The 12 Weeks of Christmas-The United States and Canada

Week 3: The United States & Canada

(Source: Britannica.com)

Neither the United States, nor Canada shows up on my DNA tests, of course, as I have no Native blood in me, but these are the countries of origin for my parents and grandparents, so I thought it was appropriate to include them in this project. And it wasn't as easy as you'd think, to find foods for these two countries that aren't too "done" by other countries that will be featured in this project.

Canada's recipe was very easy to decide on. It's one I've heard of a lot over the years but just never tried. And for once, I actually had a recipe card to test out, which means I can share the recipe here!

I have had this recipe in my collection forever, but for some reason, have never tried it. It's old enough that I don't know the source, so I can share it here. Just know, I didn't invent this recipe! This is called a Tourtiere, or Pork Pie.

1lb. ground pork

1tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. mace(this is really hard to find and very expensive. It's part of the nutmeg plant, so if you don't have any on hand, don't go out of your way to get it, just use a smidge extra nutmeg and it'll be fine.)

2 tsp. cornstarch

Pastry for 2-crust 8" pie(I used store bought, and it worked just fine) 

Combine all ingredients, except pastry, with 1 cup water. Blend thoroughly.

Simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, 30 minutes.

Line an 8" pie pan with pastry, pour in meat mixture.

Cover with remaining pastry. Press edges together and prick with a fork to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes before reducing temperature to 350 degrees. Bake 35 minutes longer or until top is brown. Serve hot. Makes 6 servings.

 

Here's the final product, just out of the oven. Nice and golden brown!

And here's the final product, cut and presented on the plate! It's a very simple dish, but it's really tasty. I would say it almost borders on too salty for my tastes, and I'd probably cut the salt down to 3/4 tsp. There are fancier versions of this dish you can find online, but I wanted to try this very basic version for the first time I made the dish. 

This was really delicious and I would definitely eat it again. I'll be eating leftovers throughout the week. This might freeze and thaw well, but I would have to test that to know for sure.

The United States was definitely a hard one to find a recipe for. All of our traditions come from other places, so I had to think long and hard about foods and traditions unique to this country. It finally came to me: Jell-o salad. A 60's and 70's classic, and nearly every white family in this nation has the family jell-o salad recipe. Admit it, if you're white, you know this salad. It usually involves lime jell-o and pineapple and some sort of dairy. Admit it, there's nothing to be ashamed of, I promise. So, I went about tracking down a jell-salad that wasn't the same as our family recipe, and ran across one that sounded promising.

This recipe is what I made.

 

I made some changes based on the fact that I didn't notice that the cream cheese layer called for plain gelatin, and I didn't get any from the store. Then I decided the cream cheese layer sounded kind of gross anyway, and it was a happy mistake in the long run. I also thought of a way to keep it cool-looking though.

Instead of doing the cranberry layer all as one, I cut it in half and did a cranberry layer, then the lime layer, then the second cranberry layer, so it still had three layers. This is the strawberry jell-o with the cranberry sauce mixed in.

Here is the lime layer with pineapple juice and the crushed pineapple. I let every layer sit for a couple hours in the fridge before adding the next one, and they managed to be distinct layers.

Here's the lime layer on top of the first cranberry layer.

And the top cranberry layer. You definitely need to start this in the morning in order for it to be fully set up by dinnertime.

Here you can see the three distinct layers on the plate as I get ready to taste it. It actually has a great flavor and if you like pineapple, you'll enjoy this for sure. The cranberry sort of just melts into the jell-o so you don't feel like you're eating cranberries at all. 

I found this incredibly sweet and was unable to finish my serving. I haven't eaten jell-o in so long I honestly can't remember when I had it last, so I had my sister taste it for me. She assured me it wasn't overly sweet, if anything it was less sweet than normal jell-o, so if jell-o's your thing, definitely give this one a try!

I had fun making these two recipes today. After last week's disaster, I really needed a win! I think I got it, and now I'm feeling very happy about this and ready for next week! Happy cooking!