One of the things I've discovered after long years in Singledom is that people take it for granted that you're unable to cook or bake --- and on occasions such as Thanksgiving you are rarely asked to bring anything more than appetizers or something you can purchase.
To be honest, there have been years when this was a relief to me. Throughout my twenties - when we usually celebrated Thanksgiving with my older sister's in-laws - I was always in charge of pickles and olives. (Mind you, they had to be just the right kind of pickles and olives. For our family, no Thanksgiving table would be truly complete without a dish of sweet gherkins and pimento-stuffed green olives.) Since moving to the Southwest two years ago, I celebrate Thanksgivings with my younger sister's in-laws. And now I'm in charge of appetizers. Guess I'm moving up in the world!
This particular crowd doesn't eat all that much before dinner, so I'll keep it simple today. I'm planning one hot appetizer (artichoke parmesan spread with assorted crackers) and one cold appetizer (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and celery with hummus). On second thought, maybe they do eat a lot. Check out some of these much simpler appetizers from vintage Thanksgiving menus... Next year, I'm totally just bringing a can of fruit cocktail. (Just kidding!)
from the menu at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana (1940)
Fruit Cocktail
from an "all-Washington" menu, Mt. Adams Sun (1940)
Oyster Cocktail
from the St. Petersburg Times (November 23, 1940)
Shrimp Cocktail
Cheese
Paprika Pastry Stars
from the Army Thanksgiving menu (1941)
Shrimp Cocktail
Celery
Olives
from The New American Etiquette (1941)
Fruit Cocktail
Celery
Olives
from an "all-Florida" menu, Evening Independent (1942)
Oyster or Shrimp Cocktail with Toasted Wafers
from four menus in the St. Petersburg Times (November 16, 1942)
Cranberry Ice or Fruit Frappe
Chilled Sweet Cider
Shrimp Cocktail
Cider Cocktails
from the WAACs Thanksgiving menu (1942)
Fruit Cocktail
Celery
Olives
Pickles
from the Army Thanksgiving menu (1943)
Fruit Cup
from the OPA-suggested Thanksgiving menu (1944)
Fruit Cocktail
from the U.S. armed forces "master" Thanksgiving menu (1944)
Grapefruit Juice
from two menus in The American Woman's Cook Book (1945)
Grapefruit Baskets
Olives
Grapefruit
from the menu at the Naval Air Station, Arlington, Virginia (1945)
Fruit Cocktail
from the White House Thanksgiving menu (1946)
Celery and Olives
from the Army Thanksgiving menu (1946)
Stuffed Celery
Pickles
Olives
from The Evening Independent (November 26, 1947)
Fruit Cup
I'll be giving an extra word of thanks this Thanksgiving Day for the news I received from my surgeon's office yesterday afternoon: "cancer free."
A blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day to you all...
17 comments:
Great news to be thankful for!
Have fun with your appetizers!
And the people said AMEN! (with a little woo hoo! thrown in there for good measure.) Congratulations on your wonderful news. Happy Thanksgiving!
So glad to hear your fabulous news!
Have fun today and Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm so glad to hear your wonderful news! And I'm glad you get to celebrate Thanksgiving without having to worry. Happy Thanksgiving! (P.S. I'm in charge of the appetizers, too! I made deviled eggs and my husband is in the kitchen right now making sliders.)
Thank goodness! I am so happy that you now know you are fine. One hates to mention anything before hand, but you have been in my mind of late.
I was happy to see that menu from MA! Shrimp cocktail will indeed be served at my Thanksgiving feast. I thought of grapefruit as in 'in between' but have stuck with sugared grapes, homemade cheese sticks and various cheese and nuts. Cooking can be such therapy, non? It is very much an artform I find.
Happy Thanksgiving from New England!
Happy Thanksgiving and Congrats on the News!
Fun appetizers.
Best news ever. I got the same news the day before thanksgiving three years ago. Time to celebrate and be thankful.
Loved the menus for appetizers.
Thanks indeed!
LPM
Thank God! What wonderful news.
Enjoy your family...your appetizers ROCK!
I'm still celebrating! What a lovely relief --- as soon as my breast is healed, I'm going to learn how to do these self-exams right and learn all I can about fighting these cysts. I do not want to go thru this again anytime soon!!!
Christine, I bet your appetizers were a hit. :)
Donna, your Thanksgiving menu sounds wonderful. I found lots of references to chestnut this-n-that on these menus yesterday morning, so your own choices sound very period appropriate!
Thank you all for celebrating the good news with me. For those of you who are Americans, hope you had a great day yesterday... and not too many dishes still left to clean up after today!
What wonderful news, and what a relief I'm sure! I hope you had a terrific Turkey Day and that your appetizers were a big hit :)
I'm so glad all is well! *hugs*
Gingerella, thanks for the hug!
Loral, the appetizers did okay. And bless my sister's heart, she took the leftover artichoke parmesan spread home to her house so I wouldn't be tempted to make Thanksgiving last longer than the one meal. :)
Oh! That's great news! You must be so releaved.
It feels like a fresh start...
So good to hear before the holidays that news!
Wow, that's a lot of fruit cocktail....maybe they made their own?
A ton of fruit cocktail! The enterprising hostesses probably made their own. There are several different recipes for fruit cocktails and fruit cups in my 1945 cookbook.
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