Cara Luecht | A Bounty to Be Grateful For...

In my family, our Thanksgiving plates border right on the edge of a bounty to be grateful for, and an overindulgence for which we should ask forgiveness. You see, we take a love of food to a whole new level, and with my mother mixing stuffing next to steaming pots of potatoes, and my husband wrestling a turkey the size of a small child in and out of the oven, kitchen space for any addition to the traditional meal is nonexistent.

Every year we vow to change things up and make healthier options. We consider leaving behind the oyster stuffing, but no one can part with it. Discussions abound about adding vegetables, like something without sauce, but we can’t seem to say no to the green bean casserole or the brown sugar infused sweet potatoes. We promise to decide between mashed potatoes or homemade noodles. But the good intention of saying goodbye to the mountain with dripping butter is quickly abandoned. And the homemade noodles, well, we’ve made them every year. When my mother was little, she helped my grandma roll out the soft dough. Then, I helped my mother. Now my daughters help me, and we can’t disappoint Grandpa by handing him a plate without the weight of his favorite side dish.

That’s right. I said weight. There is enough food on the plate for weight to be a consideration.

We’ve briefly mulled over adding a salad, but bailed on that wild idea. I mean, let’s be honest, no one is going to eat it anyway. Besides, cranberries are a fruit, right?

So, the day before Thanksgiving 2008, we’d once again admitted defeat over the “let’s try to make this healthier” debate. I had finished making the apple and peach pies, and my husband and mother were elbow to elbow in the kitchen getting things prepared for the next day’s meal. I sat down, put my feet up, and opened the only magazine I ever buy: Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes.

I flipped through the hundreds of card sized recipes, four to a page, but stopped when I found one for “Special Creamed Corn.”

While I scanned the directions for what would soon become the best thing I’d ever eaten, my husband and mother were discussing whether or not they should buy the warm-and-serve rolls, or make fresh buns. My husband was winning. We would have fresh buns…because we needed more starch.

“I think I’m going to try this,” I interrupted their conversation.

“What?” My mom asked.

“Creamed corn. This sounds good. We don’t have corn.” I glanced back and forth between their matching dubious expressions. “If there’s anything we should have, it’s corn…you know, Indians and all that?” I let my weak argument stew a while.

My mother rolled her eyes and walked over to read the recipe. She glanced back to the kitchen with its limited space.

“I’ll make it early in the morning, and then we can keep it warm in the oven.”

“You mean the oven that will be keeping everything warm?” My husband asked.

“Look at it.” I tossed the magazine to him.

He found the page I’d dog-eared and scanned the ingredients. “Well, we do have everything we need.”

So the next morning I made the corn, and I have made the corn every Thanksgiving since. And now, when we have our inevitable discussion about making things healthier, we have one more thing we just can’t do without.

This corn is a lifelong commitment. Make it at your own risk. In fact, I usually double the recipe (for the cream), and then freeze the extra cream to use later.

SPECIAL CREAMED CORN

1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. flour
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Dash white pepper
5 c. frozen corn, thawed
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add cream, milk, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Add corn; heat through.

Transfer the mixture to an ungreased 1-1/2-qt. broiler-proof dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Broil 5 in. from the heat for 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Yield 6-8 servings

Giveaway

What foods are must-have traditions for your family? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a copy of SOUL'S PRISONER.

About Cara Luecht

I never planned to be a writer.

In fact, it took me a while to finish college. But I did, and here I am. And I now I can’t imagine not being a writer.

By day, I am an English Instructor at MATC, Marketing Manager for Degnan Design Builders, Inc., mother to four amazing children, wife to an eternally patient and supportive husband, and Worship Leader for Living Hope Fellowship in Sun Prairie, WI.

In the evening, when I can squirrel away some quiet time, I read and write historical fiction.

I have a B.A. in English Lit. from UW Whitewater and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ.

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About SOUL'S PRISONER

Chicago, Winter, 1891

Rachel is in danger. She's seen too much.

She creeps along the cement walls through the dank underbelly of the asylum. She d never planned to leave her quiet farm life, never thought she d find a place in the city, never imagined she d be in the kind of danger that would have her cowering in Dunning s cold, labyrinthine basement.

Jenny has finally found her place. After a childhood of abuse, she has friends, a real job, and her only wish is to give her adopted son the kind of life she never had.

A life of stability, without the risk and uncertainty of a father.

But when Jeremy, Rachel s brother, stumbles into their warehouse, asking for help to find his missing sister, Jenny's carefully constructed life begins to crumble.