Every family has their Thanksgiving traditions. Some are funny — buying butter shaped like a turkey or recipes of spam casseroles or Jello-mold creations made by our grandmother that are just, well, oddly disturbing today. But we love them because they bring back memories of family times and long-gone loved ones.
At Kovels, we want to share some of our favorite holiday dishes in the hopes you will enjoy them and maybe start some new family traditions of your own.
TERRY:
We serve this every Thanksgiving. It was always a favorite of Ralph’s and he loved being the tester to get to the desired sweetness.
Fresh Cranberry and Orange Sauce
Equipment:
Grinder with coarse grinding plate
Ingredients:
12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
1-3 oranges
1/2-1 cup granulated sugar
Start by rinsing the oranges, but do not peel. Cut the oranges in half and then cut each half into three wedge sections for a total of six wedges.
Rinse the cranberries. Put them through the grinder alternating with the orange wedges.
Add 1/2-1 cup of sugar. Add some sugar and then taste adding more and tasting as you go to make the recipe match the sweetness you desire.
Refrigerate. The sweet and sour of the ingredients get more intense after a few hours.
Terry’s Cranberry Orange Sauce
KIM:
My daughter made a new cranberry recipe last year and it was so popular that it became an instant addition to our Thanksgiving must-do recipes.
Sugar Cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Bring them to a boil in a small saucepan.
Add 1 cup cranberries and stir.
Immediately remove from the heat and let cool.
Drain excess liquid.
Put 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a pie plate; add the cranberries and toss.
Let set for 1 hour, shaking the dish occasionally.
Modified from Food Network Magazine November 2021
Appetizer board with Sugared Cranberries at lower left
JANET:
When I asked my sister to bring over the family recipe boxes, I had no idea she would bring six boxes that belonged to both my mother and grandmother. It was wonderful to finger through them and see not only their recipes, but also recipes from their older relatives, friends and neighbors, with credit given at the top right of the cards and many of whom I remembered.
I loved seeing their handwriting again! Other cards were typewritten, which required skill with a typewriter. My grandmother, who was a schoolteacher, used the backs of typed letter drafts sometimes to save paper, which were folded to fit in the box.
These were kitchen encyclopedias of their time, alphabetized and categorized. Some of the index cards were food stained with time and labor. Categories included pies, meats and sandwiches. Many of the recipes had intriguing names, like Lady Baltimore Cake, Boiled Cake, Johnny Cake, Sailor Duff, Chocolate Sandwiches and Kiss Pie. Some called for ingredients, such as sour milk, sweet milk, lard, Crisco and breadcrumbs, were more commonly used years ago, and, though they are still available, they are not in my cupboards. And many called for ice water! A lot of pickled this and that, and sandwich variations. Frequently recurring words were cocktail, pudding, pickled and spiked.
One recipe from my mother for Fancy Cookies has “Good” written in large letters at top. And I found one box top that I hand-painted for my mother, with a table setting and paisleys in the corners.
I even found a recipe for dough tree ornaments that I learned about in Girl Scouts crafts. It has “not to eat” written at the top in my handwriting. I made many ornaments as gifts and to sell at shops. It was tucked inside of one of my mother’s recipe boxes so we would both remember over the years.
One recipe that I treasure is for my grandmother’s Waldorf Salad. She introduced it to me, I loved it then and now, and it always makes me think of her.
Waldorf Salad
1 cup diced apples
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup nut meats
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt, pepper
Mayonnaise
Recipe box with Waldorf Salad recipe
LIZ:
This cranberry quick bread has been on our Thanksgiving table for many years. The recipe is straight out of the children’s book Cranberry Thanksgiving, written in 1971 by Wende and Harry Devlin. One of my sons borrowed the book from his school library when he was in 2nd grade. We have been making “Grandmother’s Favorite Cranberry Bread” every season since then, now with grandchildren. We go easy on the raisins and chop the cranberries just a little in a food processor. It’s pretty tart, but we enjoy that.
Grandmother’s Favorite Cranberry Bread
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
3/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups light raisins
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add egg, orange peel, and orange juice all at once; stir just until mixture is evenly moist. Fold in raisins and cranberries.
Spoon into a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
Cranberry Thanksgiving book and recipe, 1971
GAY:
We all get together to celebrate “Thanksmas” (Thanksgiving and Christmas with the out-of-towners) on Thanksgiving weekend. Not everyone likes pumpkin pie, so we have apple crumb pie, too.
Apple Crumb Pie
Filling, mix together
6-7 cups pared, sliced Granny Smith apples
¾ c sugar
1 t cinnamon
Crumb topping, combine until crumbly
½ c softened butter
½ c brown sugar
1 cup flour
Make pastry for one-crust pie. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pastry. Combine sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon and put into pastry shell. Top with crumb topping. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45–55 minutes. Check after 15 minutes to see if crumb topping is brown enough, then cover the pie loosely with foil so it doesn’t get overdone.
Apple Crumble Pie
SUSAN:
My mother was not a cook. Nor was my grandmother. And my father came from a traditional family where the men did not cook (or clean the dishes afterward). Which meant that our Thanksgiving meals, while full of love, were not brimming with traditional family recipes. My biggest memory is making the mashed potatoes from a box of freeze-dried potato flakes. I was so proud that I had “made” the mashed potatoes. It was years before I realized that some families make mashed potatoes from actual potatoes.
I luckily married a man who not only had a mother who was a great cook, but he, too, knew his way around the kitchen. He was a Southerner, so our palates are completely different to this day, but I have fallen in love with his Sweet Potato Casserole. It has been a staple on our Thanksgiving table for the past 30 years. It is very sweet and very yummy.
It is from The Pirates’ House Cook Book from Savannah, Ga., the city in which we met and were married.
Sweet Potato Casserole
1 (2 1/2 lb) can sweet potatoes, drained
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat ingredients together in electric mixer or food processor until smooth. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole.
Topping:
1 cup coconut
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup self-rising flour
1 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted
Mix together and spread on top of sweet potatoes. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Package of Potato Buds and table set for Thanksgiving dinner
ELIZABETH:
This recipe was famously invented in the Campbell’s Test Kitchen in 1955. Since then, it has been part of countless Thanksgiving dinners, including my family’s for as long as I can remember.
Green Bean Casserole
(As seen on Campbell’s soup can and French’s fried onion labels)
About 15 oz. cooked, frozen, or canned cut green beans, drained if canned
10 1/2 oz. condensed cream of mushroom soup (1 can Campbell’s brand)
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. soy sauce
Ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste (optional)
1 1/3 c. crispy fried onions, divided
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl or 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish, mix the green beans, mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, and, if using, salt. Mix in 2/3 cup of the onions.
Bake the green bean mixture in a 1 1/2 qt. casserole for 25 minutes, or until hot.
Stir the mixture and sprinkle the remaining onions on top.
Bake the casserole for 5 more minutes or until the onions are golden brown.
Green Bean Casserole
HAMSY:
Flan is a very popular dessert in Latin American countries, especially in the Caribbean where I’m from. Its silky, velvety and smooth texture is divine. I give my flan a “Thanksgiving” twist by adding pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to the original recipe and let me tell you, it has been the most requested dessert at our family gatherings during Thanksgiving for the past 14 years. It’s very simple and I’ve been perfecting the recipe with a few tricks I have learned along the way. I use a classic 9-inch Bundt cake pan for easy serving.
Pumpkin Flan Recipe
For the caramel:
1-cup of white sugar and a squeeze of lime juice.
For the flan:
I make it for a lot of people (10-15+), so this recipe has been adjusted for that.
5-6 eggs
3 cans of evaporated milk
3 cans of condensed milk
1-can of pumpkin puree
A pinch of salt
Half a teaspoon of rum or any liquor (to remove the eggy taste)
1-2 tablespoons of vanilla extract (or to taste)
2 tablespoons (or more, to taste) of pumpkin spice
Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
In the stove, heat the sugar in a heavy saucepan at medium heat until it melts and caramelizes. Pour a squeeze of lemon juice and stir. Once it’s done, pour it in the Bundt cake pan and swirl carefully until it coats the bottom and some of the sides. Set aside.
In the blender, in batches, blend the evaporated milk, condensed milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice and pinch of salt. Adjust to taste. In the last batch add the eggs (once you are happy how the blended ingredients taste).
Use a strainer and strain the liquid while pouring it into the Bundt cake pan. Tap to release any bubbles.
Cover the top of the container with foil.
Put the cake pan in a water bath (like haft way) and into the oven for 1:30 to 2 hours. It will be ready when the top is set, you can use a toothpick to test, if it comes clean or with very little residue, it’s ready.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool. Once it’s cool, refrigerate for a day or at least 5-6 hours.
Run a knife along the edge of the pan, tap the pan around and carefully invert onto a plate and enjoy!
Pumpkin Flan
ERIC
I don’t really have a recipe that was a favorite. We had mashed potatoes and green beans and turkey and salad but nothing unique! My mother’s recipes for any special thing are long gone.
My warmest memories of Thanksgiving were from the 1960s, seeing my cousins from Pontiac, Michigan. We’d go to Pontiac, or they’d come to Cleveland. I have a twin sister, and my aunt and uncle had two sets of twins, a pair of boys and a pair of girls (seen in the photo). The six of us played games, tossed around the football and made lots of noise. The turkey feast was incidental! The holiday was pure playtime.
Photo of the family gearing up for Thanksgiving dinner
Thankful for Collecting
Dear Lee,
Collectors love the holidays. It is a perfect time for family heirlooms and flea market finds to take their place of honor on dinner tables and mantels or in entryways and yards.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we are starting to pull out our holiday decorations. Did you know that although Thanksgiving was celebrated by most of the United States by 1871, it was not a national legal holiday until 1941? Thanksgiving collectibles aren’t as popular as Christmas or Halloween items, but are they are quickly catching up. The most popular items are usually ceramic or glass turkeys and pumpkins.
In honor of Thanksgiving, we tried something different in this month’s newsletter: We found pieces needed for the dinner table from a recent auction. We thought it would be interesting to create a “collector’s Thanksgiving table.” The results (see page 27) are original and attractive.
Our Thanksgiving table already is a combination of family heirlooms and fun finds. Each piece has personal meaning. The centerpiece is a porcelain turkey that I’ve used for decades as a server or a vase. Our family eats off blue-and-white Spode porcelain plates with a floral pattern. We use sterling silver flatware that was a wedding gift to a family member just after World War I, and our water goblets are pressed glass from the 1880s. I top it all off with silver-plated figural napkin rings made about 1880 and an English sterling silver open salt from the 1830s with a cobalt blue glass liner I bought on my honeymoon.
Regardless of what is on the table, it is always a thankful and happy time to celebrate with family.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Kovels to all of you!
This honeycomb paper turkey has sat on Terry’s Thanksgiving table for over 30 years.
Thanksgiving Memories
Traditions are especially meaningful at Thanksgiving, when we pause our hectic schedules to celebrate with family and friends. Here at Kovels, we thought we would share our treasured traditions in hopes they will make you smile and appreciate how memories are stirred by even the smallest items like pie servers or even the shape of butter.
Happy Thanksgiving from our families to yours!
Terry: I bought this specifically to put on the Thanksgiving holiday table as a turkey centerpiece. It’s from the 1930s and I use it to hold holiday food or garden flowers. It has graced our family Thanksgiving table for many years. After use, it is stored for the following year. I like holiday-specific table decorations and have something for each holiday.
Kim:Every year our local grocery store, Publix Supermarkets, sells a pair of pilgrim salt and pepper shakers. They are all dated and make a cute and functional addition to the table. Mine is from 1999.
Susan:About 10 years ago, we discovered butter shaped like a turkey. It was hard to find last year—it took three weeks of stalking every grocery store in our area—but we found it. This year, we found it right away. We always put it on a small ceramic piece I found at a flea market years ago.
Gay:This silver plate pie server was a Christmas gift several years ago and has served up many Thanksgiving pumpkin and apple crumb pies since then. It is Adam pattern, made by National Silver Co. of New York from 1917 to about 1930.
Janet:We have a Thanksgiving heirloom in the family. It is a green cotton hand-embroidered tablecloth. For many years we had Thanksgiving dinner at our house. Friends and relatives would come, some from out of town. A very close friend of the family came up with the idea, that if all the guests signed the tablecloth, that she would embroider over their signatures over the next year. She was an expert seamstress who worked at Cleveland’s Western Reserve Historical Society in the fashion wing and loved her work.
The tablecloth would be sewn then washed and ready to put on the table the following year. We signed it four different times, in 1969, 1987, 1992, and 2000. Each corner bears the signatures.
Elizabeth: My parents always use this carving set on our Thanksgiving turkey. It has stag horn handles and may have come from Germany. It’s been in the family so long, we’re not quite sure where it’s from.
A Gift for You – Vintage Thanksgiving Place Cards
Enjoy a special gift from the Kovels — free printable vintage-style place cards for your Thanksgiving table. There are six different festive designs on one sheet. Just download, print, cut, add the names of your guests and fold. Download by clicking here or click on the picture below.
Thank-You, Kovels Readers!
We at Kovels want to take a moment to thank you, our faithful readers, for continuing to trust us to provide reliable, interesting, new and in-depth information on your collecting passions. We are grateful you allowed us to help you find and learn about old and new treasures. We appreciate each and every one of you. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving decorations and memorabilia are not be as popular as Halloween or Christmas, but collectors can find figurines of turkeys, Pilgrims, Indians and cornucopias in ceramic, glass, pottery, paper and wood, as well as platters, dishes, turkey-shaped bowls, salt and pepper shakers, candy containers, postcards and textiles. Advertising and product labels, as well as boxes and cans that show Thanksgiving are also collectible.
Look at house sales and resale shops for large turkeys for the center of the table by Napco, National Potteries Corporation of Bedford, Ohio, a major distributor of inexpensive holiday wares from Japan in the 1950s and 60s. They used four different marks, all using the company name. Other importers also made holiday items overseas, moving to different countries as labor costs changed in Taiwan.
George Washington first proclaimed a “Day of Public Thanksgiving” to be observed on November 28, 1782, the last Thursday of November. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt changed it to the fourth Thursday (there were five Thursdays in November that year) to expand the Christmas shopping season and help bring the country out of the Depression. On Dec. 26, 1941, he made it official by signing a bill setting the fourth Thursday in November as the date for the Thanksgiving Day observance by federal law.
Large ceramic turkey. Stores often sell special turkey decorations. This turkey was sold at Marshalls at least 15 years ago for the special reduced price of $5.99. It is 8 inches wide and 8 1/2 inches high. The brightly colored glaze and large size make it a perfect table centerpiece. Value today, at least $50.
Honeycomb decorations have been made since 1900 by the inventor, the still-working Beistle Company in Pennsylvania. This 7-inch-tall folded turkey opens to display a paper honeycomb tail that is 11 inches wide. It is marked “Amscan, Made in Taiwan,” which means it was made in the 1980s or later.
Pilgrim shaker sets. Publix grocery stores have sold pairs of 4-inch-high figural salt and pepper shakers of a pilgrim man and woman since 1991. This year the box set says “Limited Edition” and sells for $6.63. Old sets with the box can sell for more. This pair was made in 2003; it says so on the bottom. There are even sets that represent their children.
Brown turkey pop-up. You don’t see many cooked turkeys in decorations, but this “well done” paper cutout and honeycomb turkey popped up from a greeting card in 2017. Of course it was saved for the next Thanksgiving. It’s resting on a color drawing of a turkey platter with flat cutouts of carrots, broccoli and lemons. At 2 1/2 inches tall, the card cost $3 new and was made in Vietnam.
Turkey plate, Bavaria, Germany, 8 in. dia., $10. Photo: 1957 Estate Bargains
Turkey platter, transferware, Woods, Burslem, England, 21 in. x 17 14 in., $72. Photo: Epic Auctions and Estate Sales
Turkey candy container, composition with heavy metal feet, separates at neck, 19 in. h., $4,631.Photo: Bertoia Auctions
Cornucopia, pottery, marked Royal Haeger, $31. Photo: Emanon Auctions and Estate Sales
Other Holidays
One can never tire of Christmas and Valentine’s Day, but there are other holidays, each inspiring its own range of collectibles. Today collectors look for collectibles from Halloween (candy holders, costumes, masks, decorations, jack-o-lanterns) and Easter (eggs, papier-mâché bunnies, candy containers), as well as Thanksgiving decorations, Fourth of July postcards, and hundreds of other holiday-related […]
Thanksgiving Table Styles
Collectors who are setting a table for Thanksgiving can look to Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel for inspiration. Their plates, glassware, and serving pieces reflect their different collecting styles — and ages — and here are their choices.
Terry’s table is traditional. It starts with blue and white porcelain plates in the Floral pattern introduced by Spode in the 1830s. The sterling silver flatware was a wedding gift to a family member just after World War I. The pattern is Trianon. Pieces are marked “I.S. & Co.,” the mark of the International Silver Co., and the patent date, 1921. The water goblet is pressed glass from the 1880s. The silver-plated figural napkin ring, made about 1880, is decorated with Japanese fans. Terry bought the sterling silver open salt with a cobalt blue glass liner while on her honeymoon. It was made in England in the 1830s. She paired it with a Victorian silver salt spoon and a Georgian-style pepper shaker. Serving pieces include a Victorian silver ladle and a Georgian long-handle stuffing spoon, both with English hallmarks, a hefty Victorian silver cold meat fork, and a silver fruit spoon made in the early 1800s that was engraved and gold washed during the Victorian era. The gravy dish, cover and underplate are cobalt blue porcelain decorated with gold chinoiserie and a bamboo-shaped handle. It was made by the Ott & Brewer Co., which operated Trenton, N.J., from 1871 to 1892. Terry also uses a cut glass relish dish from the American Brilliant Period.
Kim Kovel favors a midcentury tablescape. The dinnerware was designed by Eva Zeisel (1906–2011) for Hall China Co. The organic Tomorrow’s Classic set of shapes is one of Zeisel’s most popular. The plate pattern is Dawn, 1952, and the butter dish and vase are Fantasy, 1952–57. Water goblets are Block Crystal’s Watercolor-Green pattern from 1984. Classic Greek and Roman architecture is reflected in Kim’s stainless steel flatware with handles in the shapes of flattened columns—Doric capitals for spoons, Ionic for knives and Corinthian for forks. They were designed in 1992 by architect Robert Venturi for SwidPowell (a studio founded in 1982 that commissions international architects to design tabletop pieces) and made by Reed & Barton Co. Also reflecting columns are the candlesticks, designed by Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) for Baccarat. They’re called Bougeoir Nusku from Baccarat’s 2002 Rencontre Collection. The backdrop is a tablecloth woven in the 1950s.
Antiques enthusiasts can add one-of-a kind freshness to their tables with unexpected pairings of new, vintage and old accessories. Find prices of all kinds of dinnerware, glass, flatware and silver in the free online price guide at Kovels.com.
Tip for Thanksgiving Dinner
To remove candle wax that has dripped on your Thanksgiving tablecloth, first harden the wax by putting a plastic sandwich bag filled with ice on it. Next, scrape off as much as possible with a dull knife or a credit card. Put the tablecloth between two pieces of paper from a brown paper bag and iron the “sandwich” on low heat until the remaining wax melts into the paper. Wash the tablecloth with a detergent.
Thanksgiving Decorations
Thanksgiving decorations are popular with collectors today. Figurines, of turkeys and pilgrims and Indians, platters and dishes, candles, candy containers, postcards, even paper plates and tablecloths with holiday scenes, sell at the shows. The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 when the pilgrims had a three day celebration of the harvest. Thanksgiving was not a national […]