We used to go down to Ardmore, Oklahoma every year for the Holidays. The drive from McAlester was about two and a half hours. There was always an air of expectancy, for several things,  mostly for food!

My grandparents on my mother’s side had a big pecan tree in their front yard. Their home was a modest 1920s vintage, single-story house with a full front porch and brick columns. My grandfather, a Spanish-American war veteran and true patriot, usually flew the flag from the front porch on major holidays. My grandmother typically had a bunch of ferns hanging on the porch. By this time of year, though, she had brought them inside, along with her African violets.

My brothers and I would go out to the front yard with our grandfather, climb up into the tree and start rattling the pecans. Pop[1] would pick up a few pecans off the ground, but we didn’t get many that way. He would go out in the back to the detached garage, where they parked their ’54 DeSoto and grab a couple of long cane poles from the rafters. He would hand them to us and we would start knocking the pecan clusters out of the tree. Soon we would have enough for a couple of my grandmother's pecan pies. It was worth the effort, believe me.

We would come inside and sit around the kitchen table with the tools to extract the pecan meat from the shells. Removing the soft outer hull was no problem, but cracking the hard shell in such a way that we didn’t crush the meat inside was a skill to be mastered. I learned through observation, trial and error and eventually got pretty good at it. The objective of course, was to extract the two halves of each pecan completely intact. It didn’t make the pies taste better, but it did make them look better.

Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1c brown sugar

1c corn syrup

1/8tsp salt

1/4c melted butter

1c pecans

This recipe is pretty easy. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and butter. Transfer to an uncooked 9-inch pie shell. Top with intact pecan halves. Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes.

Perhaps one of the most unique offerings during the Holidays was my grandmother's pear relish. To this day, I’ve never tasted anything quite like it. As a kid it wasn’t my favorite thing, but as an adult, I must say that a turkey dinner without Pear Relish just isn’t complete. She had always made it in advance, so I can’t remember ever watching her make it, but I learned how, simply by following the recipe and asking my mother for a few tips. My mother says mine is as good as Grandma’s.

Pear Relish

1-1/2c vinegar

1-1/2c sugar

1Tbl salt

1Tbl celery seed

1Tbl dried mustard

2tsp allspice

2tsp ground turmeric

1tsp ground ginger

12-16 medium pears, finely chopped (about 4lb)

3 medium onions, diced

2 medium green peppers, diced

1 medium red pepper, diced

4 fresh jalapeño peppers, minced (optional)

Pour the vinegar, sugar and spices into a 6-8 qt. Dutch oven.  Finely chop the pears, onions, green peppers and red pepper by hand or in a food processor.  Seed the jalapeños and mince.  Add to Dutch oven and begin cooking on the stovetop at medium heat.  Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes.  Strain excess juice, then store in an airtight refrigerator container or can in sterilized pint-size Mason Jars.[2] Serve as a side dish with the turkey. Makes about 8 pints.

Of course, cranberries are always a part of any Holiday meal.  The Bomar Family tradition was no exception. My grandmother had a special recipe for cranberries; it was a Jell-O Salad and, man, was it good!  She would usually set out a small dish of Miracle Whip to top the cranberry  salad. My wife Janni says (as politely as she can), “Wow, that’s so “not” California!”

Cranberry Jell-O Salad

1 or 2 Gala or Fuji apples, chopped

1/4c lemon juice

1/4c sugar

12oz package of whole cranberries, chopped

1/2c celery, chopped

11oz can mandarin oranges, drained

1c crushed pineapple, drained

1c pecans, chopped

6oz package of cranberry or orange Jell-O

2c boiling water

Mix apples with lemon juice, and then add sugar, cranberries, celery, mandarin oranges, crushed pineapple and pecans. Prepare Jell-O mixture according to package directions, then pour into the other ingredients. Refrigerate overnight. Top with Miracle Whip if you’re from Oklahoma.

Of all the festive drinks in the world, nothing says Christmas to me more than Grandma’s Boiled Custard. It’s like eggnog, but the store-bought kind has some sort of aftertaste that seems to lose its authenticity once you’ve tried her B.C.!

Boiled Custard

6 eggs (separated)

1-1/2c sugar

1/8tsp salt

1Tbl flour

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1Tbl vanilla extract

3/4gal whole milk

Separate eggs and beat whites into soft peaks. Mix egg yolks, sugar, salt and flour. Add condensed milk and stir. Add to a double boiler, then add milk till the double boiler is full. Cook until it coats a wooden spoon. Pour into a one-gallon container. Add vanilla and top it off with milk. Chill. Enjoy with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

This needs a little bit of translation. First of all, I don’t usually separate the eggs. I simply break them into a blender and add everything to the blender while heating up the double boiler. I get two large Dutch ovens (one that will fit in the other) making a huge double boiler. When the water starts to boil I add the basic ingredients from the blender (about one quart) and add milk to equal about one gallon.

I cook the mixture in the double boiler until it becomes thick and can coat the back of a spoon. I have to monitor the heat or the eggs in the mixture will curdle. It’s done when I don’t feel like I’m stirring milk anymore.

Put 1Tbl vanilla into a gallon container then spoon in the boiled custard from the double boiler. Top it off with milk, if needed, and stir to make a full gallon. There is usually a pretty thick layer of custard stuck to the double boiler, which makes for some pretty good eatin'!