Holiday Menu Planning with Your Garden Fare at Hand

One of my favorite things to do in prepping for a holiday meal is to peruse old cookbooks to see what tradition recommends. Today, I'll offer a couple of quotes from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (New in 1960 that is.)

"For your centerpiece, let your mood and resources be your guide." Our table this year had a country harvest feel to it. I used the heavy stoneware and a centerpiece that featured a corn husk doll, bright red and gold leaves, and cinnamon candles. I just didn't "feel like" going with the china for this one. The centerpiece was shifted to the unused end of the table during the meal--there were only 5 of us--and only rolls and condiments graced the table proper. The feast itself was served buffet-style off the kitchen table. This arrangement worked so well, I may use it every year.

Back to the cookbook. Its list of Entertaining Menus were indeed entertaining as we read through them the day before our meal shopping outing. We found menu plans for everything from a late evening buffet to a luau.

But, their recommendation for a Thanksgiving Buffet included the following dishes:

Swedish Pickled Shrimp

Cold Sliced Smoked Turkey

Frosted Cranberry Salad

Assorted Relishes

Buttered Dinner Rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Tea and Coffee to drink

Our own meal relied heavily on the stock that came from this summer's canning and freezing efforts which I've marked with an asterisk in the menu listed.

Breakfast:

*Zucchini bread with powdered sugar and a variety of homemade jellies

Coffee

Light Lunch:

Egg salad on french bread toast

Summer sausage

Cheese ball and crackers

*Homemade freezer slaw

Holiday Dinner:

*Roasted turkey with herb vinegar marinade

*Herb dressing

Cranberry sauce

Mandarin oranges

Golden mashed potatoes

Marshmallow-topped yams

Amish noodles

*Corn

*Green beans

Pumpkin pie

*Chess pie with strawberry and blueberry topping

Obviously, I pulled a lot from the freezer: from the strawberries picked and frozen in June through the zucchini bread made sometime in July, from the slaw made in August to the corn and green beans packed away here and there throughout the summer, all these brought memories to the surface, making the meal a tangible celebration the bounty of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!