Cooking in the West

With just hours until Christmas, I am in a bit of a panic. My plan this year was to buy one small gift for each person on my list to open and then give them an adventure as their big present. That seemed like a fine plan until it came down to the wire this week to decide what to book and when to book it.

There are 9 of us ranging in age from 9 to 87. The adventure has to be something that is suitable for an age range of 78 years. Travel agents seem to find that requirement quite hilarious. It pretty much rules out ski getaways and sky diving vacations.

The vacation window is also pretty small. It has to be between Christmas and calving season, and it is quite dependent upon whom we can cajole into feeding the cows and taking care of the other chores. I have discovered that it is easier to cajole when large fees per hour of work are mentioned. That window rules out an Alaska cruise and can add the complication of poor weather for driving and flying.

So rather than leisurely searching for options months ago, I found myself shopping for cruises, all-inclusives, condos, and amusement parks with just hours before I have to write something about a family experience on a Christmas card and stick it under the tree with a pair of gloves and some underwear.

I found that it was useless to try to subtly get input into everyone's wish list. Not one single family member I tactfully interviewed wanted the same adventure. In fact, their answers ranged from Hawaii to Ireland to South Africa to Antarctica to Dollywood to going ice fishing on Fort Peck Lake. All international options are ruled out, because I know for sure we cannot all get passports within three days. Perhaps I should have started procuring documents months ago, but Christmas seemed so far off back then.

A cruise seems like the easiest and best option except that two family members get very motion sick on ships. In the cruise pictures we have from the past, we had to prop them upright and pry their eyes open so we could take family pictures in their sleepy nauseated state caused by various patches and pills and home remedies that really didn't work at all except to make them fall asleep standing up.

I Googled top ten family vacations and came up with a few ideas such as the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Colonial Williamsburg, Nashville, Branson, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and New Orleans.Then I came upon the perfect solution--the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado. It is a 90 minute plane ride, and we have several relatives there to act as tour guides and perhaps mooch a few meals off. It seemed perfect to me, but most of the rest of the family seemed to think that Denver was not much of a family adventure even after I told them about the stock show and rodeo, the zoo, the aquarium, the art museums, and hinted that maybe we could go to a Broncos game. After my convincing sales pitch for Denver, most of them agreed they would rather go to Hawaii than Colorado in January.

Now with a couple days left to plan a trip to Hawaii so I can put an itinerary in every stocking, I am searching flights and hotels and luaus and rental cars and tours. It might have just been easier to write them all a check and let them buy their own adventure or pony or game console or some latest technology, but by golly we are going to have an amazing family adventure--TBD on the dates and destination that will never be unanimously approved. I sure hope it is a Christmas miracle of a memorable gift after all I have been through as the travel planner.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I would like to share a few of my favorite Christmas recipes Thanks, Judy Sondeno, of Fairview, Montana for the best fruitcake recipe ever!

World's Easiest Best Fudge

18 oz. milk chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 T. vanilla

1 C. chopped nuts

Melt chips and milk together in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour in greased 8 X 8 pan. Let set until firm. To make a 9 X 13 pan, use 3 bags of chips, 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, 4 T. vanilla, and 2 C. nuts. Note that this recipe will work for any type of chip--semi-sweet, mint, peanut butter, buterscotch, etc.

Judy Sondeno's Fruitcake

2 1/4 C. sugar

1 lb. soft margarine

Cream well and add 12 eggs, beating well after each one.

Add: 1 small bottle brandy flavoring

1 small bottle rum flavoring

In separate bowl, combine 3 3/4 C. flour and 6 lbs. of fruit mix (mixed, cherries, and pineapple to your taste). Add 1 lbs.of white raisins if you like them. Add 1 pound chopped walnuts. Mix well until fruit and nuts are coated with flour. Add to the first mixture and mix well. Pile mixtue loosely in greased loaf pans (makes 12 small one pound loaves) up to about 1/2 inch from the top. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until cake tests done with a toothpick.

Mother's Panocha

1 C. brown sugar

1 C. white sugar

1 C. heavy whipping cream

Cook to a very soft ball stage, stirring constantly so it won't sugar around the pan. Using a candy thermometer is not recommended because of the danger of sugaring. Turn the burner off and let the pan cool without any disturbance. Do not even remove the spoon! When cool, beat with a spoon until it's light, loses its gloss, and holds its shape. This requires good muscles! Add 1 t. vanilla and 1 C. chopped walnuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper and let dry. You must work quickly, because it sets quickly. It is best to make this on a bright sunny day perhaps because of humidity and barometric influences. This is a tricky recipe, but the end product is worth it!