"Past Thanksgivings; they smelled so good" from the November 24, 1975 Door County Advocate
By GRACE SAMUELSON
Past Thanksgivings; they smelled so good
By GRACE SAMUELSON
One of the clearest memories of childhood Thanksgivings and the days of preparation that preceded them was hearing the old refrain as Mother moved about her household duties. We were constantly reminded that we had much to be thankful for, but the song said it all. "Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you, what the Lord has done." Mother's voice, like mine, was a far cry from concert range, but what we lacked in harmony we made up in fervor. Her faith and devotion had brought her many blessings and she never forgot to be thankful for them. And I think, of all our thankfulness, what we thought most to be thankful for was the wonderful SMELLS of Thanksgiving.
The wonderful spicy odors that emanated from the big kettle when we helped prepare the mincemeat! Boiling beef, the apples and citron chopped in the big wooden bowl, with the two-bladed chopping knife. The fragrance of raisins and currants, suet, the pungent spiciness of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmegs grated into the steaming mixture. The apple cider, brown sugar all blending together to make a memorable filling for winter pies. The Sturgeon Bay Cook Book — published in 1903 had Mrs. Frank Long's recipe, the one Mother followed.
Pumpkin for pies usually came from your own garden. The tawny orange rind was peeled away and the pulp put into a kettle and steamed, then cooked down till it was quite dry. When eggs and cream and spices were added to make a custardy filling the odor was irresistible. Some housewives made several pies at a time, then froze them out on the covered back porch for future use. Often they did the same for mince pies and we usually heard the story of the woman who marked her top crusts so she'd be able to distinguish them: "T.M. for 'tis mince, and T.M. for 'tain't mince." An ad in that old oilcloth-covered cook book reads "A good pumpkin pie contains spices, and the same is true in a well-kept Jewelry Store. We have some spicy things we want you to see."
Peerless Ranges were advertised in the old cook book too and from those old range ovens, burners and warming ovens rose smells whose fragrances lingered throughout the house. The once-in-a-year turkey, stuffed with savory bread dressing, browning slowly and crustily, sending out heavenly odors that made you feel you just couldn't wait a minute longer for the taste. You had put your order in at the meat market weeks ahead to be sure of getting the size you chose. (Remember the year you raised one from small on, and grew so attached to him you had to ask a neighbor to chop off his head? Then when he was carried to the table, all brown and succulent, you lost your appetite and ate potatoes and squash instead?) Remember how you'd brag at school "We're having turkey this year."
The beet pickles, watermelon rind pickles, corn relish and mustard pickles had all contributed their aromas to the kitchen in season, and now when the mason jars were opened and the contents put into relish and pickle dishes the aroma lingered on. Cranberry sauce contributed a sweet-tart scent; the quivering mold of jelly in its high compote lent delicate fragrance. Creamed onions, Hubbard squash, rutabaga, creamy mashed potatoes all had their own identifying odor. The gravy, smooth as silk and creamy brown, bubbled at the back of the stove, an invitation you couldn't refuse. Crisp cole slaw--Grandma's favorite recipe–helped whip up the appetite (if that were necessary.)
A variety of breads had filled the rooms with a fragrance unexcelled, the day before. Large, tender, close-textured, mouth-watering, crusty-brown loaves of white bread, baked, three in a big dripping pan." (We girls were secretly envious of our friends whose mothers baked their bread in loaf pans, so they were crusty on all sides.) But the corn-meal bread, and Mother's spice bread, filled with raisins, currants and citron, competed well in aroma and flavor. Every page in the old cook book recommended Wingold Flour, and Falk and Buchan told us "You must have good flour to get good results from the recipes. "We have the flour and would like to sell you. Also cornmeal, Whole Wheat Flour, Graham, Breakfast Foods, etc."
A cousin of my father's, News Dealer and Stationer, described high grade confectionery, cigars, wall paper, meals, lunches, and board by the day or week. And the Home Bakery, J. Frederickson, Prop. suggested a nice cake for your child's birthday party: "Baked and decorated."
The smells at the bakery were inviting, too. We used any slight stormy weather as an excuse not to walk the six blocks home for lunch if we could run two blocks to the bakery and use our small allowances for the special treat–to us, brought up on home-baked foods–the sweet rolls, raised doughnuts or frosted cookies.
Not that we didn't relish the desserts that Mother made. The Caramelized "burnt leather" cake, which she loved to give out the recipe for by starting: "First, you make a sauce from an old pair of shoes--" her potato cake; redolent of chocolate, and moist to the last crumb. Devil's food cake–it had to be red. Her secret–just soda with the sour milk; no cream or tarter added. (It seems like an old refrain when we were allowed to mix a cake. With one or two exceptions we heard, "One of soda, and two of cream of tartar.")
We liked to tease her about keeping the soda in a tin Grape Nuts can, given, I suppose, as a premium. Another lovely decorated tin I remember was the Lalla Roocke Tea, and that had a bouquet all its own. So did the fruit cake, made Thanksgiving week, to be "cured" in flavor by Christmas.
The suet pudding that teamed fragrantly for several hours on the back of the range. And the oatmeal "drops," graham "gems" and gingersnaps that wafted spicy scents our way. We hung about the table when she decorated her spice cake with turtles made with huge Sultana raisins, with feet, head and tail formed of cloves. And we thought she had absolutely lost her mind the first time we saw her making caramel rolls from Mrs. Scofield's recipe: dotting the pan generously with gobs of butter, then sprinkling thickly with brown sugar before icing off the rolls of cinnamon-spiced dough to cover. We changed our minds, though, when the delectable fragrance drew us nearer, and reveled in the feather-light, heaven-sweet food fit for the gods.
Yes, the smells of those long-ago feasts linger on. We can buy convenience foods, take specialties from the freezer, go out to eat gourmet food or have it catered. But way back in memory that sweet remembrance of the smells that made our childhood food remains with us, and when we count our blessings on Thanksgiving day, let's say a special THANKS for health, love, and family, and most of all, for the enjoyment of the ambrosial smells of yesterday's – and today's – good meals.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Library
Articles by Grace Samuelson
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/grace-samuelson
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