Doing the Jas Townsend 17th Century Thanksgiving [from their youtube channel] with some additions -
Turkey - roast unstuffed as normal
Bread Pudding in place of regular stuffing:
1 pound Wheat Breadcrumb
3 Eggs well beaten
3 ounces Suet
Thyme
Marjoram
Salt
Pepper
Sage
½ cup Wine
Combine all ingredients, add spices to taste, and mix thoroughly. Lightly pack in baking pot that has been well buttered. Bake with lid on for about 75-90 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cranberry Sauce and Cranberry Pie:
2 pounds Cranberries
Sugar
1 Paste or Pie Crust
Add just enough water to cranberries in cooking pot to cover and boil about 15 minutes until skins break open. Mash up cranberries to desired consistency (Be aware that cranberries stain everything). Strain in jelly bag. Add about the same amount of sugar as you have cranberry sauce to the cranberries and simmer another 10-15 minutes.
Pour half of cranberries into well buttered tart tin with paste, skimming off any foamy skin on top, and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. Pour other half into bowl and allow to cool.
A Ragout of French Beans
– 1 to 1-1/2 lb. fresh Green Beans, with ends trimmed and cut into thirds
– Enough Fat with which to fry (The amount will vary depending on the size of your pan. You’ll want about a half-inch.) Oil, suet, or lard will do. We used lard in our recipe.
– 2 oz. (half stick) Butter, rolled in flour
– 2 T Water
– 1 to 2 T Mushroom Ketchup. (Mushroom ketchup tends to be very salty, therefore we eliminated the extra salt altogether.)
– 2 to 4 T White Wine of Sherry
– 1 medium Onion, peeled and stuck with six whole cloves
– 1/4 t Nutmeg, grated
– 1/8 t Mace, grated
– 1/8 t Black Pepper, ground
Heat your fat to about 300-degrees (F) and carefully add your beans. we skipped the soak that was prescribed in the original recipe. If you opt to do this, be sure to dry your beans completely before adding them to hot fat. Fry the beans until they begin to turn a light brown. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and drain them. Set them aside and allow your hot fat to cool before pouring it off your pan. Once your frying fat has been poured off, add the butter dredged in flour to your pan and stir until the butter is sizzling. The original recipe suggested adding the water to the pan first, however, we found that this resulted in excessive splattering. Once the butter is melted and the flour has begun to turn to a light brown, add the water, mushroom ketchup, and wine, along with the spices and the onion. Stir until the liquid has reduced to about half its original volume. Remove the onion, return the beans, and stir them for a minute or two to reheat. Dish the beans and serve them up!
By the way, Mr. Farley offers no instructions on what to do with the onion other than to remove it before serving. This was a fairly common method of seasoning in that day. Use it as a garnish, if you wish, or serve it up along side the beans. You’re on your own with that one.
Sweet Potato Pudding:
1 ½ pounds Sweet Potatoes (Can substitute Winter Squash, Crookneck Squash, Pumpkin, or any Potatoes)
3 Large Apples
3 ½ tablespoons Breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup Cream
1 tablespoon Wine
3 Eggs well beaten
¼ cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Nutmeg
Pinch of Salt
¼ cup Dried Black Currants (Can substitute with Zante Currants or Whortleberries)
Bake or boil sweet potatoes until soft. Pear, core and chop apples, then boil until soft. Mash together sweet potatoes and apples until fairly smooth. Mix in breadcrumbs, flour, cream, wine, and eggs. Add sugar and spices and mix well. Gently mix in currants. Place inside of cook pot without the lid. Bake at 325 degrees for about 75-90 minutes.
Indian Pudding:
3 cups Milk
1 cup Cornmeal
1 egg well beaten
2 ounces Butter
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
¼ cup Molasses
Bring milk to a gentle simmer on fairly low heat constantly stirring so milk does not burn on the bottom. Once simmering, add cornmeal and continue stirring and cooking until it thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool just enough that it does not cook the egg when added. When cooled enough, add egg, butter, spices, and molasses and stir until well mixed and the butter is melted. Pour into well buttered mold and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour and a half.
Pumpkin Pie:
1 pint Pumpkin
1 quart Milk
4 Eggs well beaten
½ cup Molasses
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 teaspoon Allspice
2 Pie Crusts
Cut pumpkin in half, gut and bake upside down at 350 degrees for about an hour to soften. Peal and mash then add milk and mix. Next, add eggs, and molasses. Finally, mix in spices and pour into pie crust. Bake in oven at 325 for 75 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.
Add roasted potatoes [olive oil, lemon juice, italian herbs, black pepper]
Add Rum Hard Sauce for the pies [rum, 10x sugar, butter]
Add Baked Apples the way Mom did them