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
I would love to have a recipe box! If I don’t win, I’ll need to go find one. My mom passed down a recipe to us that her mother in law used to make: raisin sauce. We put this sweet sauce all over our ham and it is to die for! That would be the first recipe I put in this box! 🙂
Hi Jennifer! That sounds good! I would love that recipe…I like to make a ham a couple of times a year. Usually one at Easter and maybe one on Christmas day if I don’t do a turkey. Depends on my mood that year, which one I like. Entering your name in the drawing…check back at my next post. I will draw a name right before the blog goes live. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I won’t be shy or coy about it — I want that box!!!! Here’s my entry! Seriously, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s an American invention with the first feast happening in 1621. I’ve read that it’s been celebrated sporadically throughout our nation’s history and wasn’t finalized and set in stone until later on. I use my grandmother’s roasting pan and was just thinking today about how many turkeys had been cooked in that roasting pan. I just love that it’s a time set apart for us to be thankful to the Lord for all He has done for us and to be thankful for all friends and family we have in our lives.
Marge, lol…your name is now in the drawing. Good luck! Very cool that you use your grandmother’s roasting pan! Love that. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln is the president that declared Thanksgiving a national holiday of thanks? I love that history. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hi Nicole, I always enjoy your posts and also favor the paper recipes. We usually spend Thanksgiving with my husband’s family, and my sister-in-law’s family, and some family friends. The house can become crowded, but that makes it much more fun. My favorite dish would be the sweet potatoes (yams) with pecan and brown sugar topping.
Sounds like a great Thanksgiving with that crowd! Hope you had a great one. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My goal is to give each of my 3 kids (all adults now, in their 30s!) a copy of the special recipes I’ve collected from their grandmothers, as well as the ones that my husband “concocted” when they were growing up. You see, my hubby is the main cook in the family. Sometimes the kids would complain about eating one of their dad’s “inventions”, although they generally were great! But you know how kids can be when they have to eat leftovers. And they were always happier eating the food that he fixed, versus anything that I made! Anyway, I want the family recipes to be passed on, and none of us are getting any younger! Please include me in the drawing!
Hi Colleen, My dad always “made up” recipes too, and some are very special that I will pass on to my dd, too. Good luck on the drawing! Check back next time to see if your name is drawn! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What a lovely little recipe box. I treasure those handwritten recipes as well. Stuffing! My favorite part of thanksgiving is the stuffing! And apple pie! And I sure do love seeing the Rockettes in the Macy’s parade.
Hi Jodie! I love the stuffing, too. I could eat just a big ol’ plate of it. Have you ever seen the Rockettes live? We went to their Christmas show in 2012, when it was their anniversary. They did a “fashion show” of their outfits through the years, and the toy soldiers was amazing to see in person! It was our big Christmas splurge, and my dd was still young enough to really enjoy it. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love collecting recipes and cookbooks! The one family recipe we make each year is my hubby’s mom’s baked corn.
Hi Shannon! Baked corn – sounds like a delicious side! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, how sweet, your daughter will love that basket/box of recipes. I have two boys, and both are great cooks. I started them each a cookbook, that has sleeves and empty pages, so I write my recipes on the pages for them each (I have to write it twice. haha) and then I write my moms, my grandmas recipes that I have even a favorite Italian aunt of mine, her recipes. And then I print out good ones I try and like and put in the sleeves. One day they will each have a fantastic cookbook. I too have like 3 small recipe boxes as well, I need to go through and organize. I may look for a basket/box like yours, and maybe my grandson will get those. Be Blessed and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Hi Vivian! I love that you are making sure your boys cook and get to collect recipes. My dad is an awesome cook, and now so is my brother, and between my mom, dad, brother, and myself we all trade recipes and tweak and perfect old ones. My husband can cook, too, but mainly Danish meals which is nice. His mom is an incredible cook, too. My basket has been retired for years, but I bet you can find one on eBay. 😉 Have a wonderful holiday, Merry Christmas to you and your family. Big Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
P.S. I was coveting your pyrex bowl next to your basket. 🙂
LOL! Vivian, I wondered if anyone would call me out on that. That was one of those “I don’t NEED it but I really WANT it” purchases from an antique store where I knew I was paying full market value. I loved it. Just had to have it. My husband jokes that I “need a 12 step program for ‘vintage'”. I’m drawn to anything vintage like a moth to a flame…
Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
When I set up house in the early 1970’s, my Grandma Mildred gave me a binder of recipes by Dole. It lived in my cedar chest for a while (it still smells like cedar), then I began to replace the advertising recipes with favorites. It also carries some wonderful treasures, folded up, like the recipe for Hoppin’ John that my son, Jesse, took over the phone before he really knew how to spell. Now he can spell and cook! Last week, my brother, my 90-year old Daddy, and I drove to Ohio to visit Daddy’s older brother and younger sister. What a thrill to see family we hadn’t seen in years! My Aunt Dorothy gave me one of Grandma Mildred’s cookbooks, complete with extra recipes. I am honored! All recipe books should be ring-binders, so they will stay open and they can accept contributions. A recipe box is wonderful, too. Please don’t include me in the drawing, as I am blessed with recipes and don’t want to be greedy. I hope whomever wins it will get their loved ones to hand-write recipes for their treasure box. What a nice gift you are giving to some farm sister!
Hi Wayve, What a wonderful holiday it sounds like you had! You are so very blessed to be able to see all your family. I have family I haven’t seen in decades, though we keep in touch via phone, text, and mail. Someday! Travel is so hard when we live so far. Hoppin’ John – that’s a salad? I think my grandmother used to make that! Thank you for sharing with us! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I was born and raised in New England but now live with my husband in Texas! I have always celebrated Thanksgiving with my Sausage stuffing. My children request it each year and I’ve always felt accomplished in my holiday meal. Enter my southern country man husband and his request for cornbread dressing. I have faithfully made it the past five years but I have not been able to perfect the process yet. So, if I’m lucky enough to win would you please include a handwritten recipe for your cornbread dressi ng? I would love to surprise my sweet hubby with a wonderful helping of cornbread dressing.
Margie, Wow! Born in New England living in Texas…and I am the exact opposite. I still get homesick from time to time, I’m sure I always will though I ADORE living in New England and can’t imagine not living here. I have entered you in the drawing, but I am still going to email you for your address, so I can send you my recipe for my cornbread dressing. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I have a lot of my mother’s old hand printed recipes, too, and love making them for my family. A few years ago, I copied all the ones I had and made recipe books for my sisters and my daughters. They especially love the ones that have my mother’s hand written notes in the margins. One of them made the comment that she can “hear” my mother’s voice each time she reads the notes.
Oh Rebecca, I love that! Thanks for sharing. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love and still use the recipe box that came with my bridal shower…almost 22 years ago – and all the handwritten recipe cards therein from shower goers, in their most careful writing. Some of these lovely women no longer with us, but this is a little piece of their legacy. So far, no digital format lasts as long as pen and paper, and certainly the charm factor is hard to beat too. 😉
What a great idea for a bridal shower gift! And nothing digital beats pen and paper, you are so right! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving….love the recipe basket and box. Recipe hoarder here…have three notebooks plus several cookbooks and mini recipes books of recipes I use most often….plus card catalog recipes. And many recipes I have yet to try. Happy Holiday .
.
Susana
Hi Susana! Love that…recipe hoarder. Yep, me too. Farmgirl Hugs! Nicole
I too have handwritten recipes from my mother and grandmothers. I’m making copies and putting together ‘books’ for my siblings, children and grandchildren. I can’t wait to see their faces!
Kathleen, what a special, wonderful gift that will always be cherished! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I think this is wonderful. I really enjoy your ventures and projects.
Thank you.
I really enjoy your stories and projects.
Thank you.
Hi Jeretta, Thank you for reading and letting me know! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole