Remembering Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is so much about family traditions – like baking pies – two of the pie tins go back to the mid-1950s…

….getting out the 1952 wedding china….

…my oldest daughter embroidered the tablecloth in the 1960s…

….having the youngest kids check out the turkey.

This tradition began in the mid-1950s with my two pre-school children posing for the movie camera, gently poking the turkey with large forks to see if it was done.  It continued with another son and daughter in the 1960s and 1970s and now the youngest grandchildren are somewhat bewildered looking at the turkey.  Grandson is happily contemplating turkey breast, cranberry sauce and apple pie.  Granddaughter doesn’t eat anything.

We had a good Thanksgiving.

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Happy Thanksgiving

My doll table magically held a full Thanksgiving dinner this morning, thanks to my daughter’s skill with clay.  There are all of our favorites – a big turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie and apple pie.  It would save me a lot of time if the meal could appear by magic today on my dining room table, but then I wouldn’t have the fun of getting everything together for my family once again (the 60th Thanksgiving dinner I’ve cooked).

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Cranberry Cake and Brandy Sauce

This dessert was adapted from a recipe on AllRecipes.com.  I first made it for Christmas dinner in 2004 and my daughter and I loved it.  The original was for a large bundt cake and I cut the recipe in half to make this version which I bake in an antique 7-inch tube pan.  It could also be baked in a 9-inch loaf pan.

CRANBERRY CAKE AND BRANDY SAUCE
Cake

• 3 Tblsp. butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
• 6 oz fresh cranberries

Sauce:

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 Tblsp. brandy

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease/flour 7-inch tube pan or 9-inch loaf pan.

To make the cake
In a large bowl cream butter and sugar.  In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients.  Beat flour mixture into creamed mixture alternately with evaporated milk, beginning and ending with flour.   Stir in cranberries.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 50-60 minutes @ 325 degrees F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (loaf pan may take longer).

Let cool in pan 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

To make the sauce:
In a small pan combine the butter, sugar and cream.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat and let simmer 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in brandy.  Drizzle warm sauce over slices of cake.

The sauce is quite rich and this amount is just right for drizzling over 6 individual slices of cake.

6 servings

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An Aunt Nancy Day Celebration

My oldest daughter never married but has been a doting aunt to four girls, two boys and countless dogs and cats.  All but two of the kids are in their twenties now but she’s still in the center of the lives of my youngest daughter’s children.  A few years ago she commented that there is a Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents’ Day – but no Aunt’s Day.  That’s when my youngest daughter started Aunt Nancy Day.  Each year in November, we have a little celebration that may or may not include  youngest daughter’s two children (13 and 9), depending on the event.  (This niece and nephew call Nancy “Uncle Chester” just to be perverse.

Aunt Nancy/Uncle Chester and the kids

This year’s celebration was something we didn’t think the children would enjoy:

You are cordially invited to an Aunt Nancy/Uncle Chester Day celebration on Wednesday, November 14. Lunch will be provided en route to Columbus, Ohio where you will be granted an exclusive tour of the Thurber House. (OK, it’s just the normal self-guided tour that anybody can do, but PRETEND it’s exclusive.) Get out your copy of MY LIFE AND HARD TIMES and bone up.

Since my two daughters and I are great admirers of humorist/cartoonist James Thurber, it was ideal for us.  We had lunch at a Cracker Barrel and then drove for an hour and half to Columbus, Ohio, listening to recordings of some of Thurber’s funniest stories.

The Thurber house was built in 1873 and is an example of Victorian architecture.

The Thurbers lived there from 1913-1917 and the house and furnishings were restored aided by the recollections of Thurber’s younger brother.  This sideboard had been in the Thurber dining room.

My favorite room was the one that James Thurber used at the time and the old typewriter he used when he wrote for The New Yorker.

Had to stop and admire the quilt on the old iron bed.

I took a picture of my girls on the staircase from which he heard the ghost circling the dining room table in “The Night the Ghost Got In”…

And one of the front door which the police broke down after a call about the ghost.

There are many beautiful fireplaces in the house with gorgeous tile.

Thurber fans will love seeing the house, the furnishings and all of the memorabilia.  There is no charge for the self-guided tour.  Here is their website:

www.thurberhouse.org

On the way back, we stopped in downtown Columbus for some exotic ice cream at Jeni’s.  I chose a dip each of Bangkok Peanut and Queen City Cayenne Chocolate.  Liked the Cayenne Chocolate the best – unique flavors.

My daughter gave Nancy a gift card to Hobby Lobby from her kids, two dogs and two cats,  and I gave her one to JoAnn’s from my dog, Rusty.  Another Aunt Nancy Day is over.

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It’s Turkey Time in my November Kitchen

Turkeys are the main attraction in my November kitchen, accompanied by some pilgrims and other fall decorations.

The shelves on either side of the window over my sink hold some turkey items…l

The big rustic shelf holds a painting I did on enamelware and two vintage turkey candles.

The middle shelf has some small vintage pilgrim candles…

…and on the bottom shelf are a turkey tile and some more candles.

My doll table is decked out with a crocheted-edge tablecloth, silverware and plates, plus a miniature turkey and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

On the walls are a cross-stitch piece that my daughter-in-law did for me….

…a quilted turkey wall hanging I made several years ago…

…a pilgrim enamelware platter that I painted in 1996…

…and a patchwork wall hanging with my favorite Rockwell Thanksgiving picture.

It won’t be long until I’ll be buying the real turkey to stuff and roast for my family once again.

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A 70s Turkey Mini-Quilt Table Topper

When I gave my youngest daughter a mini-quilt and rack for her anniversary in October, I knew I would be making some more mini-quilts for her.  I wanted to give her something with a Thanksgiving theme and remembered a pattern I had picked up in Ohio Amish country several years ago.  It’s a fused turkey design that I used to make a wall hanging.

Since my daughter is definitely a child of the 70s, I made up a mini-quilt for her with a very cool turkey, using all of the frantic 70s fabrics left over from other projects I’ve done for her.

I used wide black zigzag stitches to give it an even wilder and crazier 70s look.

Of course, she loved it and it’s in her family room along with a big stuffed orange and green owl and some other 70s stuff.

The pattern is by Becky and Me, #T-1044.  Address:  5811 Valley Ave. E, Fife WA 98424 – (253) 380-2284.

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A Doll’s Halloween Party

When I came out to the kitchen this morning, I found that my vintage doll table was set for a Halloween party.  There was a pumpkin and skull, a plateful of candy apples, cookies with bat and jack o’lantern designs and mugs for cider.

There was even a pretty black luncheon cloth with an orange crocheted edging.

My oldest daughter who lives with me had fashioned these tiny dishes out of clay (the plate of apples is about the size of a quarter) and made the little luncheon cloth.  All we need now are some miniature trick or treaters.

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A Spooky Hollow Wall Hanging

My oldest daughter who lives with me just finished this wonderful piece that has three panels with cross-stitch and quilting.  Everything was done by hand including piecing  and quilting the sashing and borders and sewing on the binding.

For the rod, she covered a dowel in copper tape and fashioned copper wire pieces for the ends.The piece measures 38 x 18 inches and is the perfect background over the mantel for her centerpiece design – WITCH’S NIGHT OUT.

Her crocheted spider web doily completes the arrangement.

It’s nice to have something a little different in décor from the usual jack o’lanterns and skeletons.

Click on photos to enlarge.

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Autumn Mini-Quilt Table Topper

When my daughter and I went to the International Quilt Show here in Cincinnati last spring, I chose an embroidery piece for my daughter to do for me – Autumn – Cherish it!  My sentiments exactly.  She did her usual beautiful embroidery on it with little scenes of birdhouses, pumpkins, flowers, apples, a church, a harvest moon, etc., and I assembled it this past week to make a mini-quilt table topper.

I tried three different approaches  and settled on this one with the green gingham which did not overpower the embroidery.  I used decorative stitching for the quilting and added some vintage and decorative buttons.

It shows everything I love about autumn.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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Autumn Has Come to my September Kitchen

It seems that almost every decorative item in my September kitchen was made by my oldest daughter…she carved and painted the pumpkin with a crocheted rose that hangs by the window…

…she painted the beautiful door crown….

.  she painted the plates and pitcher on the large shelf…

…in fact, she painted and distressed the shelf itself.

Also on the shelf is a miniature house and figures that the two youngest grandchildren always loved. They liked peeking in the window and seeing Grandma and Grandpa peeling apples.

My favorite of all is a piece that is up all year round in the kitchen.  My daughter painted an old dresser drawer depression green and used it to house a tiny 1930s era kitchen with vintage Tootsie Toy stove, sink, refrigerator and table.  She added so many details which I love such as a clock, a calendar, light fixture  and sink skirt.  There’s a tiny dishcloth on the sink, a grease jar on the stovetop and canisters on the shelf.  I use the bottom section of the drawer to store some 6 inch quilts.  I smile whenever I look at this little kitchen.

Now, I’m ready for bright blue skies, changing leaves, and cooler weather outside with a lot of baking inside in my September kitchen.

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