A Holiday Food Tradition (Ladies of Hive Contest #62)

Source, edited in LunaPic

Please check out the original contest post to see what this contest is about and join us in the Ladies of Hive community. You will also find some fabulous story links by our talented group that I hope you read and enjoy!

I chose prompt #2 for this week's edition of the contest:

2️⃣ What is your favorite holiday food, and why?

This recipe for Banana Salad has been passed down for generations on my ex-mother-in-law's side of the family. I was married to Mildred's (affectionately known by her family as Mim) baby boy for 28 years and we have two wonderful sons together.

I hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at our house for several years. I loved cooking and having family over to celebrate holidays with us. This Banana Salad was always a requirement at any Smith Family get-together.

The recipe seemed to be a closely guarded family secret! For years Mim would bring the Banana Salad as her contribution - and everyone was sure that she was the ONLY ONE who could do this dessert justice. I was happy to let her claim that title and I enjoyed the salad as much as everyone else did.

Until Mim was diagnosed with cancer and her health failed her. It was only a few days before the Thanksgiving dinner of 2002 that I was entrusted with the family recipe. I had told Mim that I was dropping by to get her grocery list and help out with anything she might need. When I got there I found her at the kitchen table writing out a recipe card.

You guessed it - it was the famous Banana Salad recipe. In a weak spidery handwriting that I could barely decifer, she was entrusting it to me! When I went to the store for her I added in the ingredients for the recipe and told her the day before Thanksgiving I would come over and we would make it together. Then she could still bring it as usual as tradition demanded.

I was working full time at my job and the last thing I had time for was to go to her house after work on Wednesday when I had so many things to do to get ready to host the family. BUT I would never have let her know that.

When I arrived she had the ingredients set out on the counter and was sitting at the kitchen table with a smile on her face. I knew she wasn't feeling well, but this was cheering her up. She told me how she had wished for a daughter to pass this on to (she had three sons, but no daughter) and she told me about spending time in the kitchen with her grandmother and learning to make this. I knew she had been raised by her grandmother, but to this day I don't know what happened to her parents.

The Banana Salad came together as we chatted and she reminisced about her childhood. When she brought it to Thanksgiving dinner the next day, we all knew it would be her last one, which made a joyful occasion bittersweet. But she was never really absent from our dinners after that because that bowl of Mim's Banana Salad was always a part of the menu, and that made her a part of it as well!

Source Shared thru CCC license here
The ingredients shown in the title picture are indeed the correct recipe ingredients. I don't think Mim will mind me sharing with you all. Here are the steps if you'd like to try it. My boys are not happy with a family gathering that does not include their all-time favorite dessert!

• Mix the brown sugar and flour then add the egg and beat well.
• Add the vinegar, milk, and butter and cook until thick, stirring constantly.
• Cook until it is like a thick custard, then add the vanilla.
• Crush the peanuts and slice the bananas.

Layer the custard, then bananas, then peanuts at least twice. Garish with the remaining peanuts.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season and thank you for letting me keep Mim's memory alive with her special recipe.

In closing, I would like to invite @kaelcai, who is a very talented lady, and a long-time HIVE friend of mine.

This Christmas ball template was provided by @brittandjosie and edited by me in LunaPic. Thanks, @brittandjosie for helping to bring your own brand of Holiday cheer to HIVE!

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