Happy Thanksgiving! Are you ready? Y’all know how much I love to cook and how much I adore holidays! My kitchen’s the hub of my home, and I decorate it for each season. However, there’s one thing in my kitchen that’s always been a constant, that will get more use at Thanksgiving than any other item. Treasured, it’s something I’ll someday give to my daughter for her kitchen. Can you guess what it is? This post also marks my sixth year anniversary as the Suburban Farmgirl Blogger (my first post was Thanksgiving, 2010), so to celebrate I have an adorable giveaway for one lucky reader!
“Spice a dish with love, and it pleases every palate” – Plautus
Growing up, holidays were always delicious. I remember my mom cooking up a storm, everything always homemade. Mom never cut corners, making everything from scratch. We had a few big family gatherings, but mostly we spent Thanksgiving with just immediate family up at the “farm” – my dad’s ranch in the Texas hill country. I can still taste my mom’s southern cornbread dressing – which I now make a version of, with a few of my own additions.
Last year’s turkey, ready for the oven. Organic, it was delicious!
Living so very far from all of our family, we don’t get to have big family gatherings that often, especially at the holidays, but our family has our own special way of celebrating. We make the house cozy with the fireplace going, speak to all of our faraway family on the phone, watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade on television (while preparing our big meal), and COOK! We have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, with all the fixin’s.
The first thing I reach for is my recipe box!
My recipe box is a “basket” – a Longaberger piece I bought at a basket party when I first moved to Connecticut over twenty years ago. Sturdily made and hand-woven, it has a maple top with a spot for whatever recipe card I am using. It’s lined with fabric, and was the inspiration for me to do a “cherries” theme in my kitchen.
My box is cute, but it’s what’s inside that is special. Open the lid, and it’s stuffed to the gills. All of my family’s most favorite dishes can be found among the cards, separated alphabetically.
The most special ones are the cards from my mother, some in her handwriting. Before the internet, my mom would scan the newspaper, looking for new recipes to make for her family. Some of the cards are copies of those original clippings.
Not every kitchen has a recipe box these days. Many cooks now rely on “digital” copies of their favorite dishes. Just last week, I was in a gift shop with two farmgirl sisters, when my friend Jackie was so excited to find a recipe box and recipe cards. “You don’t find these that often anymore”, she exclaimed. For me, I love to see the hand written cards, remembering special people by the dishes they shared with me – always with love. You can tell which recipes are made the most by the cards that are dog-eared or have the most cake batter drips and grease-stained spots. Some of the recipes I have in my box are from old friends and relatives who have passed on. I honor them when I make their dishes.
Thursday, we’ll eat our big meal in the dining room, with Christmas carols playing. If the weather is nice (usually we’re lucky here in Connecticut), we always take a walk with our dogs, who are a big part of the family. Afterwards, we will eat pumpkin pie with real whipped cream, and just spend the rest of the day relaxing together, before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season goes into full swing.
With the world around us in so much turmoil, I think it’s really important to hold on to traditions we love, and special celebrations with those we hold dear. When my daughter has her own family someday, I hope she will think back on how special holidays were with our little family. My dream is that she’ll look at each weathered recipe card with fondness, spicing all of the dishes she makes with love.
Thanksgiving is a time to count our blessings. One of my top blessings is MaryJane, and all of the wonderful people I have met through MaryJanesFarm. Writing as the Suburban Farmgirl is very special to me, and I am honored to be a part of the magical world of MaryJane. To say thank you, I’m doing a Thanksgiving giveaway! This adorable fall-themed recipe box with a brand new set of matching recipe cards is waiting for you to fill up with your treasured recipes!
Leave me a comment, and I’ll put your name in the drawing. Share with me your favorite dish to eat at Thanksgiving, a special holiday memory, what you plan on doing Thanksgiving day – or just pop in and say “hi”. Next post, I’ll draw a name at random, and will announce who the lucky recipient is!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Until Next Time…Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
always enjoy your posts and congrats on your 6 year anniversary! My Mom also loved to try new recipes and I do the same thing now, I tell people that I am a recipe hoarder since I have recipes all over the place!! Happy Thanksgiving!!
Denise – Love it! “Recipe Hoarder” – thanks for making me smile! Happy Thanksgiving, Nicole
I, too, have recipes in my mom’s handwriting – some on cards, some on scraps of paper, some on the front or back pages of cookbooks. Recipes she cut out of magazines and newspapers are also treasures. This post brought back many fond memories, and was a treat to read.
Hi Barb, Thank you! I have a collection of cookbooks, too, but there is a little bakers rack where my most “special” ones sit, the ones I got from both my mom and my dad, ones where my scribbles and years of cooking stains decorate the pages, or ones I got as a wedding present…those too, will be given to my daughter someday. Thanks for commenting, and Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I don’t know if you remember that I live in Newark, OH (Heath, OH nearby) where the world-famous Longaberger Basket Office Building is located. Tell me that you have seen its pictures online?
I bet your daughter has her eye on that little box/basket! Just for a suggestion, did you ever think of doing photocopies of your precious recipes and then maybe taking the originals to a shop and having them laminated for posterity?
I would appreciate it if you would include me in your Giveaway.
Wish I had a daughter to cook Thanksgiving dinner with me!
Hi Mary! I have seen the pictures. I think the Longaberger building is fascinating! I bet it is really something in person. I like your idea about laminating the cards. It may be something I should look into. Thanks for the suggestion, and good luck for the drawing! Check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I recently began “transfering” recipes from my computer to paper. There’s something reassuring about having those recipes at the ready in my binder. It seems to take longer to look up a recipe and half the times having it misfiled or not using the full correct name to find it on the computer. Ugh. Easier to open a book!!! Peace!!
Well said, Barbara! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love to make my pumpkin upside cake. Pumpkin pie on bottom and dry cake mix with butter and pecans to top it off. So yummy. Of course, I love the turkey and dressing too.
My mom always made the best! and she’s been gone now for 4 years. still miss her
Mary, Yum! That pumpkin upside cake sounds marvelous – I’ve never heard of that. Did I mention I love pumpkin ANYTHNG? I’m sorry to hear you lost your mom…I am so thankful that even if I can’t see my parents due to distance, I can talk to them by phone everyday. I still miss my grandma and she’s been gone so long now. Big farmgirl Hugs to you, Nicole
HAPPY THANKSGIVING….MY FAVORITE IS ROASTED CHICKEN….I DO NOT LIKE TURKEY…I KNOW I CAN HEAR THE GASPS! LOL.. BUT THERES. A TURKEY THANKING ME☺️ DINNER WITH FAMILY AND BEING THANKFUL….BLESSINGS TO ALL…
Hi Carleen, Smiling at that comment! My brother isn’t crazy about turkey, either. He says they are making a ham at his home in Texas. I like turkey, but only once or twice a year. I will say that last year was the first time we bought an organic turkey and oh my…what a difference! So tasty! Enjoy your chicken, sounds like two turkeys are “pardoned” this year (I love seeing the turkey presidential pardons on tv each year, cracks me up). Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I have a recipe box, the sam one for over 30 years…it has mine and my mothers stuffed in to an old card catalog box. Its solid oak, not very pretty but funtional. I also have my grandmothers note book of recipes…all writen in her own hand.
I really enjoy your stories Nichole…thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh, Beth, thank you sweetie! How wonderful you have those family treasures. Enjoy your holiday! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Love to win it!
Happy Thanksgiving, Annette. I will put your name in the drawing! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Favorite memories – large extended family get together on the day after Thanksgiving. Many times over 60 + attending!
Wow, Becky! That is amazing. I don’t think I have ever had a Thanksgiving that big! My husband’s family is huge in Denmark, and they are always all getting together. I was once there for my birthday; it was the best! I never felt so special with so many loved ones around. Enjoy! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I’d feel very honored to beable to receive one of your receipe boxes; love! reading your column, “have” good & Blessed Holiday’s 🙂
Thank you, Charlene! Your name will go in the drawing. I am so thankful for readers like you, it means a lot to me that you like my posts.Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I have three recipe boxes – My grandmother’s – some of whose recipes go back before the turn of the century; my mother’s – from the 1920’s into the 1950’s, when she had a stroke that affected her one eye; and mine, the 1950’s to the present. I don’t cook much anymore – my daughters, granddaughters, and men in the family who like to cook do it. But I treasure the recipe boxes. My grandmother’s has recipes that are in letters from friends, and sometimes send me to the Internet to do research. One from before 1900, referred to marshmallows! I didn’t know they were available back then. I found a recipe for making your own! Cooking from scratch, which they all did, was a labor of love back then. Many of their dishes required two or three days to finish. I love to read them, but I give thanks this Thanksgiving that we don’t have to do the big meals three times a day! Just my opinion.
Hi Virginia! What an amazing history you have contained in those boxes! I do cook mainly from scratch these days (much more than the “average” mom these days, I guess) but can you imagine the amount of work it would have taken to cook back in the day – three big meals a day – without a lot of modern conveniences or grocery stores. Still, life was simpler. I did not know marshmallows had been around that long, either! Happy Thanksgiving, Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi, Nicole!
Samantha and I just made marshmallows today! We have a recipe for them without corn syrup, which turns out delicious! A sticky mess, but they’re really good! 🙂
-Kristen
Hi Kristen, Thank you for sending me the recipe! Audrey and I are going to make them this weekend! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What a wonderful blog piece today! I too treasure recipe boxes. After my parents passed away, I found a recipe box my mother had. It was from her father, and it was a real treat to find recipes in his handwriting, recipes that I remember him cooking when I was a young girl. Old newspaper clippings from the 1940’s and 1950’s. He was a ship cook in the navy, and later on a cook for Foss Tug Boats in Seattle. I have my own I started in the early 1980’s, and it is fun to look back through it to see what I cooked back then! 🙂 Some of the recipes I still cook, but have done them so much, I have them memorized.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Bambi Miller
Ellensburg, WA
Hi Bambi! What a wonderful treasure you have in your mother’s recipe box! Thank you so much for sharing your memories with me. The other day, I went through my box too, and it is funny to see what I was cooking back in the early 90’s, too, when I first started my box. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What a wonderful post!!!! I too am not with the big ole FAMILY but I am grateful for those that are around here where I am I too am so blessed to have all the MaryJanes Farm peeps to call ‘family’. I am a – hand written/printed recipe girl – tactile I guess, so the recipe box is a good thing. I would so love to be picked for the beautiful box you are offering but most of all I would love to have your recipes – my sister says my boxes are just coverings for all the recipes I have collected – yupper she is right. Thank you for the chance and Happy Thanksgiving. God bless.
Hi Joan! I am glad you enjoyed today’s post! I too, love to collect recipes. I also have a collection of “vintage” cookbooks. I do use them. My oldest dates back to the 20’s. I love looking at the hand drawn pictures in it, with the moms in the kitchen with their short bobbed hair, depictions of the “modern cook”. Your name is in the drawing – good luck and Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What a lovely recipe box! I inherited my grandmother’s recipes, some handwritten, but in an old shoe box. Would be nice to keep them in this. Hope I win!
Hi Deb! Love that you have recipe cards from your grandmother. Good luck – the winner of the box will be announced on my next post! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I gave up my recipe cards and the box some years ago. As I age, I can’t see those little cards to cook, and wearing my reading glasses in the kitchen is messy. I cook a LOT despite a full time job and a part-time job. I love to cook! All of my recipes now occupy four binders. I’ve printed them in large font so they are always easy to read. I have the binders divided up in a way that makes sense for me. One is for meats (sections for beef, chicken, pork, and “other), one is for side dishes (potatoes, pasta, veggies), one is for desserts (cakes, pies, cookies, candies, etc.) and the fourth is everything else (soups, appetizers). Many of the recipes were from friends or family, and get used regularly. I’m always adding to the binders, as well, because we are always looking for new ways to eat old things. 🙂
Hi Susabelle, I also have a binder I put together, to hold the pages from magazines where I need the pictures, or to hold some of the pages my parents wrote out of recipes, things that won’t fit on cards. Happy Thanksgiving, farmgirl. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
The holidays should be about making memories and remembering it through the great recipes that have been passed down from our grandmothers and mothers. Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy making more memories with those you love!
Hi Donna, I agree. Holidays should be about family and friends and wonderful traditions. I try to keep as many as I can, and hope my daughter will, too, when she’s grown. Farmgirl Hugs, and Happy Thanksgiving (and good luck with the drawing). Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love the fall-themed box and cards, Nicole! You are so nice to offer the giveaway. I have a large plastic recipe box that was my mother’s. I cannot get another card in it, and would love to win this box to pull out the recipes most popular with my family. My mother also cut recipes out of the newspaper – and one Christmas she compiled all of the cookie recipes from her family, friends, and newspaper clippings into a notebook and made a copy for she, my sister, and I. She also indexed it doubly – by alphabet and by type of cookie. I treasure that box.
Hi Linda! What an awesome gift your mom did. Thanks for commenting, and check back next time to see if that little box has your name on it! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My fondest memory is the year my Dad insisted on painting the living room the week of Thanksgiving. My mom had asked for months to paint the living room to no avail and then all of a sudden, dad said “Let’s paint, the week of Thanksgiving.” Saying no was fruitless, so we painted. I remember watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in our bedroom on a small black & white television with all the living room furniture crowded around us. We baked Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookies. I don’t think my mom could handle the added stress of baking from scratch with all the chaos going on in the house. Magically, everything worked out, the living room was back to normal Thanksgiving morning (in time for the parade on the color television) and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, just the four of us, Mom, Dad, my sister and me. Funny thing, after that year Pillsbury Chocolate Chip cookies became a tradition.
Janet, what a great story! Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Some of the best traditions are born from unplanned events. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love the story of your recipe box, my box is very similar. Would love to win a new recipe box to stuff full of recipes for my granddaughter, I’ll put it in the “bottom drawer” I’ve started for her. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity and Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks for “stopping by”, Tracy! Be sure to check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Happy Thanksgiving, Nicole
I love that you enjoy the hand written card’s. I started my recipe box in the early 60’s. As always I think we love the memories from Mom and Grand Mom.Thank you for your great blog.Bright Blessings and Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Lillianleigh Floyd,Virginia
Thank you, Lillianleigh! I started my card box in the early 90’s, and I also have a stack of magazine “meals” I pulled out of a teen magazine when I was a teen in the 80’s. I love that my mom saved them for me. Happy Thanksgiving and Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I too have a recipe box–yellow plastic with cards handmade by relatives who have long passed on, friends, great cooks and bakers, and the original bread recipe from my friend across the hall who taught me her family recipe in 1967 so I could bake my first two loaves of bread. I still use her recipe: sometimes with sesame seeds, sometimes with honey, always with happy memories. Congratulations on your six years with Mary Jane! Thank you for the beautiful recipe box giveaway and I hope whomever wins will appreciate it for many, many years.
Hi Adrienne, I love this comment! I can almost smell that wonderful bread – baked with love! Thanks for reading and commenting, I always love to see your name on here. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
You have given me motivation to organize my recipes. Right now they are in boxes I dig through to find what I want! Hope to soon the beautiful box. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Hi Alvena, your name is entered in the drawing. I wish I had more than one for everyone! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I have my grandmother’s recipes in an old plastic bag that appears to be full of butter and flour leavings, just like the recipes themselves. My grandmother died many years ago (at least 40 years ago at the age of 88) but I so strongly associate those recipes with the smells coming from her kitchen….tarts….eclairs….and my favorite…donuts…ummm.
Jill, what a beautiful way to remember your grandmother. I remember my grandmother by certain scents, too…warm oatmeal cookies and rosewater hand cream. I can’t believe she is gone so long now (twenty years, I think) but I still miss her desperately. I think of her when I am in the garden, she could grow the most amazing roses. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole, I too have 2 very old and special Longaberger baskets in my kitchen, much like yours infact, and my kitchen just would not be the same without them!! Also, I have a (growing) stash of cards, scraps of paper and newsprint,etc.,all loved recipes ,all very meaningful to me because of their memories attached, some from loved ones now gone, that I need to organize better, for prosperity. Please put me in your drawing, and thank you for your heartfelt posts!!!. Happy Thanksgiving, Christine.
Hi Christine, Thank you, I am so happy you like to read my blog. I am amazed at how well crafted my Longaberger baskets are! They really have weathered the years well! They make a home cozy, too. Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Thank you for sharing things of beauty. I, too, celebrate the holiday with just my immediate family. I am thankful for that full day with my children, for time off from work and just time to breathe.
Mary, Well said! Enjoy the day, farmsister! Happy Thanksgiving, Nicole
cranberry sauce and stuffing love it at thanksgiving time!!!
Hi Elizabeth, I agree! Stuffing is my fave! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love my recipe box, but this would’ve a perfect gift for a friend who lost her home in the Idaho wildfires.
Oh Joni, How sad for your friend. Prayers to her. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I just gifted my friend with a red metal 1950’s recipe box to fit in with her retro-style kitchen theme, and I added some of my favorite recipes. I started using the computer recipe program that is really nice and a family cookbook could be compiled and sent to others. But I tend to want to hold and see the card near where I work on the countertop. I just love all of my cookbooks, very old and new. I luck out at the thrift shops and GoodWill with books that families don’t want anymore. Some young folks don’t know how to cook and enjoy the benefits we derive from our own home-made meals both emotionally and health wise. I’ll leave the box for someone else to win and enjoy. A happy Thanksgiving to all. Ellen
Hi Ellen, I bet that red metal box was adorable! I agree, I like my cards and cookbooks the best, though when I do see a recipe on the internet I will print it out. It is scary how some young’ens these days can’t make anything unless it is instant! Happy Thanksgiving, and Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Thank you for such a nice giveaway. I would love to win the recipe box. Recipes handed down from my grandmas are my favorites unfortunately, there are only a few. They just cooked without recipes. We are currently working with my mom and mother in law and to get theirs.
Hi Sandy, So many of my grandmother’s dishes were not written down, either. She just used “a dash of this, a sprinkling of that”. The ones I do have that are written down are so very precious. I try to write my recipes down even when I know what is in them, so my daughter can have them someday. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love your recipe basket! I have a book that I keep all our holiday traditional recipes in! Family is what this time of year is all about. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Teresa! I agree…it’s a wonderful time of year and a favorite holiday for us. My husband loves Thanksgiving, though he didn’t have one until he married me! Have a wonderful holiday! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love your recipe box. My mother passed away 4 years ago and my father gave me her recipe boxes. I have scanned them into the computer and will give a digital recipe book to my siblings. Mom always had a huge Thanksgiving Dinner and have everyone over. Everyone has gone there own way now and my husband and I will have a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for sharing your blog with everyone. Judy
Hi Judy, What a wonderful way to honor your mom by sharing her recipes with your siblings! Our Thanksgiving is quiet too, but we will be having a feast! Thanks for “popping in”, and check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Big Thanksgiving Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Thanksgiving is not complete with out the desert! I’m talking about my homemade pumpkin pie. My kids to this day say mom your fixing pumpkin pie right? Of corse this mom always makes one huge one for desert and they all get their own whole one to take home!
Karen, I agree…it’s pumpkin pie for dessert on Thanksgiving! Mine is actually IN THE OVEN as I type to you! I also like to eat it for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving…naughty, but oh so good! Love that you make a pie for your kids. That is something I would do, too! Enjoy your wonderful holiday with your children! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Love your blogs. Did Thanksgiving with my church family on Sunday….yummy and ooooh too much! I would love to have the recipe file. My cousin worked for Longaberger in Ohio for some time (sales) and her mom made some of the liners…many years ago. I still have many of the baskets and they are so handy. Have a great Thanksgiving. We have so much in this country for which to be thankful!
Hi Linda, I haven’t seen a Longaberger party invite around here in a long while, for a bit we were all going to each others’ houses frequently for them. The ones I have are around twenty years old, and still as nice as the day I bought them. That little recipe box has taken a beating, but it looks great. I bet your cousin liked working there. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, too. Check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
One of my family’s greatest treasures is my grandmother’s recipe card box. I did not know her well, but making her recipes helps me to feel closer to her and brings back wonderful memories for my father. Winning this recipe box would motivate me to write down my favorite recipes so my little ones can carry on our traditions in the future. Thank you for the lovely giveaway!
Hi Rachel, I did not know one of my grandmothers well, either. My memories are from when I was young, but I feel so connected to her by her recipes (I shared a very special one with readers last year). How great it is to have those recipes. Do you make your grandmothers recipes for your father, too? I send my dad a box of his mom’s special cookies each Christmas, and he loves them. He says no one can make them like she did but me. Your name is entered in the drawing…good luck! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole– Loved your post today. When my mom-in-law died I asked for her recipe book that her mom had hand written for her in 1942 when she married. I love it. It’s covered with old contact paper. There are recipes from president’s wives, too, that were handed down for decades. Some things baffle me like “a temporate oven”. I have 2 recipe boxes- one for sweets with Hershey stuff on it and one for everything else with kitchen stuff on it. When my oldest son went to college, he asked for a cookbook of his favorite recipes. Now that’s a blessing, indeed. Thanks for your great letters. Happy Thanksgiving, Kerrie Hershey
Thanks, Kerrie! I am glad you enjoyed the blog. Your recipe book is such an heirloom! My mom has passed down many recipes from her mom, but I don’t have any written in my grandmother’s handwriting, though I do have a few other things she did write that I just cherish. Aren’t the old recipes a hoot sometimes? I had to decipher a few things like “temporate oven” when I started cooking from my old antique cookbook collection. I love that your son asked for a special cookbook. How great is that? Hope you are together this Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, farmsister! Remember to check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My daughter married recently she was the last one and my yougest daughter. I often think of what I should be passing on to her. Please put me in for the drawing the recipe box brings such fond memories.
Hi Melissa, Congratulations on your daughter’s wedding. Your name is entered in the drawing! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I too have a recipe box with hand written recipes, but it is decrepit with the lid unhinged. I’d love a new one.
Hi June! Oh dear, sounds like you do need a new box. Check back next week to see if your name is drawn! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I have not read all of the comments yet, but tomorrow I will. Have to prepare dinner and a pumpkin pie for tomorrow. So many comments at this time! I wish I could find a recipe box and I do remember seeing yours when I visited but never looked in it. So nice and wish we could see you and enjoy Thanksgiving with you all. I enjoyed cooking for you and your brother when you were growing up. I still make a lot of the same recipes. Very good blog today regarding how we need to thank God for our country and our hearty ancestors who came over so long ago.
Love you, Mother
Hi Momma, Wishing we were together this Thanksgiving, too. Love you! ~Nicole
Hi Nicole, Love your post about treasured recipes! I have a treasured stuffing recipe that I have received from my mom. It is always made every thanksgiving and only at thanksgiving, so everyone in the family looks forward to it. I hope you have a blessed day with your family! Happy Thanksgiving, Michele
Hi Michele! I LOVE stuffing. I think it is my favorite food at Thanksgiving, pie aside. My recipe is a version of my mom’s, which she made in the sixties from Jackie Kennedy’s recipe. Your comment made me realize…I only make/eat stuffing at Thanksgiving! You’re right – it makes me look forward to the meal! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My Mom gave me a recipe box about 25 years ago for Christmas. I cried with joy because it was the box she got in high school Home Ec class in about 1946. It is white metal and looks like 5 books in a bookcase. Inside are all the recipes from her class. I treasure it and have never seen another like it.
Oh Phillis! It sounds adorable! How special! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
my Dear Nicole.
I have my very first box and it is overflowing with the recipes I have used in my 44 years of being married, A new one would be just as loved.
Thank you
Pat
Hi Pat, I will keep my fingers crossed for you…your name is in the drawing! My little basket is overflowing too. Every once and awhile I go through it but there’s not much in it that I will part with now. Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My favorite dish is the stuffing. It is my late Maternal Grandmother’s recipe.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOURS
Marion
Hi Marion, I love that you honor your grandmother by making her stuffing. I will be making my grandmother’s cookie recipe this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
We will watch the Macy’s Day Parade. My favorite thing to eat at Thanksgiving is, the yams. Thanks for the giveaway.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Hi Marilyn, I love watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade! I used to watch it as a child on tv while my mom cooked, and now we do too. Living so close to NYC, we have often thought we would see it “live” one day, but then I decide, “No”, tv is better! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I will do the cooking for my sisters and I. I enjoy the turkey especially when it is juicy and tender.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL
Joan
Hi Joan, I love a juicy tender turkey, too! “It’s all about the baste, about the baste…” Sorry. I couldn’t help that. Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your sisters, and remember to check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I love hearing about your special memories. Texas Hill country is so fun. My son lives in Austin. I have a recipe box I got when in 8th grade. It was full of recipes we fixed in Home Economics. I painted it with a rooster. That was in 1956. What a hoot to remember some of those crazy classes when we had to divide food we fixed with four girls to each kitchen. Gazillions of recipes later, I am still cooking. Have a great holiday.
Hi Bonnie, My daughter is in eighth grade now. She had the equivalent to “home ec” last year. One morning, she says she is going to make breakfast in bed for us, using her recipes from school. After lots of noise from downstairs, she came up with a sad face. “I can’t make the pancakes. We don’t have any mix”. Her recipe? Pancake mix and water. So, I have taught her how to make them from scratch. 😉 Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My Grandmother made mounds of mashed potatoes. There was butter she churned herself for those potatoes. I loved every mouthful. I would love a pretty box to put her recipes in. Thank you and happy Thanksgiving.
Hi Donnalee! Oh those mashed potatoes sound heavenly! Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What s wonderful idea. 😉 I love recipes that are passed down through generations. A basket is a great place to keep them.
Hi Dawn, I have to admit, I am a sucker for all kinds of baskets! The last one I found is a vintage picnic basket from the 1940s with a wooden top. It’s now decorative storage. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I could not agree with you more. There is nothing more memorable than using the handwritten recipe cards. All of my recipes are on paper, no digital for me. Also, no matter how hard I try to avoid making a mess, my favorite and most used recipes always have something spilled on them! Your recipe box is adorable. I am in love with the fabric.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is yams with melted marshmallows on top. I plan on inheriting this recipe from my mother when I begin to make them for Thanksgiving.
Hi Krista, Thanks! I love that I am not the only one who is a messy cook, but I love it! My mom always made the yams with the marshmallows on top, but my husband isn’t crazy about them. One Thanksgiving when my daughter was a baby, we went to a neighbor’s. I came home with a recipe for “carrot souffle”…and it has been on my Thanksgiving table ever since! Similar to yams because it is sweet, but not as heavy textured and without marshmallows. Enjoy your holiday! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Hello Nicole,
I too am fond of recipes that have been handed down from my mother, grandmothers and even my great grandmother. I was thrilled to find the perfect recipe box to give to my 14 year old grand daughter this year for Christmas. Over the last few years she had asked for my recipes of her favorite dishes. I wanted to give her a place to keep them and to add to as she continues to expand her cooking skills. I hope she will cherish the box and its contents as much as I enjoyed the search and putting together some of my special favorites. Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and continue to be thankful for all the little things in life.
Selena, what a beautiful thing to do for your granddaughter! I am sure she will always cherish it. Thank you for sharing, and Happy Thanksgiving! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
When my mom passed away I was given most of her things to dispose of or keep. She had a scrap book of recipes that she had made by cutting out newspaper recipes, magazine recipes, and even putting some of her own recipe cards inside. It is a treasure trove of different foods and different ways of cooking foods. She even had some humorous anecdotes posted in this scrapbook. As I have most of her recipes in her own handwriting, I gave my oldest son and his wife the scrapbook and I am glad to say they use it often. I have enjoyed eating the results of this scrapbook. Thank you for such an interesting article. I keep my recipes in an old wooden box with a lift up lid. I also collect new recipes from friends and relatives and I share mine with friends when they ask for them. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Hi Sandi, What a sweet story. Thank you for sharing. I am so glad to hear that your son and his wife use her scrapbook. Beautiful…Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole