Happy Thanksgiving

I scanned this graphic from my antiquarian book of crests and added the type. This is my Thanksgiving card to all of you.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. ~ Aesop

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.~Erma Bombeck

image #3 here and #2 here

A Day for Friends and Family

via

I am thankful this Thanksgiving for my fine friends who always remember me on holidays. This is my first Thanksgiving without my dear mother and oh, how I miss her. She loved to wake up early and start cooking while the rest of the family still slept. We always ate in the early afternoon so we could do it all over again with the leftovers later on. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I have to start cooking some things to take to Kelly's, also in the early afternoon. Webster is whining very softly for his breakfast too. I'll see you later. xo

Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Wishes

Thanksgiving is a busy day for all of us. I hope your turkey looks just like the one in the Norman Rockwell illustration called Freedom From Want. This painting appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on March 6, 1943 and inspired America. It continues to inspire me. Every time I look at it I remember my grandparents and the big family get togethers of days gone by.
I added the poem below the classic image.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving to Each of You

I made this long ago from a crest in my Royal Book of Crests and I post it every year.

Perfect cookies for Thanksgiving.

See more of my old Thanksgiving posts here.

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving Day

This vintage Thanksgiving postcard was mailed in 1910 back in the day when all turkeys were free range. I hope all of your dishes come out of the oven and make it to the table and sideboard looking and tasting just the way you hoped they would. Enjoy this day of thanks with family and friends and eat all you want. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday. Enjoy! via

My Thanksgiving

Is there anything more beautiful than a sink full of cranberries?

I made raw cranberry relish and a cranberry/jello/pineapple dish iced with cream cheese and sour cream. I left out the nuts...recipe here. Relish: I just chopped raw cranberries in my Cuisinart in small batches. Then 2 honey crisp apples with skins on, and finally 2 oranges, seeded, with skins on. I chopped the apples and cranberries coarsely and the oranges finely until they were mostly juice. Mix all together and add a little sugar if you wish. I added about 1/3 cup for a big batch, about twice as much as you see in this bowl. The front dish is actually a pyrex loaf pan. I made the jello dish in two of them. One to take to my friend's house and one to keep for myself. That worked perfectly.

Webster got lots of treats yesterday too. The yogurt container was first, followed by pumpkin oatmeal - canned pumpkin mixed in with hot oatmeal to cool it off. 

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving yesterday? I did and have lots of leftovers to enjoy today. Yum.

The Thanksgiving Pig

Just in case you're wondering about Piggie, he's fine. All is well and he's bonded with Webster and now they play together. Webster went through his basket of toys and pulled out a Babar stuffed toy and presented it to Piggie on the sofa this morning. It was hilarious. Actually Webster wanted his small elephant squeeky toy back and was pulling a bait and switch which did not work. Haha. Webster hasn't played with that toy in years. I was amazed that he found the only other elephant he owns for this failed mission.

A wet sleet has been falling for the last few hours but it melts as soon as it hits the ground. My outside thermometer says it's 40 degrees. I hope this doesn't present a problem later when it gets colder. I have to go out but don't have to drive more than a few blocks to have another feast with friends.

Be safe and have a Happy Thanksgiving.



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A Little Thanksgiving Humor

This is a repeat of an illustrated quote I made last year. I still think it's funny. Have a great Thanksgiving. Now I have to retire to the kitchen.



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Thanksgiving Defined

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. We are on the BRAT diet here at the cottage so my mother's intestinal tract can get back to normal. Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and (white) Toast. These are all binding foods. I got rice milk and rice cereal too and some saltine crackers and chicken broth. So far, so good. Webster thinks it's all delicious.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Norman Rockwell "Freedom from Want" Saturday Evening Post cover March 6, 1943. All of my childhood Thanksgivings were like this. Have a wonderful holiday, I know I will. The cottage smells absolutely wonderful! Wishing all of you an old-fashioned Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day At Home

It's so nice to be home for the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. Here's hoping all of the travelers arrive safe and sound. I'm cooking cornish game hens this year instead of turkey. All of the trimmings will remain the same; cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, raw cranberry relish, a sweet potato dish (maybe), brussel sprouts, popovers and pie. Yum.

I got a few new old books this week with wonderful graphics. I was so excited when I found this image. I love making these illustrated quotes and sharing them with you.

Glad Thanksgiving Greetings

Be safe if you are traveling over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for a family Thanksgiving celebration. I thought this vintage postcard was unusual and perfect for the vegetarian/vegans out there who will be passing on the turkey but enjoying all the trimmings.

Thanksgiving Place Cards | Free Download

I made some elegant fold-over Thanksgiving place cards for you using an 18th century engraving of a Cornucopia from my antiquarian book on Royal Crests. I probably didn't leave enough room for you to write the name of your guest so you'll have to write small. Sorry. You can use card stock and turn the page around and run it through your printer again and get 6 on one sheet. You can save the image to your photo editing software and print the names on your computer. You know what to do [hopefully].

Have fun decorating your holiday table.

Here is a single place card if you want to start from scratch.

Vintage Thanksgiving with Grandparents

Here's my annual trip down memory land honoring the good old days and Norman Rockwell.

Happy Thanksgiving from my cottage to your table. 

Have a thankful day.

Thank-ful Pie for Thanksgiving

I should have posted this earlier instead of on Thanksgiving Eve. There is a template for this design and a recipe for pie crust so you can embellish a FROZEN pumpkin pie from the supermarket. Tutorial and recipe here. If you are baking your own you could just use strips of dough and make these letters by hand.

H A P P Y   T H A N K S G I V I N G   xo

101 Thanksgiving Dishes To Make Ahead

For most cooks, Thanksgiving problems are brought about by the sheer number of dishes competing for the stove. It’s not easy to roast a turkey and bake sweet potatoes for 20 at the same time. The best solution is to prepare what you can in advance, like any of the 101 dishes by Mark Bittman that follow. Read more ~ full article from The New York Times. Here's hoping you have an extra refrigerator or at least a super large one! Happy cooking. Rosemary

H A P P Y 🦃 T H A N K S G I V I N G

This is my annual post for Thanksgiving

made from a scan from my favorite antiquarian book, 

"The Royal Book of Crests"

The font is Elizabethan Script 

I lost it when my 

Windows PC crashed ages ago. 

This font is called
Jacques  Francois Shadow

it's a free download from Google
Let me know if it's garbled and I will replace it with another universally recognized font.

Vintage Thanksgiving Magazine Covers

Abraham Lincoln issued the first Thanksgiving turkey pardon as a gesture to help unify a divided nation at the end of the Civil War. 

I like them all. My family was quite taken with TV in the early days, so this one is my favorite even though I am not a sports fan. Have a great holiday. xo 

via Google Images

Home for Thanksgiving

Many of you are or will be traveling home for Thanksgiving.

Be safe.



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Life's Little Instruction Book page 144 + Happy Thanksgiving

The Turkey Day countdown has begun. I worked on my grocery list all day yesterday and finally went to the market around 5:30. I got a great parking spot, whizzed through the store, found everything I needed, got in line behind one woman who was almost finished checking out, helped bag my 4 sacks, loaded the car easily since there was a street lamp overhead, and got home at 6:30. I've always had good luck shopping at the dinner hour. Our weather has been quite warm for this time of year in New Jersey. It is drizzling rain this morning so I'm glad I did a load of laundry yesterday that dried nicely on the line. Have a safe trip if you are traveling and enjoy the holiday tomorrow. Don't forget #477 above. Happy Thanksgiving from the cottage. Rosemary