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Farm Kitchen:  November/virtual Farmgirl Potluck Dinner!  |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 12:08:29 PM
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Well Farmgirls, dinner will be served real soon and I am so happy all of you are able to come and join in the fun!! This has been a wonderful opportunity to gather and share about all those things that know us together here at MJF!! Wouldn't it be perfect if our MaryJane was close enough to stop by?? Let's all send her a message here and I will email her and give her this link so she can enjoy the conversation as well.
Well, here are are pumpkin scones that I just pulled out of the 1930s over in my kitchen ( actually, this little stove does not really work, but lives in my kitchen and I dream about using it!! LOL!!)
And this pretty much sums up why I love Thanksgiving dinner. There is apple and pumpkin pie. What a perfect feast!!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015
FGOTM- October 2018 |
Edited by - Red Tractor Girl on Nov 24 2019 12:10:11 PM |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 12:13:22 PM
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Denise, I enjoyed your memories of your Grandmother. Isn't this old kitchen wonderful?? It was an article in last year's magazine, Capper's Farmer, and I had to save it.
Thanks for sharing! Anyone else have a grandmother story about Thanksgiving? Please share.
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015
FGOTM- October 2018 |
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saram
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
Sara
Biggs
CA
USA
521 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 10:22:47 PM
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For some reason, Winnie, I have been recently flooded with memories of grandma at thanksgiving and you are making me cry.
My large, extended German family got together twice a year, for thanksgiving and soon after Christmas. But some were on the opposite coast and couldn’t attend, so they’d write a long letter to update us about what all their family were doing (and they had 11 kids! Lots of updates!) my Grandma Ruth would bring out the letters after our great feast and read to us about people I had never met. Can you imagine today, reading a handwritten letter to the whole family, everyone paying attention to gather the latest news about Aunt Vonnie or cousin Gillian? As a youngster I got very bored very quickly, but now I so appreciate those efforts to keep us all connected, from coast to coast.
After that we broke out the hymnals and sang four part harmony for an hour. So beautiful! We still do that today, us older generation, in hopes of keeping some of those old world traditions alive. |
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saram
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
Sara
Biggs
CA
USA
521 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 10:28:42 PM
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And about the wood burning stove: yes! I DO wish I could walk in those shoes for a day, no for a year! to know what it was really like.
I have letters that my great grandmother wrote to my grandmother while she was in college, describing very mundane, everyday activities, but to me they are nuggets of gold! In the sweltering heat of summer they had to bake their daily bread and can their garden produce, with no air conditioners or a cool place to escape to. What amazingly strong women they were! |
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saram
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
Sara
Biggs
CA
USA
521 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 10:33:04 PM
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About pies.....
My family on a typical thanksgiving holiday will have forty to fifty people gathered in one house, tables filling every square foot, and china and silver set for every person.
And we will average half a pie per person! <Chuckle!> |
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StitchinWitch
True Blue Farmgirl
2385 Posts
Judith
Galt
CA
USA
2385 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 11:59:30 PM
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Sara -- Our Thanksgivings were the same -- We used to have almost as many pies as people. I always took home a piece of mince pie for my breakfast the next day.
Judith
7932
Happiness is Homemade |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2019 : 05:43:39 AM
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Sara and Judith, now you are making me want to cry!! These stories are beautiful and touching and reflect some common ways of living from both of you and many other families. Thanksgiving and family gatherings have always been a touchstone for many . They were times when everyone shared a meal and reconnected . Today, some of these same traditions exist, but there are also many new traditions that have evolved like eating out , shopping early sales after dinner, and putting up the Christmas tree. I am not commenting on new traditions as either good or bad, but they reflect options that our Grandmothers and many Americans did not have and were not even feasible. Most Americans had a much more limited income until after WWII when America’s middle class rose in numbers through the GI bill giving thousands of GIs free education to increase their skills and enter better paying jobs, and huge governmental programs and efforts to protect workers and expand industry . FDR had implemented the Social Security system and fueled government programs like expanding rural electricity, building of vital water and power with the TVA and others. These efforts expanded new and important protection systems and the standard of living began to rapidly rise. These were powerful and important changes as more and more people saw their lives made more modern. Women also entered the workforce in greater numbers after WWII as well. The landscape of suburb living became the standard and farm work continued on a big decline as people moved to the towns where there was better work and more amenitities.
My Grandmother and maybe many others were of the era of the 1920s-1930s who lived on farms . They were victims of the Great Depression and life was always very modest, at best. These were the women who knew how to make do with a few basics. They had the benefit of a farm where they could grow their own food and keep a few chickens and maybe a cow or two for meat and dairy. These were the women who learned how to make delicious basics by adjusting ingredients to match what they had to work with. They were hard working with children, and keeping the family operation humming along with food on the table, clothes on everyone’s back, and a home for gathering and shelter. I admire their ingenuity and skills. The other interesting thing is that these were also the women who celebrated when their children or grandchildren moved ahead in the world and were able to leave the hard scrapping life that was their childhood. Grandmothers , however, were the family keepers of all the members and the family story. They were the anchors of home and the archivists of family stories. Many of us, now as grown women, want to honor these women and all that they did to keep our family stories alive and preserve those traditions that kept the family together .
A big Thank-you to all of our Grandparents who kept the family story alive and who we can, as modern 2019 women, can continue on our Thanksgiving gatherings.
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015
FGOTM- October 2018 |
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levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9440 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9440 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2019 : 06:06:08 AM
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Thanks for those stories. I just love reading them! I think it would be wonderful now Sara if we still gathered like that. Everyone is so spread out now and writing a letter seems old fashioned unless they are sending them in their Christmas cards to update all their friends.
I have my grandmother's journal and it may seem boring to some as it holds everyday happenings in her life, but to me it may as well be gold because it is worth just as much. My dad would never read it because he said it made him long for those days and made him sad they were no more.
We will have 3 for Thanksgiving this year. Heading to my son's as he can't make it here.
It will be lovely if MaryJane could join us for this wonderful gathering.
~Denise
Sister #43~1/18/2007
"Home is where we find comfort, security, memories, friendship, hospitality, and above all, family. It is the place that deserves our commitment and loyalty." William J. Bennett
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105
http://www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com/
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saram
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
Sara
Biggs
CA
USA
521 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2019 : 10:24:00 AM
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I’m beginning to think about how I will attack the 22lb turkey in my fridge. Maybe this is a good time to share your family secrets?
My mother always roasted her turkey in a deep pan. Before it went in, she took a large brown paper grocery bag, cut it open so that it laid out in a big rectangle, then rubbed a cube of butter over one entire side. This heavy paper was then tucked over and around the turkey, to remain through the entire cooking time. The turkey always turned out juicy yet nicely browned. |
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HollerGirl56
True Blue Farmgirl
1334 Posts
Barbara
Flat Top
WV
USA
1334 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2019 : 2:38:07 PM
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I too love all these stories---wonderful. But, alas---I have only a sad holler girl story---even though I was a mountain girl at the time. My grandparents were old poops and said holidays were just like any other day---even Christmas. So no special memories there at all. My mom hated turkey and wouldn't go near one until 1972 and she remarried and my stepfather made her cook one. My sister had left home by then and would come visit and we would cook turkey and a good dinner in those 70's years. But other than that I have no memories of Thanksgiving and few of Christmas. The great thing is that we would eat with our grandparents many, many times through the year---especially in summer as my grandfather was a great gardener. And I so hope Mary Jane will be there---but I will be so in awe of her I probably won't say a word. I am quite shy and the non-talker and not much fun---except when I'm with my husband or animals. But I was just reading about Elvis and how he was shy and didn't make friends easily---and he was the King. I am the Queen of everything in my holler---LOL>Can't wait to get to Winnie's. If someone will host for December I will do June---the only time of year when things are halfway presentable here--we used to do family reunions here then until I got so old and lazy it just got too hard---but this way I will only have to imagine doing a get together and I can sit down and do it---great!
Old Age Ain't No Place For Sissies!------Bette Davis |
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Farm Kitchen: November/virtual Farmgirl Potluck Dinner! |
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November/virtual Farmgirl Potluck Dinner!
