Remembering Thanksgiving in Connecticut

I am a New Englander. Born and raised in Connecticut. I love everything about New England. I especially love the autumn of the year. This ushered in my favorite season Thanksgiving and Christmas. Family times, family gatherings…the sights, tastes, and smells of memories in the making. October, with its harvest of apples and homemade cider. My Uncle Art had a homemade cider mill and I can remember tasting the first “squeezing” of the season. The family would make the journey to his place and gather in the yard to pitch in to help him create this delicious amber colored beverage. It was a little on the sour side but so good. I don’t think any of us cared that it was a bit sour it was the “event” that caused us to gather as a family to launch the season.
Mom’s deep dish apple pies that were always served with a thick wedge of sharp Vermont Cheddar cheese. Gathering in the yard to make a batch of apple butter in “Grandma the Farms” copper pot which sat above a hot wood fire. We all took turns stirring the molten goodness in that pot. The heat from the fire was a welcome addition to take that chill from your hands and face.
Then there was the Thanksgiving dinner. We would gather at my Grandma and Grandpa’s in Cheshire on their farm. Their house was able to accommodate the whole family and everyone’s friends, you could find anywhere from 30-40 faces around the farm house dining table. The smells that came from that kitchen with its old gas stove have never been able to be duplicated. My guess it was the love that filled that house.
I would like to share some of our favorite New England Thanksgiving recipes with you in the coming week or so. I will post a recipe each day. I hope that you try one or two of them and maybe include them as additions to your Thanksgiving dinner.

Let me know how you like them.

May you experience every joy and blessing of the season.
Sharon

Share