Wayne Boatwright wrote:

For the past few years we have tried to be creative with our Thanksgiving
dinner. New dishes and new preparations have been intriguing and
delicious. For the past several weeks, however, I've been waxing
nostalgic over childhood holiday meals and decided to recreate a 1950's
Thanksgiving dinner as my late mother would have prepared. Despite the
cliché, by all accounts it was well-received and enjoyed by all. Our
dinner was...

Roast Turkey, sutffed with aromatic vegetables and herbs

Gravy, made from pan drippings and previously made stock

Cornbread Dressing, with onions, celery, toasted pecans, and dried
cranberries, and the usual dried herbs

Candied Yams, chunked and pot glazed with butter, sugar, orange juice,
and spices

Mashed Potatoes, simply done with butter, cream, salt, and pepper

Original Campbell's Green Bean Casserole (need I say more?)

Creamed Peas (requested by one guest)

Buttered Corn, from fresh-cut corn I froze in the summer

Canned Cranberry Sauce, 1 can each of jellied and whole berry

Relish Tray, stuffed celery, olives, pickles, radishes

Pumpkin Pie, well spiced and made with fresh pumpkin

Luckily, everything turned out well with no mishaps and no timing
problem.

What a nice day!

Wayne


That's pretty much what we had at the house to which we were invited!
However, they wouldn't regard it as a 50s dinner at all; it's what they
have every year.

However, the turkey was a free-range organic turkey and was utterly
delicious! First time in years I've had turkey that tasted like
anything. It wasn't brined and certainly didn't need to be.