Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 21

jputsburgl) osMfiazdfc MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1980 21 Christmas feast for 47 This one's a family affair oven will hold), plus an extra turkey breast, a glazed ham and all the fixings. This year, they're breaking that tradition. For the first time it will be a cooperative dinner; everyone's bringing a special dish. "The hostess has gratefully agreed to let the children bring covered dishes," Mrs. Michaux says.

"After 15 years of this pace, it seems like a darned good idea." Peter and his wife, Liz, known as the family gourmets, will make oyster stew and corn pudding. Suzy's fixing her Meatball Yummies, and Jessica, her Sweet Potato Crunch. Maggi will supply the relishes, and Josie, the green beans. Dennis' friend, Pat Harvey, will contribute one of her elaborate gelatin molds. Jennifer, when she and her family get in from South Carolina, will make the Danish Christmas wreath.

Mrs. Michaux is making a list, and checking it many times. "Maybe Maggi should bring the fresh fruit, and I'll do the cranberries. And Germaine will do the cole slaw." "And to think she used to do all this herself," son Peter (Peter McCormick, partner in the Pittsburgh law firm of Anderson, More-land and Bush) marveled the other day as dinner plans were getting under way. Peter was busy wrapping a gift for his sister Kate in San Francisco and worrying about whether it would get there on time, while the others were planning Christmas dinner.

Peter, his mother teased, is known as the member of the family who's always going in opposite directions from the rest. "He was the one who was typing his thesis on Maggi's wedding day." Kate McCormick and her husband will not be home for Christmas. "But she was here just last week, so we don't mind so much," her mother says. They're still waiting to hear from son Arthur R. Michaux, who is in the U.S.

Marine Corps. Otherwise, the whole family will be together for Christmas dinner. It'll be Christmas much the same (Continued on Page 22) By Woodene Merriman Editor, Better Living Suzy, Peter, Maggi, Jessica, Jennifer, Josie, Joe, Dennis, Aimee, Richard, Candy, Francis, Germaine they'll all be home for Christmas. Plus husbands and wives. And 19 grandchildren.

Joseph E. and Marjorie Michaux of Regent Square figure they'll have at least 47 members of their family gathered in the dining room and the hall, breakfast room, pantry, living room, family room and up the stairs for Christmas dinner. It's a family tradition, started back in 1965 when Marjorie, a widow with three children, married Joe, a widower with 12 children. The youngest child was 5V2, the eldest, 21 As the children grew up and went off to college, careers and new homes of their own, they've continued to return to the rambling white brick house for Christmas. It's a family tradition, too, that Mom does the cooking.

That means a 24- or 26-pound turkey (or all the f-fft. ill Bra Nik IPhW 4fc Is! 4 Pf MJL-Ji', vHl'r4 U1 yyyt I'- Joyce MendelsohnPost-Gazette rjMT; Marjorie and Joe Michaux, left of stairway, get help with decorating. On stairs, from top, are grandchildren Rene Conte, Emily Pritts, Kallie Ann McCormick, Leah McCormick and Dom Conte. On ladder in foreground is Stephen Michaux-Smith, getting bells from Jennifer Conte, 9. Cetting the Christmas buffet table ready, left to right, are Marjorie Michaux, daughter Maggi Conte, granddauther Rene Conte, and daughter-in-law Christine Michaux.

Quality Che kd nog gets tasters' nod Ingredients Joe Browne on caroling; Page 22 News about People; Page 25 'Little House' were not known to the panel. Results: Quality Chekd Egg Nog $1.15. Contains: Milk, cream, cane sugar, artificial flavor, egg yolk solids, nutmeg, carrageenan, sodium ca-seinate and artificial color. Distributed by Quality Chekd Dairy Products Association, Hinsdale, 111., processed and filled locally. Pale in color.

Good flavor. Tasters thought it was best of the four eggnogs sampled. Isaly's Egg Nog $1.25. Contains whole milk, corn sweetener, egg yolks, rum and other natural and artificial flavors, sugar, non-fat milk solids, nutmeg, disodium phosphate and artificial color. The Isaly Pittsburgh.

Tasters liked the rum flavor, and thought it almost as good, generally, as the Quality Chekd Egg Nog. One comment: "Tastes like ice milk." Holiday Nog, Egg Nog Flavored Lowfat Milk 79 cents. Ingredients: Milk, skim milk, corn sweetener, sugar, non-fat dry milk, egg yolks, whey solids, water, natural and artificial flavor, guar gum, car 1 A. special on TV Page 27 First there was eggnog. Now there's holiday nog.

They are not the same. Eggnogt according to Sidney E. Barnard, extension food science specialist at the Pennsylvania State University, contains milk, eggs, sugar and various flavorings. It must have at least 6 percent milk fat, 1 percent egg yolk solids and 22 percent total solids. Sugar sweetener must be at least 8 percent.

Up to one-half percent stabilizer may be added to prevent separation, but no preservatives can be included. Holiday nog is a cheaper substitute. It has fewer eggs and milk solids than eggnog. It is lower in total solids and fat, contains corn syrup in place of sugar, and has vegetable solids in place of some milk and eggs, according to Barnard. Because it is a substitute, however, there are no standards for its composition.

"Holiday nog usually has a thinner body and artificial flavor," Barnard adds. A consumer panel which tasted a holiday nog and three eggnogs for the Post-Gazette agreed with Barnard. The nog and eggnogs, each in a 1-quart size, were bought at Pittsburgh supermarkets. Samples were poured into clear glasses, so color as well as taste could be compared in the "blind" tasting. Brand names rageenan, locust bean gum, spices, salt, artificial color (yellow no.

5), vitamins A D. Distributed by Giant Eagle supermarkets. This is a generic nog; it comes in a plain white carton with black printing. It has 1 percent milk fat and vitamins A and the carton points out. It's thinner than commercial eggnogs, and very yellow in color.

One taster's "For the price, it's not so bad." Another: "The color turns me off." Borden Egg Nog $1.49. Ingredients: Condensed skim milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup solids, egg yolks, mono and diglycerides, artificial and natural flavors, sodium alginate, sodium hexametaphos-phate, calcium carrageenan, artificial color. A product of Borden Columbus, Ohio. It comes in a can that looks like a tennis ball container, and doesn't need refrigeration until it's opened. Tasters noticed a pronounced "canned milk taste" and smell.

It's quite pale in color. It was the least favorite of the four tasted, but made good French toast. Count on commerical eggnog to have about 150 calories in a 4-ounce serving. If you spike it with whiskey, add 90 more calories per shot. Holiday nog would have less calories, because of the lower milk fat and egg solids.

By Woodene Merriman 'Seems Like Old Times' seems ready for TV Wine: A good harvest, bad warehouse strike By George Anderson Post-Gazette Drama Critic I'd put money into "Seems Like Old Times" as an investor, but I'm not so sure I would as a ticket buyer. As a prospectus, the new comedy at the Squirrel Hill, Showcase Cinemas, Denis, Cheswick and Cinema World sounds surefire: a Neil Simon script, a reunion of Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase (whose previous "Foul Play" was a smash), a movie directing debut for Jay Sandrich, who did TV's "Mary Tyler Moore Show," the all-time best sit-com. But expectations are not fulfilled very brightly in the new Columbia Post-Gazette review release. It's the sort of movie that people describe as "cute" always a bad sign. "Seems Like Old Times" finds all of its contributors at less than top form.

Simon has cleverly exploited old movie genres in such parodies as "Murder by Death" and "The Cheap Detective," so it seemed like a promising idea for him to revive the '30s screwball comedy. Goldie and Chevy play contemporary variations on Cary Grant and Irene Dunne carefree, attractive, madcap, trying in vain to resist the fact that nature and Hollywood clearly intended them to be married. In movies like this, the lovers spend most of their time arguing, which was always the certain indication they would end up in each other's arms standing up, of course. People never used to lie down in 1930s movies. Another good indication was that the other man was usually somebody like Ralph Bellamy, and everyone old enough to buy a ticket knew that no actress would pick Ralph Bellamy over Cary Grant.

Such verities gave faith and stability to moviegoers during the Depression. Therein lies one major fault with "Seems Like Old Times," a fault from which the movie cannot recover. The Ralph Bellamy role is played by Charles Grodin, who not only generates more warmth and earns more sympathy than Bellamy, he also outshines Chevy Chase. Maybe they should have switched roles. Any screwball comedy in which Bellamy is more likeable than Grant is doomed.

It's not that Grodin steals the (Continued on Page 24) 1 By Peter Machamer Good tidings and bad for the holiday season: It's a good thing that California had such an excellent harvest last year. Cabernet sauvignon and some pinot noirs are expected to be superb because of the cool summer. Acid levels were excellent, so good, long-lived wines should result. It is good, too, that Domaine Chandon expects this year's crop from their sparkling wine grapes to produce some 3 million bottles, to be re-, leased in 1983. It's a bad thing that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board had a strike in its Philadelphia warehouse.

This has tied up many items but for the most part it has affected the Eastern part of the state. So if you are traveling East, take your own or plan to visit a friend out of state. It's a good thing that we have Domaine Chandon. In Brut and blanc de noir it can help liven holiday drinking in ways that are almost affordable. Good, too, are Mirassou's au naturel and Korbel's naturel.

Less expensive, the Gallo champagne has a good chunk of chardonnay in it, but it is on the sweet side. It's a bad thing that French Champagnes are so expensive. It is even worse that they will get more expensive after the first of the year. But if you are going to splurge, buy the Champagne's labeled "Brut." These are generally drier and better made than those called "Extra Dry." It's a good thing that the Home's store in Pittsburgh has re-ceievd a broad selection of some of the best of California's small winer ies. Presently available are excellent wines from Congress Springs, Montcalir, Sierra Vista, Shenandoah, M.

Marion, Page Mill, Harbor, Raffanelli, Alexander Valley, Klaen, St. Francisa, Corti Brothers, Acacia, and Woodside. These wines are hardly ever found outside of California, and one of the greatest thrills in a wine-drinker's existence is to explore new wines. New wines, new tastes, new experiences are what the game is all about. Just think, you could live in Harrisburg.

then what would you drink? It's a bad thing that Harrisburg sources of the PLCB have not released the latest sales figures. This is all the more puzzling since vendors received their breakdowns. showing how their products did for the period in question. Perhaps all is not golden with the new pricing structure Reports are that sales of half pints of Thunderbird are well below last year's performance, especially in Philadelphia. It's a good thing that Mazza vineyards, located in Northeast, Erie County, won a gold medal for its Seyval in the Wineries Unlimited Eastern wine competition.

It is a lovely wine. It's a bad thing that the Christmas holidays last such a short time and are so hectic, but maybe that is a good thing, given the excesses of the season. It's certainly a good thing that Thursday is Christmas. Merry Christmas, and to all a good night!.