The Big T-Day is almost upon us! Do you know what you’re making? I am publishing this week’s post a bit early for this lovely holiday week just in case some of you need ideas for your Thanksgiving table. I’ve picked out some of the most delicious holiday recipes we’ve tried here on MCM. These are all winners and have been given Tom’s stamp of approval!

Gelatin and Cranberries

Frosted Cranberry Squares, 1965

The Verdict: Cranberry Crack

From The Tasting Notes –

Excellent. The cranberry gelatin is good even on its own. It’s sweet, flavorful and the ginger ale gives it a little bubbly kick at the end that was really fun. But with the topping??? It was over the top good. Even the crunchy nuts on top added a great texture. It went straight past dinner and into the dessert category. Plop a piece of pumpkin pie on top of this and people won’t even care about eating the turkey.

Raspberry Rhubarb Salad

This salad is just as good with frozen rhubarb, or substitute cranberries for the rhubarb to make an easy fresh cranberry sauce!

The Verdict: Totally delicious

This was very good. Sweet and tart and very yummy. It turns out that the finished gelatin tasted exactly like the filling of Tom’s favorite pie, Rhubarb Meringue, especially when you add a little whip cream to it. Bonus! Thanks for the great recipe, Pat!  I know we are going to make this one again and again.

Sea Breeze Salad

The Verdict: It’s A Dessert

From The Tasting Notes:

Very good if you like lemon pie. Especially good if you like lemon pie but not meringue. This basically tastes like a lemon pie with pineapple added to it, and a lemon-flavored whipped topping. The pineapple was actually a really good addition. We polished this thing off in a few days and probably gained five pounds in the process.

Double Pear Salad

The Verdict: Good!

From the Tasting Notes:

If you like Under The Sea Salad, you should try this one. The avocado may seem like a strange addition, but it actually does work. In fact, Tom preferred the avocado to the canned pears, which he didn’t really care for. As with Under the Sea Salad, the cream cheese layer is by far and away the best part of the gelatin. The cherries don’t add much, but they look good and if you are going to make this for the holidays they are a festive touch.

Sides

Sour Cream Green Bean Casserole

The Verdict: Good!

From The Tasting Notes –

Very good casserole with a creamy sauce and a crunchy topping. The sauce was very easy to make, just as easy as opening a can of cream of mushroom soup. Would be a great substitution for the ever-present traditional green bean casserole at Thanksgiving dinner!

Sweet Potato Scallop

Verdict: Good!

If you want an alternative to your traditional marshmallow-topped dish, give this one a try this year!

From the tasting notes:

It looked nice and tasted good. Usually not a fan of sweet potatoes, but it was sweet without needing marshmallow goopiness. Peel the oranges more aggressively to avoid pith problems. Incidentally, the orange juice sauce goes extremely well with ham, even though that isn’t technically part of the recipe.

Dessert!

Vincent Price’s Pumpkin Pie

The Verdict: Good!

The flavor of mace was strong and spicy, but not too strong. We didn’t even actually miss the cinnamon, as the mace has the same sort of spicy taste as cinnamon. The pie had a great, silky texture, much lighter than pies made with evaporated milk. Overall a good pie, and not scary at all. Unless, of course, you are a pumpkin.

Mystery Pecan Pie, 1964

The Verdict: Fantastic

From the Tasting Notes:

This vintage recipe has it all. It’s easy, there is a little bit of magic and the final product tastes amazing. The cheesecake layer stays nice and moist in the center, the bottom layer is delicious and gooey and the pecans at the top are nice and caramelized. Would be perfect served with a traditional pumpkin pie, with a small slice of each on the plate!

Aunt Maria’s Vermont Maple Sugar Pie, 1945

The Verdict: Deliciously Concentrated Maple Pie

From The Tasting Notes –

If you like toffee, or butter pecan ice cream, or ANYTHING where sugar and butter have been browned to their utmost deliciousness, then this pie is going to make you get down on your knees and weep. It was seriously that good. The pie was dense and thick, kind of like a cross between pecan pie without the pecans and buttermilk pie.  The flavor was equal parts maple and caramel. It was also incredibly rich and sweet and if you aren’t big into sweet then this may not be the pie for you. It was great with whipped cream and probably would be fantastic with ice cream. And if you put pumpkin spice ice cream on this thing, it will probably be one of the most intense dessert experiences of your life.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!!