The teacher's gift

I ran into a friend this week, another mommy getting ready for Christmas, and I asked her how her week was going. "Oh, it's going great. I guess I'm all ready for Christmas!" she replied.

Knowing that Friday was the last day of school before the holidays, I asked about teacher gifts, not to make her panic, but because I'm always looking for ideas. She panicked. Her pretty blue eyes opened wide and she said, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I forgot! I've got to get teacher gifts!" We talked through a few options, from candles and hand lotion to gift cards and baked goods. I've done them all, to recognize the hard work of my daughters' teachers.

This year, I baked. The teachers' bags were loaded with an assortment from my table of baked goodies: sweet stuff like pound cakes, espresso chocolate chip cookies, chocolate dipped marshmallows and mint Oreos, peppermint white chocolate bark, and shortbread. All that sugar requires a balancing element. I like to add something salty to the assortment, so I make a double batch of my special snack mix and add a bag to each package.


This is one version of the snack mix. It's different each time I make it because snack crackers seem to come and go. The backbone of the mix is oyster crackers, embellished with a pretzel type like Hanover's Buttery Waffles - these are the best. A cheesy cracker works well, and a sesame one, if you can find it.  Peanuts, mixed nuts, cashews, are all excellent choices to round out the mix.

Snack Mix

1  (10 oz.) package oyster crackers

1 (9 oz.) package Snyder's of Hanover Butter Snaps Pretzels

1 (12 oz.) package cheese crackers or sticks

1 (12 oz.) can mixed nuts

1 (1 oz.) envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Original Ranch Salad Dressing

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Heat oven to 300. In a large, shallow pan, mix together all snack ingredients. Stir together the salad dressing and oil and pour over the snacks. Evenly distribute the seasoning throughout the mixture. Bake in oven, stirring frequently, for about a half hour. This is absolutely irrestisible warm from the oven. You can store it at room temp in sealed containers, but it won't last long. Actually, the untouched mix could probably last for a week or more, but my point is, it won't be around your house for very long if the munch monsters know where to find it.

Do you make teacher's gifts? What were your favorites to give or, if you're a teacher, to receive? I'd love to know.

Text and images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Ruth's Chris Steak House's famous oyster dressing recipe

Ruth's Chris Steak House famous oyster dressing.

Thanksgiving is a time to share a feast with family and reflect on the dreams that our forefathers had for this country. Ruth's Chris Steak House founder Ruth Fertel found her American Dream and shares her oyster dressing recipe, served to her family and restaurant patrons each Thanksgiving.

In 1965, Ruth Fertel was a single mother with two sons and she mortgaged her house to purchase Chris Steak House at the corner of Broad and Ursuline in New Orleans in 1965. With virtually no experience, Ruth found herself butchering the meat by herself in the kitchen, keeping the books, and serving guests. She even developed the broiler – still used today – the steak house uses to create the sizzle for which it’s so widely known.

After a kitchen fire destroyed the steakhouse in 1976, Ruth purchased a new property a few blocks away on Broad Street and opened under the name Ruth’s Chris Steak House; her contract with the first owner precluded her from using the name Chris Steak House in a different location, and she didn’t want to lose her loyal following. The first franchise opened in March 1976 and over the years, Ruth added more franchises.

As part of her celebrations for Thanksgiving and all family holidays, Ruth served her original oyster dressing, offering her hometown New Orleans twist to an American classic. The dressing includes Crescent City ingredients including oysters, smoked sausage and New Orleans-style hot sausage. Continuing the legacy of Ruth Fertel and her humble beginnings, Nancy Oswald, owner of the highest-grossing Ruth’s Chris Steak House franchise in the world with nine restaurants in the Southeast, including four in the Atlanta area, still serves Ruth’s oyster dressing at every holiday gathering.

Serving dishes such as her favorite oyster dressing to close friends and family, Ruth lived up to her famous words to “do what you love – love what you do.”

Ruth’s Oyster Dressing

Serves: about 12 four-ounce servings

8 ounces smoked sausage, finely diced
8 ounces hot sausage (see recipe below)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
¼ cup fresh garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces
8 cups oysters, cleaned and drained, save the liquid
4 cubes chicken bullion
8 cups (1 to 1 ½ loaves) French bread, dried and cut into half-inch cubes
6 large eggs
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste

1. In a skillet, sauté smoked sausage and hot sausage. Add onion, celery, green pepper and garlic and cook on medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add parsley and remove from heat.

2. In another skillet, sauté oysters in 2 tablespoons of butter until the edges curl. Using a slotted spoon, remove oysters from skillet and set aside to cool. Add remaining oyster liquid and bouillon cubes to skillet, dissolving bouillon cubes and bringing the mixture to a simmer. Remove from heat and add remaining 14 tablespoons of butter.

3. Chop cooled oysters and add to the onion, celery, green pepper and garlic mixture.

4. In a large bowl, beat eggs and stir into the vegetables and oyster mixture. Add bread and oyster liquid with butter and bouillon and mix well. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and cayenne pepper.

5. Pour mixture in a buttered baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Hot Sausage

In New Orleans, hot sausage is a fresh pork sausage seasoned with red pepper and paprika and is stuffed in pork casings, similar to Italian sausage without the fennel seeds. If hot sausage is unavailable, use this substitute:

8 ounces boneless pork shoulder, cut into one-inch cubes
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

1. Put the pork shoulder cubes in a bowl and add in cayenne pepper, paprika salt and black pepper. Let mixture stand for 2 hours then grind or chop it to a fine texture. Refrigerate until ready to use.