Bean, my late MIL didn’t bother with littlenparty dainties when she could torture main dishes.
I come from a family of respectable cooks, so it was shocking to learn my MIL learned her skills from Lisa Douglas. She was the picture of the little white-haired grandma...until it was dinnertime.
She once “marinated” a Thanksgiving turkey in cider vinegar. Yeah. And she didn’t have milk for mashed potatoes so she used turkey drippings. There are other stories that are now family lore.
I’ll admit to trying otherwise very successful recipes on my relatives during the holidays, but others appreciate the liverwurst/worsterchire/cream cheese and garlic ball!
Not meaning to get too far off topic but my mother in law once made a birthday cake with these odd little candies all over it. We all asked why they were on there, she said, “Oh I’ve had these in a drawer for five or six years and I didn’t want to waste them”.
That is horrid.
Did your FIL live very long?