A Holiday Haven

A few tips if you have the honor of hosting Thanksgiving this year:

Browsing around for new delicious turkey recipe ideas I came across some delicious, amazing, and even silly turkey ideas from wonderful blogs!

It is strongly believed that "The Three Sisters" were prevalent in the first Thanksgiving feast.  These 'three sisters' are squash, corn (maize) and beans.  Native Americans would build a mound, sometimes placing a fish in this mound to fertilize the soil, and plant several corn seeds close together in the center of the mound. After the corn grew about 6 inches, beans and squash seeds were planted around the maize. These three crops benefited each other, the corn provided a structure for the beans to climb, the beans provided nitrogen to the soil helping other plants to grow,  and the squash spread along the ground blocking the sunlight, preventing weeds, and helping the soil retain moisture. They compliment each other nutritionally as well; Beans and corn eaten together provide a balanced diet. Tribes in the southwest often included a "forth sister" known as the Rocky Mountain bee plant, which attracted beast to help pollinate the beans and squash. This practice of planting beneficial plants together today is called companion planting.



My family has a tradition of serving a Three Sisters Recipe at Thanksgiving.

It is a simple recipe:
Layer baked squash,
cooked or canned beans
and corn in a baking dish and heat until everything is warm.

And that is it! The flavors are wonderful together! And because it comes with the companion gardening story, it is always a hit at Thanksgiving dinners.


I love using cast iron frying pans pans, they can be used as a baking dish in the oven as well as on the stove top. For a rustic recipe such as this, it adds just a little charm.

Mulled Cider Recipe: 
For every gallon of apple juice I add the following

• 1 lemon and/or orange sliced
• A handful or two of fresh cranberries (optional, and mostly for decoration)
• A shake or two of ground nutmeg and ground cloves 
• 3-5 cinnamon sticks (do not substitute for ground cinnamon as it clumps together when heated in water)
• 2 cored and halved apples (these also are for decoration, but my kids love eating them when the cider is gone)

After adding everything, heat the cider till warm, (carefully) adjust nutmeg and cloves to taste, turn pot to simmer and enjoy!

To make the dessert ball: Combine 16oz cream cheese with 1c. powdered sugar, and add 2-3 chopped mandarin orange slices. Mix in a mixer and turn out onto a plate with 1/2 c. cinnamon.



Spoon cinnamon over the cheeseball and then, with washed hands, roll into a ball. Stop as soon as it begins to become sticky and place on serving plate.


I topped it with a stem from a sugar pumpkin from our garden, and sugar pumpkins in stores are inexpensive right now.


The cookies are thin ginger cookies, I have seen these cookies everywhere and they are delicious!
Served for dessert with ginger tea, this is a lovely treat, rich, but not too sweet.




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The author of "Mary had a little lamb", Sarah Josepha Hale, campaigned for 17 years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, writing letters to five presidents: Zachary Taylor, Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchann, and Abraham Lincoln. It was President Lincoln who finally officially declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, more than 200 years after the Pilgrims first shared in this Native American harvest tradition. Sarah was born October 24th 1788. She was educated by her mother and an older brother who had a college education. Sarah married David Hale the day before her 25th birthday, and together they had five children. Sadly, David Hale passed away when Sara was 34. She wore black as a sign of perpetual mourning for her husband until she passed away at age 90. In her life Sarah was a school teacher, a poet, and an amazingly influential author. She also campaigned for the preservation of George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation. Sarah was also instrumental in bringing about completion of the Bunker Hill Monument. Today the Sarah Josepha Hale Award, a prestigious literary award, honors her memory. The Liberty ship #1538 is named in her honor. Sarah was 75 when she finally saw Thanksgiving become a national holiday.