Retro Style Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

Spice up your Thanksgiving dinner this year with a groovy recipe from the 1960s!

By Liz Dommasch, County Archivist

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I would share a few more recipes from our cookbook collection and maybe spark some memories of past family dinners.

The evolution of kitchen culture is a fascinating, if not always tasty, culinary adventure. Back in the “retro” days of the 1950s and 1960s, cookbooks focused on meals that could be molded, loafed, rolled, whipped, and/or frosted. These meals were then usually garnished with beds of lettuce and parsley, and adorned by relishes, fruit shaped flowers and ingredients skewered on frilly picks.

The 1968 Better Homes and Garden Salad Book is no such exception to the trends of the time, as it includes multi-tiered gelatin concoctions and platters including an abundance of ingredients that were either fresh or canned. This was the age where people were experimenting with colour and bringing some fun into their meals and the following recipes definitely highlight those innovating ingredient combinations:

Party Ham Ring

1 envelope (1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin)

¼ cup cold water

¾ cup boiling water

1 cup dairy sour cream

½ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

3 tablespoons vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

***

½ cups diced cooked or canned ham

1 cup celery slices

¼ cup chopped green pepper

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

Soften gelatin in cold water; dissolve in boiling water. Blend in sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper. Chill till partially set; whip until fluffy. Fold in remaining ingredients. Pour into 5 ½ cup ring mold. Chill till firm. Makes 5 to 6 servings

Hearty Turkey-Apple Toss

2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh, frozen or canned

2 cups diced cooked or canned turkey (could also use chicken)

½ cup diced apple

1 cup diced celery

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

¼ cup chopped blanched almonds, toasted

***

1/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

½ teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

½ teaspoon sweet basil

Sprinkle lemon juice over turkey and apple; toss lightly. Add celery, egg, and almonds. Blend mayonnaise and seasonings; fold into turkey mixture. Serve in lettuce cups and trim with additional apple slices OR spoon into ring of Cheesed Tomato Aspic (for those that aren’t familiar with a tomato aspic; if you think of it as a congealed Bloody Mary cocktail drink, then you kind of know what it tastes like!). Makes about 4 cups of salad.

So why the continued fascination with meals that wiggle, meat and fruit loaves, and things in a can? Whether we hate it or love it, for many of us it is a comfort food and a significant flavor memory. Canned salmon loaf was a regular at my house growing up, and I honesty can’t recall a family get together that didn’t include a wreath of green Jell-O with carrots and strawberries! I hope during this holiday, you are able to reflect on your past family functions, with those you love, and recall some of your favourite meals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipes and photos credit: Better Home and Gardens Salad Book. Meredith Press; New York, 1968.