably by substituting two 10 and three-fourths ounces cans of cream soup mixed with two cups of milk for the sauce.