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My grandma did all her baking in an old monster of a cast iron cook stove. It was a "deluxe" model with two ovens and a well for holding water to heat. Dark and squat and scary to me. "Don't go near the stove!"
I can still remember her testing the temperature to know when it was the right number of degrees to put the bread in. She'd bend her knees and put her elbow into the oven. That's quite a thermometer! In my toddler's mind she had just accomplished a feat similar to the lion trainer putting his head into the mouth of the beast.
My grandma, in Coloado had an old wood stove/oven. I can barely remember it, I am sure eventually she had something a little more modern. I think she ended up with one of those stoves that was either yellow or light green and had the 4 burners plus an oven on the right hand side and up high. We too had one for a few years. It would have looked like 2 ovens to many people, but actually the lower one was just a boiler.
My grandparents still had a wood cook stove. It had a huge oven, plus warming ovens above. You could feed an army off of the cook top, which was much larger than anything people have today. The hot part was right over the firebox, and as you moved to the right you could simmer stuff for hours. Thanksgiving was in November, so you didn't have to worry about refrigeration. We just put stuff in a cabinet on the back porch, which was on the north side of the house. Most of the food came right off the farm. We usually had a home smoked, salt cured ham that you had to soak for a day to get the salt out. My grandfather used apple wood for smoking, because that was easy and tasted good. It was sure nothing like the chemically smoked hams you get nowadays. We always had fresh acorn squash from the garden, usually roasted and sliced in half, with a pat of butter and a spoon full of brown sugar. The bread or rolls was always fresh baked, with home made jams and jellies. Vegetables and fruits were home canned. They made their own cottage cheese, and one of my favorites was canned peaches garnished with cottage cheese. There were still late apples for pies, or pumpkins out of the garden, topped with home made ice cream that the kids mixed by hand in the back yard - it gave them something to do and tasted great. Of course, the pie crusts were made with lard, so they were wonderful.
Leftovers were never a problem. The dogs didn't eat dog food, they ate table scraps. If there was anything the dogs didn't eat, the pigs and chickens got it. The ham bone went into a pot of beans. In the "olden days" people still knew how to have a feast. This was always a land of plenty. When people grew their own, food was free. If you didn't grow it, chances are your neighbor did.
Ok, just thinking about the turkey fryers makes me remember what it was like preparing holiday meals 30, 40, 50 or more years ago and wondering what our family members would think if they could see us today.
We didn't have micro waves to heat things: we had smaller ovens, many didn't have freezers, and deep fryers for turkeys would have made our parents or grandparents just laugh. No one ever heard of throw away containers made of aluminum , and no there was hardly any decent way to cover the left overs, plus there was no room in the fridge anyway,
Meals wise, no dinner was complete without sweet potato casserole topped with canned pineapple and marshmellow melted over the top. Oh, and don't forget the jello salad. We always had Parkerhouse rolls to go with all the other foods.
What else was different then, compared to now?
Hmmmm. Well, normally, TG is just me and my parents going to a family friends' house. Man, wife (40's) and two rather hyper tween daughters. My mother lives for sitting down to dinner at a friend's house with all the family and friends. I have a bit less patience.
Normally, we have roast turkey, stuffing made, I believe, from Italian bread, mashpos, green beens (my fave), and my father brings over his shoo fly pie.
I do find the holiday dinner concept rather fascinating. I don't really have the physical capability for all that work, but I'm amazed by people that do.
If I did, I might like to play around:
Turkey
cornbread
lime jello salad
green beans with fried onion topping
funeral potatoes
apple pie (or pumpkin or shoo fly)
It would be very interesting to live back in the 50's and sample what was done then.
My great grandmother's stove had 3 ovens. All were different sizes. One was the broiler. She had a VERY old gas range. It was from 30's or 40's. She also had Tupperware.
I rented an old house in the early '70s that had a range like that. It was huge. The top was four full sized gas burners with a griddle in the middle. The burners were double rings, the standard outer rings for cooking, and a tiny inner ring for simmering stuff. If you turned it down, the outer ring would go out completely. The big oven had a broiler oven under the burner, and next to it there was a warming oven that I mostly just used for storing baking pans. I loved cooking on that stove. It was better than anything you can buy today.
Ok, just thinking about the turkey fryers makes me remember what it was like preparing holiday meals 30, 40, 50 or more years ago and wondering what our family members would think if they could see us today.
We didn't have micro waves to heat things: we had smaller ovens, many didn't have freezers, and deep fryers for turkeys would have made our parents or grandparents just laugh. No one ever heard of throw away containers made of aluminum , and no there was hardly any decent way to cover the left overs, plus there was no room in the fridge anyway,
Meals wise, no dinner was complete without sweet potato casserole topped with canned pineapple and marshmellow melted over the top. Oh, and don't forget the jello salad. We always had Parkerhouse rolls to go with all the other foods.
What else was different then, compared to now?
30 years ago was 1984. 50 years ago was 1964.
30 years ago my mother, and most of her friends had microwaves.
Even 50 years ago, my mother had double ovens. Lots of room. She also had a deep freeze. My grandmother used an electric roaster more than 50 years ago.
Why in the heck does one need throw away aluminum containers? My mother used a roasting pan and I use a roasting pan. Leftovers went into the Tupperware containers.
My mother never made sweet potatoes with either pineapple or marshmallows ~ ever; let alone at Thanksgiving.
My mother never made Parkerhouse rolls. We always had brown 'n serve rolls.
I rented an old house in the early '70s that had a range like that. It was huge. The top was four full sized gas burners with a griddle in the middle. The burners were double rings, the standard outer rings for cooking, and a tiny inner ring for simmering stuff. If you turned it down, the outer ring would go out completely. The big oven had a broiler oven under the burner, and next to it there was a warming oven that I mostly just used for storing baking pans. I loved cooking on that stove. It was better than anything you can buy today.
My great grandmothers stove only had 4 burners, but it was huge. I never understood why there were only 4 burners. The stove almost 5 feet long! In the really cold winter days, she would turn the oven on to heat up the kitchen. When the power would go out, she still had heat and cooking capabilities because of that old gas stove. There were 2 small bedrooms off the kitchen and we would sleep in them when the power was out since they were warm and toasty from that stove. Funny how I have great memories of a stove! LOL
40 years ago my parent's had a wall oven, a range and another over below the counter.They also had a microwave. My mom made two turkeys, simple stuffing with celery, carrots and onion. She made sweet potato casserole,mashed potatoes and home made cranberry sauce. Also, creamed baby onions.
Relatives brought string bean casserole, turnips, salad and deserts.
One of my aunts was responsible for appetizers. She brought bacon horseradish dip, onion dip, smoked oysters and other dips that I can't remember.
I do remember that the food was fairly plain and ordinary.
But, I remember it as delicious.
Oh I forgot to add the pies. We always had pumpkin, pecan and apple. Breyer's vanilla on top or home made whipped cream. My grandmother baked one pie. The apple. It was delicious. My mom did the pecan with us. One of my aunt's made the pumpkin, sometimes with a layer of cheese cake, which I loved.
That aunt also sometimes made a Cranberry Jello mold, also with a cream cheese layer. I know today they are thought of as passe, but I really looked forward to that.
My mother never made Parkerhouse rolls. We always had brown 'n serve rolls.
My grandmother, who did all the baking, never made her own Parker House rolls. She bought them at a bakery. Brown 'n' serve rolls are essentially the same thing, though, IIRC, they were available at any supermarket. We called all of them Parker House rolls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheena12
Oh I forgot to add the pies. We always had pumpkin, pecan and apple. Breyer's vanilla on top or home made whipped cream. My grandmother baked one pie. The apple. It was delicious. My mom did the pecan with us. One of my aunts made the pumpkin, sometimes with a layer of cheese cake, which I loved.
My grandmother made apple pie and sometimes mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving. I didn't eat either one, though, because she made panna cotta for me.
This was in Northern New Jersey in the 1950s and '60s.
30 years ago my mother, and most of her friends had microwaves.
Even 50 years ago, my mother had double ovens. Lots of room. She also had a deep freeze. My grandmother used an electric roaster more than 50 years ago.
Why in the heck does one need throw away aluminum containers? My mother used a roasting pan and I use a roasting pan. Leftovers went into the Tupperware containers.
My mother never made sweet potatoes with either pineapple or marshmallows ~ ever; let alone at Thanksgiving.
My mother never made Parkerhouse rolls. We always had brown 'n serve rolls.
that is why I revised my years, but of course could not change it: I had to add another post later to say, 50 plus, maybe even 60 years ago. Yes, I think most of us had micros 30 years ago or were getting them. Hubby and I were the first of our friends to have one: it was 1977 I think. So you are talking more recently than I am. Even then, 30 years ago things were somewhat different. No, we didn't use aluminum pans for cooking but when they became available they were often used when people would bring something to the hostess home. As for parker House rolls, they are about the same as brown and serve, just with another name. I am guess you are too young to remember them.
This is what makes this thread fun: everyone has different ideas and depending on your age, you remember different things about holiday dinners. I know our dinner today is not quite like when I was growing up. Some of what we serve is the same, some is very different. It has even changed from the time my kids were little. Growning up we had mincemeat and pumpkin pie. By the time my kids were young and I had taken over the holiday dinners it was pumpkin and apple and now we always have pumpkin and pecan.
In the 50s and 60s we had Parker House rolls and Jello salads, we didn't have sweet potato casserole, but we did have candied sweet potatoes.
What is a Parker House roll? I'm not familiar with that brand name. Is that like a clover leaf roll or a croissant?
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