“Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go” — or maybe not this year. Thanksgiving will feel a little different for many of us in 2020.
I apologize if I seem like a Pollyanna, but I’m going to do my best to be thankful anyway. After all, Abraham Lincoln mandated the first official national Thanksgiving in 1863, during the Civil War.
His official proclamation setting aside the fourth Thursday in November as a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise” was written by Secretary of State William Seward. It urged Americans not just to give thanks but also to use the day to ask God to “heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union.”
If Americans could find time to spread thanks in the middle of our nation’s bloodiest and most divisive war, we can do it now. It may not be easy. We have just come off an election that highlighted rifts in our society. We are beset by a pandemic that has sickened and killed thousands and that will keep many of us from celebrating Thanksgiving together in person this year.
Since March, many of us have become accustomed to physical isolation.
Nevertheless, solitude may be a bit harder to bear over this holiday. After all, the most familiar Thanksgiving hymn is “We Gather Together.” In contrast, others long for a little isolation after spending months stuck in the house and sharing work and living space with partners, children, dogs and cats.
Many of us are beset by worries about health and finances. In short, we may have a little trouble feeling thankful this Thanksgiving. Even so, we need to try to give thanks more than ever.
If you are used to preparing a large Thanksgiving meal, cut down your recipes … and give whatever additional funds you would have spent on the meal to a food pantry or to another group working to nourish our community, literally and figuratively. Keep your eyes open for neighbors who are feeling overset by the current times.
We may not be able to invite them to share our tables but we can reach out by telephone to share our lives and our thanks. Despite COVID-19, despite political divisions, we have much to be thankful for: the love of our friends and relatives; the bounty of the harvest; the beauties of the area in which we live; and the stories we tell to inspire ourselves and each other to be just, thankful and kind.
Recently, I saw a late-night interview with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. I have adored Booker since he was the mayor of Newark, N.J. Booker told host James Corden, “I’m always going to be a prisoner of hope.”
My wish for readers is that we can all find ourselves in that prison.
Below, I share a couple of simple recipes that don’t need to feed a crowd but will make you feel well nourished on Thursday. If you have leftovers, share them with anyone you know who is feeling isolated this week.
Happy Thanksgiving from my kitchen to yours.
What would harvest in New England be without corn? This simple, nourishing pudding-like dish comes from my “Pudding Hollow Cookbook.” It may be as hot or as mild as you like, depending on the number of hot peppers you add. Feel free to double the recipe if you’re serving more people.
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 green, yellow or red bell pepper, diced fresh or pickled
hot peppers to taste
½ a 4-ounce jar of pimientos, drained and diced
¼ pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 11-to-15-ounce can whole kernel corn, undrained
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat the eggs together. Stir in the flour, the salt and pepper, the pepper pieces, the pimientos, the cheese, and the butter. Add the corn, along with its liquid. Bake in a 1-1/2-quart casserole dish for 45 minutes. Serves four.
I have a positive passion for upside-down cakes — pineapple, rhubarb, peach. They’re easy and showy and they remind me of my late mother. A while back, I got to wondering how cranberries would work upside down. Of course, they were fabulous. The berries provided a tart contrast to the brown-sugar topping.
For the topping:
½ stick butter (1/4 cup) plus a little more if needed
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries
For the cake:
½ cup (1 stick) sweet butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch salt
1-½ cups flour
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. First, make the topping (which goes on the bottom). Melt the butter in a skillet — a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet, if possible. Stir in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, until it melts and bubbles (about 3 to 4 minutes). If your brown sugar is old, it may have trouble melting properly, in which case you’ll need to add a little more melted butter to it. Try to avoid this if you can; the cake is rich enough without it. I was recently stuck with old sugar, however, and had to punt.
If you’re using a cast-iron skillet, you may continue with the recipe at this stage and cook the cake in the skillet. If you’re using a non-oven-proof skillet, transfer the brown-sugar mixture into a 9- or 10-inch round cake pan. Spread it through the bottom of the pan. Arrange the cranberries on top as artistically as you can.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the baking powder and the salt. Add the flour and the milk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the vanilla. Spoon the batter over the cranberries in the cake pan or skillet, and place the pan in the oven.
Bake until the cake tests done (about 40 minutes). Let the cake stand for 10 minutes; then invert it onto a serving plate. You may need help with this if you use the cast-iron skillet as it feels a bit heavy during the inverting process. This cake is best served slightly warm with or without a little whipped cream. Serves six to eight.
Tinky Weisblat is the award-winning author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” “Pulling Taffy,” and “Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb.” Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.