WILLARD started going out to everyone’s email boxes today; it takes two days for the whole list to go, and even though you might have just read yourself practically silly, you know there could be a surprise for you here, and of course, there is! ♥ But perhaps we need a little mood music? Here’s a song to dance you down the page; great soundtrack from the movie French Kiss . . .
This is a photo of my heart-shaped Lemon Pepper Tea Biscuits, just out of the oven, still warm, ready for someone to slather them with butter and Cranberry-Orange Marmalade. They are one of the recipes featured in a new cookbook I’m very excited about — it’s from Where Women Cook Magazine, and it’s called CELEBRATE!
I am one of the twenty-eight women featured in this book; honored to be included with such luminaries of the food world as Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman), Angie Dudley (Bakerella) and Molly Wizenberg (Orangette). One of the special things about this book, besides the obvious, is that each woman is pictured doing her thing in her own kitchen; there are tons of wonderful photographs, sixty recipes, and lots of tips for celebrating life, with cooking as the magical ingredient. My chapter is called “Kitchen Table Tea.” The kind of everyday celebration we have in the kitchen with our girlfriends. ♥ Each contributor chose a different theme to focus on.
(Do I like tea, really, or is it just the dishes? That’s the question!) Anyway, I have the first copy (still warm off the press) of CELEBRATIONS that was sent to me here on the island. I’m going to sign it and send it to one of YOU as a Thanksgiving present! Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post, and on Friday we’ll let the RNG (Random Number Generator) pull a name out of our hat and see in what corner of the world this book ends up. But for all of you, my girlfriends, scroll to the bottom of this post, and I’ll give you the recipe for the Lemon Pepper Tea Biscuits. ♫ Do I love you, Oh yes I love you . . . ♪
For me, the Thanksgiving countdown has begun . . . I started making my shopping list this morning . . .
Taking center stage is my grandma’s stuffing, which requires real bread that has to be air-dried for three days. Two days won’t do it. Don’t even think about putting it in the oven to dry. Those are the rules. So, I need to be ready. My ironing board does double duty as drying rack for the bread, spread out on cookie sheets in the pantry.
Plus, right now is gravy-making time; I need it for dinner, but I also need it for leftovers, so I start early and make extra. I learned to make gravy when I was very young, but still tweak it a little bit every year; a little of this a little of that; vermouth? Red wine? Plain this year? Joe always has his family’s 2¢ to add to the pot; sometimes requiring a restraining hand on his pouring arm. Shall we have sage? A teeny bit of cloves perhaps? Perfect gravy is the mark of distinction in our family — no one can describe exactly what makes it perfect, but we sure know it when we taste it!
I’m already done making the butters:
One for each biscuit plate (the baking powder kind). Yum.
I use leaves for place cards at Thanksgiving (as long as there isn’t snow on them!). I made these from rhododendron leaves, which are the perfect size, especially if you have a “Marjorie” coming to dinner, because her whole name fits on one! Plus they’re smooth and flat and don’t break too easily. I pick the leaves the day before and keep them in the fridge so they stay fresh, then write the names on as big as possible with a correction pen (after first practicing on a paper towel!).
OK, so would you like to go to the grocery store with us? This was yesterday!
We’re almost there, I kept thinking the leaf would jump off, but apparently it really wanted to get to the supermarket parking lot, and wasn’t going to give up until we were there!
OK, that’s enough of that. It’s been a red letter week for me, a feature in a new book, and another really nice article in the winter issue of Cape Cod Home Magazine. ♥ You guys must be spreading the word, something crazy is going on; so much to be grateful for. Plus, we have best friends coming from England next week! And to top it off, I already figured out what I’m giving you for Christmas! And I’m excited because I think you’ll like it!
So I am off to the City (that’s Domesticity City of course); I’m taking the day off to play with my house, nurk around in the guest room, organize the pantry, play ball with the new Kitty, hug Girl, kiss Joe, watch old movies, nap, and so on. But before I go, I want to give you that recipe and remind you to leave a comment to enter the drawing for the book — tell us the strangest, most quirky, or favorite thing you ever had at Thanksgiving — for me it’s always the same, Rainbow Jell-O, not very strange, but definitely quirky, and also a favorite. How about you?
LEMON PEPPER TEA BISCUITS
If you want your biscuits to be heart–shaped you will need a miniature muffin pan with hearts! I have this cast-iron one and I love it. This easy quick recipe makes one dozen delectable biscuits.
- 1-3oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 c. butter, softened
- grated zest of one lemon
- 1/2 c. sour cream
- 1 c. self-rising flour, sifted
- 1/3 c. either chopped dried cranberries or currants
- coarsely ground black pepper
- sanding sugar (opt.)
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a deep, medium-sized bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and zest with mixer on med speed until smooth. Scrape down bowl. Stir in sour cream. 
Gradually beat in flour until well blended. Stir in cranberries or currants. Put a heaping tsp. of dough into each cup of an ungreased miniature muffin pan, filling the space completely and leveling the surface of the dough. Grind pepper over the top. Sprinkle with sanding sugar (if desired). Bake for 15 min. or until light brown. Pop out muffins into a basket lined with a tea towel; cover to keep warm. ♥
Guess what? A foghorn is blowing, I can hear it sounding out up from the water. Later gators. ♥ have a wonderful day! xoxo
Dear Susan,
It is such a gift to wake up and read Willard! I love to see how you decorate your table and the delicious recipes you share with us.
Have a very special Thanksgiving with your family and friends!
I am thankful to you for brightening my days with your blog and just by being you.Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
A Hitch Hiker – that would be my husband a week or two before Thanksgiving! You see he loves to make THANKSGIVING DINNER!!! I love that he loves to do it!! Usually I do the grocery shopping but this dinner requires both of us making the trip, which I love. Do you ever see couples buying their grocery’s? It doesn’t always seem very pleasant. It’s like their husband tagged along and he has invaded “her” territory. Sometimes I try to get into their conversation and just have fun, usually it is!! Oh, gotta go my husband’s ready to go to the grocery store, love it!
We go together. I shop, Joe holds court with all his friends back in the meat department (small town!).
I think the strangest thing we have every Thanksgiving is my brother-in-law’s stuffing. It looks really gross and is this bizarre dark brown color, but ends up always tasting delicious. I don’t think it would feel like Thanksgiving without it.
Susan! Congratulations on being chosen to be in the cookbook. I have a mania for cookbooks and cooking blogs I live with my adult son and my granddaughter and another son who is here between jobs, so I have an appreciate audience to try things on. I love Where Women Create and Where Women Cook after your annoncement in Willard I scoured the bookstalls until I got the issue with you in it. Thanks for all you do it makes my days so happy!
Opening up my emails and finding “Willard” is such a treat. I am enjoying your blog so much. It is like getting a “Willard”, just more often!
One of the stangest dishes I have served at Thanksgiving were french fries. My youngest son wasn’t feeling well that day and I mistakenly told him that I would make him anything that he wanted(within reason). His response “french fries”. Because I was peeling potatoes for mashed potatoes, I simply peeled extra and made the fries. I got some strange looks from our relatives, but everyone seemed to eat a few along with everything else we usually make. Sometimes making a sick little boy happy is all you can and should do. Happy Holidays.
I would love French fries!
This will be the first Thanksgiving without my dear, sweet loving husband, and father of my sons, Gary…I am hosting his entire family and hope that with the loving support of them, we can all give thanks for a bittersweet year….we all have so much to be thankful for in this world, but that does not take away our pain this year. I know that he will be joining us in spirit as we give thanks, and his sons are a living legacy from him to me…Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, we are going to plan on it! Jeanne
Oh Jeanne, such a difficult time . . . sending love and blessings to you all this Thanksgiving. xoxo
Thinking of you and your family…..sending love xoxoxo
Jeanne, I have been exactly in that place with my 2 kids. Your sons will keep you going at times you feel down. A hint someone gave me…sit where your spouse normally sat…you won’t have to see someone else in “his seat” Sending you many good wishes, Susan L.
Susan, noticed that someone called you the “Gladys Taber” of our day and I would like to second that thought. As a young wife and mother, Gladys’s writings were heaven sent and I couldn’t get enough. Now I look forward to anything I can find that you’ve written, drawn, or are featured in. I’ll always have a special place for Gladys but your sweetness and wonderful sharing have satisfied that void. Thanks for being you and sharing yourself and your art with us.
What a compliment! Thank you! xoxo
Carol, such sweet words about Susan. I couldn’t agree more….you spoke my heart exactly! xoxo….kp
Thank you girls!
Oh my goodness!! Comment #1170! odds are NOT in my favor! It’s sooo good to be loved, isn’t it Susan? I say that at least once a day to my family. My kids just sigh “yeeeeesss, Momma……” not truly appreciating it’s meaning. Dear Andy nods his head- sometimes commenting “It sure is, Marley” (the not-often-used pet name indicates- he gets it!) it IS soooo good to be loved!
Lime jell-o salad! Lime jell-o, marshmallows, crushed pineapple, and cream cheese. Sounds absurd, tastes heavenly! Every Thanksgiving, home or visiting, it’s on the table.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Thank you Maria!!!
We have the lime jello mold too, usually with Easter dinner. My aunt started making it years ago, then my mom, then me and now my daughter. It is so good. It’s just as good with orange jello…had it at a picnic this past July 4th.
I don’t have a “different” dish to tell you about, but I do have a Thanksgiving “cat” story to share with you. We were at my sisters for Thanksgiving – her pies were laid out on the counter cooling… when her dog chased their cat into the kitchen – KittyCat jumped up on the counter and left little footprints in EACH PIE…. she didn’t miss any of them!!! Needless to say it took some convincing to get us to “eat around the footprints”….. 🙂 Hope your Thanksgiving is filled with much love, plenty of company, and, of course – Girl Kitty and Jack. chm
Ooooooh, your blog always makes me so hungry!!! The biscuits look yummy…..now I wish I didn’t give away my collection of cast iron muffin pans! Don’t know what possesed me…….I think I actually thought I wanted to be done with the kitchen..I must have been a little crazy that day! Now I just cut them into triangles (like scones). Oh well. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
I don’t remember ever having anything weird for Thanksgiving. But I’m sure we did when we were traveling for a living and we lived in an airstream trailer. I don’t think I cooked as much then……we probably went out to eat. At the most I may have made roast chicken with the fixins! (Almost as good as turkey).
Congrats on being on the cover of the new book!!! Wow! Got to have it, so if I can’t win it will you make it available on the site?
P.S. more kitty photos please!!!!! Can’t wait to see both kitties together! ; )
It’s there now Kirsten — just so you know!
Well, I didn’t eat this at Thanksgiving, but one of our guests did. When we were grad students living far from home we always hosted Thanksgiving diner for others in that situation. One couple that came to diner had a small child around two years old. Her parents let her have wine with dinner, coffee with desert, then later as a snack I guess, breast milk straight from the source! We were shocked, but didn’t say a word. That was 15 years ago, but we still remember it every Thanksgiving and my husband and I giggle when the wine is passed around (or if anyone whips out a boob). Happy Thanksgiving
I have your “Heart of the Home” book on my counter at this moment. Reading through its pages are so comforting and inspiring. I look forward to this new book also!
Oh, Susan, thank you so much for your blog! I so look forward to it. I actually print it and take it home, fix a wonderfully warm and fragrant bubble bath with candle light, and just relax and read your blog. Ahhhhhh….my little bit of heaven.
We have our traditional Thanksgiving feast every year. The only weird part of our menu, I’ve been told, is our dressing because it is green! We use swiss chard and it is absolutely wonderful! I believe this was my grandmother’s recipe and I’ve had it every Thanksgiving from the time I was born…..54 years. We just don’t mess with perfection!
That’s right!
O.K. after going back and reading the posts I DO remember something weird at Thanksgiving dinner……… I forgot the baking soda in the pumpkin bread. It tasted great but had the texture of playdoh!!!!! My daughter always reminds me at Thanksgiving when she makes it. I’m just grateful that my son was too young to remember that one. LOL
Hi Kirsten! xoxo
Hi Susan as always love love love this post! It brings back great memories of New England Thanksgivings for me! One Thanksgiving dinner we went to was my friends mother in law Nora and she made this amazing “Stuffing! she called Summer squash cassorole it was delish! So every Christmas we make it here at home except this Christmas I am not cooking, my family and I for the first time ever are going away for a few days at Christmas up to Scotland. I am sooo looking forward to it….any tips? P.S Do you mind me asking how you and your friend Rachel met? Its tough having one of your bestest girlfirnds 4000 plus miles away isn’t it? xxxx
We were pen pals! She wrote me a really beautiful letter, which made me fall in love with her, I wrote her back, and that’s how it started, in around ’92. When Diana died, we faxed each other constantly during those awful days. Rachel left a peach rose at Kensington Palace, for me. It was so wonderful of her.
Thank you for telling me that story. Well its so nice that a beautiful friendship came out of such sadness. Diana was one in a million it was such a tragedy when she died. A great loss to the whole world I think. That was a lovely gesture from Rachel its know wonder she’s such a special friend. xx
Yes, she’s a wonderful friend! Coming next week for Thanksgiving!
Hi Susan,
When I was in my early 20’s, a friend from work gave me your little Christmas book—I felt as if I had discovered a treasure!! Then when I discovered the rest of your books, I was euphoric:) I wanted to buy them all at once, but I was newly married at the time and completely broke, so I saved my money and bought them one at a time. Now I have all of your books and and I love reading your blog! Thanks for bringing so much joy into my life!
My husband loves chips and salsa, so we have that on a platter in the kitchen to munch on while we are cooking the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I grow heirloom tomatoes and we use them to make our own salsa which we can, so he can always have chips and salsa.:)
Love it, thank you Rachel!
Our Thanksgivings have been pretty tradional and without epics, (except for the year my Mom forgot to turn on the oven, we had turkey at 10pm!) It has to have my moms stuffing, basicly the Pepperidge Farm base with water chestnuts, cellery, onions, and spicy sausage! And tons of butter. the best part about the meal for me! Oh and always a bowl of black olives which as kids we pretty much finished off before the meal, walking around with them on our fingers… And my smart mom always had another can ready for the table. Im going to try your buiscuts this year, sound yummy! Thanks!
Hi Susan,
My Thanksgiving preparations just began thanks to you! I needed some inspiration and you supplied me with plenty. I have your Autumn Cookbook, signed by you when you visited Plymouth a few years back (2007). Love it! Am going to try your “My Grandma’s Stuffing” recipe along with your cranberry sauce recipe. I also going to attempt to “brine” the turkey for the first time.
I’ve heard it makes the bird very moist.
Hope you have a deliciously wonderful Thanksgiving,
Thank you Dolly!
It is a dull day here in Canada and I have just read your blog and it inspired me respond to your Thanksgiving thoughts. As you know, we do not celebrate on the same date, but we do share the same “thanksgiving thoughts”. I am thankful for your upbeat messages which always come at a time I really need them.
Interesting also that you talk about “Where Women Cook”. I have just been introduced to these books and don’t easily find them here in Canada. A friend just yesterday brought me two back of issues of “Where Women Create”, one was the premiere issue and one from Spring of this year. I had no idea that this book has been available since ’08 – so I missed the issue with your “story”. In the meantime, I will look for upcoming issues. Thank you for all your inspirational blogs. They are the first thing I read when I get to the computer.
With sincere thanks,
Betty Nelson (Can.)
i was very delighted to wake up to Willard this morning, wonderful reading about what you’been doing and what great things we are given . I wish the best Thanksgiving for you and your family. Thank you for the tea biscuit recipe.
Thanksgiving used to be a challenge. As a registered occupational therapist, I helped coordinate a dinner for 100 on a psychiatric unit. Psychiatrists, patients, staff, and families gathered to celebrate together. My boyfriend at the time, now husband, found it amusing that it was not obvious who were staff and who were patients. I found that endearing.
Thank you for that wonderful, heartfelt, made me smile, tear up a bit and nod my head in acknowledgement Willard and blog today… I think we’ll use that grace as part of ours this year.
Our menu never varies… I tried changing things out a small bit one year and got so many protests that I vowed never to do it again. The one dish we serve that other families may not serve is noodles cooked in turkey broth. My grandma used to make homemade noodles every year; we use frozen noodles from the grocery store these days… but we never, ever have Thanksgiving without those noodles. The other dish that I am including at my mom’s request this year is YOUR pumpkin cheesecake from the “Autumn” cookbook… it is open on my counter right now and I will make it on Monday to take to her house in Michigan on Tuesday. Then I get to come home on Friday and we will have another Thanksgiving (can everybody please say yikes for me?!) with our three children, their spouses and our grandkids… they could not go to Michigan due to work constraints, so I get to cook two Thanksgivings this year… I may not eat for at least a week afterward… but then again, once I start leafing through your holiday cookbooks, who knows?!
Thank you once again for this blog, your Willards and your books… they are to be read, re-read and treasured! Happy Thanksgiving… I think I will slip outside at my mom’s, and as I look through the windows, I will imagine seeing some of the loved ones we have lost in the last few years as well. Have a wonderful, memorable, treasurable and cherishable holiday with all your loved ones and friends.
Yikes! 🙂 LOL.
Yikes!
Susan, I just had to send another comment – I have just read “Willard” and was interested in all your suggestions for “random acts of kindness” during the upcoming special seasons. I was especially moved by your idea to drop off a “cuppa” to a Salvation Army kettle worker. I am not sure if I should say this here, but for over 50 years I have been one of those “bell ringers” and have always appreciated those who have taken time to bring something warm to those standing outside especially – nowdays many of the stands are in malls – but it is still good to be “remembered”.
Be blessed today.
Betty Nelson
So sweet Betty, thank YOU!!!
Years ago my sister went to a book signing of yours for “Girlfriends Forever”, and bought me my very own signed copy!. Ever since I have dreamed of being able to do the same for her, though I don’t live anywhere near any of the locations you have your signings. She and I are not only sisters, but the very best girlfriends. It would be so wonderful to win this, and mail it to her, especially since we won’t be together for the holidays at all this year. Congratulations on being featured in this book, you certainly do have good company!
I sure do! Thank you Heather and say hello to your sister for me!
Dear Susan,
My mother and I have loved your artwork for years. It is a tradition to have your calendar hang in our kitchen where everyone can enjoy it. I was fortunate to visit Martha’s Vineyard last fall nd it is a beautiful place! I can’t believe you had 400 trick-or-treaters. We keep track every year and if it’s in the double digits, it’s considered amazing.
We don’t usually stray too much from tradition on Thanksgiving, so I will be boring and say that my favorite dishes are stuffing and creamed onions! It is a tradition in our house (maybe as a nod to our Italian heritage) to have spaghetti and meatballs for Christmas dinner, however. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome! Thanks for being here!
The odds are not in my favor…..but….I love reading your blog and emails….sometimes they make me cry….with memories and happiness
Nancy
Just found your blog site and am anxiously awaiting my first Willard! I went junking last week and bought a whole “slew” of odd creams and sugars to hold tea lights on our table. Have also dug out the few antique hand towels and linens to use instead of saving for a rainy day; it’s here!
Thank you so much.
Wonderful Betty!!!
Can’t wait to try the Cranberry sauce recipe!! love some of the cooks in the book. Sounds like a great one.
whoops the answer to the question is: Sweet potatoes that were to be made with breakfast sausage but the maker substituted Vienna sausages from the can, the kind with the jelly around them. It was so not sweet potatoes that I love.
You will love it! So easy, so pretty!
Not so strange for me because I grew up with it, but probably my English grandmother’s “Johnny Bull Suet Pudding” might have made some people scratch their heads if they peeked into our windows at Thanksgiving time and saw it being served as dessert with delicious vanilla or lemon sauce. Stranger yet would be to see the pudding, tied in a “rag”, being lifted out of the huge kettle of boiling water. My sister and I would have to make the trip to the butcher’s to pick up the suet for the pudding. Mom would always reminds us, “Tell him the waxy suet, not the fat kind!” We have had to alter our recipe since suet isn’t sold for human consumption these days. Gee……I wonder how we survived all these years after having eaten suet pudding when we were kids?? (It’s heavenly the next day, sliced thick and pan fried, with a sprinkling of sugar on top.)
I enjoy so much reading anything you write and when I read this,,I immediately remembered the “strangest” Thanksgiving we have had!! I was having the dinner at our home for only the 2nd time since we had always gone to my husbands grandparents in Kansas and we werent able to go…so that Thanksgiving was the most memorable because we sat down to a beautiful turkey,,,but soon realized it was not Done? we did that 3 times,,and finally had a Thanksgiving without a turkey!! Had to wait for the next day to have a bite of it!!! Finally figured out I had not thawed it out as good as I should have??? Now we always buy a fresh one,,,they are much better anyway!!! Have a wonderful holiday with your friends,,I know you will as know how much that it means to have wonderful friends and family,,,!!!
Susan, whenever Willard comes to my house, I get a cup of tea (Constant Comment today) and sit down with my old friend…I never tire of reading it because it just makes me feel good and renews my desire to be a homemaker and home-keeper…today I’ve enjoyed the video’s of your trip to the grocery…the place cards (I am stealing this idea…but I wanted you to know!), the pictures of your tea cups…the best tea I’ve ever had is from cups like these…though I don’t have any myself, I do enjoy sipping from them at The Rose Tea Room in Bakersfield when visiting my sister….thank you for your friendship these many years…and for the inspiration you give me to be happy in my home!
Thank you so much Cynthia!
I just simply want to say “YES” I waaaaaaaaaant to win the book – yes it would be the thrill of my life to be the winner of such a master piece from you – c
Hi Susan! My 80 year old mother still enjoys making Thanksgiving dinner and the menu is always delicious, but not really unusual. But I do have two nephews whose birthdays are either on Thanksgiving or the day before or after. So, the most unusual things I eat on Thanksgiving are two different birthday cakes for dessert, along with the pumpkin pie.
Just found your blog one week ago and LOVE it!
May you have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Thanks Pam!
Oh Susan! Okay, can I just live in your darling blog? How about in your adorable Willard? Everytime I come here it’s like walking into a wonderfully whimsical storybook-land! It’s just so perfectly delightful! Thank you! Okay my favorite Thanksgiving yummy has got to be my Mom’s Sage and Sausage Stuffing, but it’s best eaten with Grandma’s Raspberry-Cranberry-Jello salad with cream cheese topping…HEAVEN!! I really think I hear angels singing when I eat them both! (Laaaaaaaaaaaaa!) Thank you for the chance to win that FAB new book!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!
Branson, Missouri
Wouldn’t it be great if we could build virtual houses and decorate them like on pinterest? 🙂 Pin furniture, then move it around, then change it? Pin the weather we like, pin your best friend to the house next door to yours. Pin tea, pin banana cream pie. I like this!!
Since my Mother died. 12 years ago I started to organize and cook a meal for who ever shows up at my church. It was also an excuse not to see my sister. I make the same meal I would make at home but only larger. I stuff and roast 5 turkeys, make home made dinner rolls, sweet potato casserole, whipped white potatoes with cream cheese, butter and sour cream, fresh cranberry sauce and even french green bean casserole. Every one who attend also gets a dish to go, It is a lot of work but I love to cook and I am so grateful every day to still be here after stage 4 breast cancer. All it takes is a few of us doing the right thing and the world might stop being so crazy, Have a Blessed Thanksgiving, keep up the great blog and Willard, your new kitty is adorable.
Sandi
Love that Sandi! Thank you!!
What a delight it is to open my email and discover that you have sent another inspiring posting! I have been to the Where Women Cook web site and am excited to hear that you are a part of a new cook book. I was at the book signing you did in San Luis Obispo recently, we talked about old stoves (‘v’). Thank you for all you do and share with us, your FANS! xo
As I sit here at work (I’m a library director) reading your blog, I’m wracking my brain for any unusual Thanksgiving family customs or foods I can recall, and the only thing I can think of is that every year I try to have a spiral-sliced ham, and I suppose that’s sort of different.
Yes, we have the turkey, but normally only a huge breast instead of the whole bird. I got tired of dealing with the dark meat nobody wants, and the bones… so years ago I started cooking the ham and breast instead of the whole bird. Works for us, and the ham is highly anticipated every year, because there are only a couple of times a year I’m willing to put out that much money at once for such a big item.
Times are tough all over, I know, but it certainly is nice to have wonderful folks like yourself and those who comment here to brighten my days. And, finally, I sure have my fingers crossed as I toss my name into the cookbook hat! 🙂
Thank you Rosie!
Thank you so very much for all the Willards, but especially this one!
One of my best friends lives far from me, and found out last Friday the trouble her Mom is having is not dementia or stroke, but ALS, and a very fast moving form of it. She may not even make it past December, but if so, no more than six months at the most. She came home to find her cat was killed fighting off a huge rat that got in her house from the barn we guess, (Miss Kitty did kill the rat,and so, bravely passed on defending her home and person) and all this on the same day. Getting the Willard today, and then seeing the very last quote on it had me sending it to her right away. Thanks so very much for perfect timing with a beautiful blessing. She loved it.
Thanks again for all the beautiful messages and pictures.
Oh I am so sorry! Two blows in one day. I’m happy Willard came through at the right time! xoxo Best to you and your friend and her mom. So sorry about brave Miss Kitty.
Thank you for the kind thoughts, I have passed them on and that too made her smile. She needs smiles right now… Thanks again so much, for all the wonderful things you do.
What a delight it is to open my email and discover that you have sent another inspiring posting! I have been to the Where Women Cook web site and am excited to hear that you are a part of a new cook book. I was at the book signing you did in San Luis Obispo recently, we talked about old stoves (‘v’). Thank you for all you do and share with us, xo
So nice to see you here Marie!!
I saw the pearls you are wearing on the cover of your cookbook and I said to myself “June I’m Home”. LOL. A girlfriend told me about your blog a month ago and I just love reading about all your adventures and your great food. I’m also a artist and have been painting in oils. But after getting aquainted with you I have now started doing water colors for all my birthday, thank you, get well, and congratulation cards etc. Thanks for the inspiration. Thanksgiving dinner has been now passed down to my son’s wives and they are great cooks so it should be fun. Have a wonderful and Blessed Thanksgiving
Thanks for the Willard today. I’m glad you have a new kitten to amuse you with his acrobatics. And I love your Thanksgiving place cards. I have rhododendron leaves so I may try writing on them, too. Thank you for the idea.
I saw the pearls you are wearing on the cover of your cookbook and I said to myself “June I’m Home”. LOL. A girlfriend told me about your blog a month ago and I just love reading about all your adventures and your great food. I’m also a artist and have been painting in oils. But after getting aquainted with you I have now started doing water colors for all my birthday, thank you, get well, and congratulation cards etc. Thanks for the inspiration. Thanksgiving dinner has been now passed down to my son’s wives and they are great cooks so it should be fun. Have a wonderful and Blessed Thanksgiving
i love you susan! you make my heart ache with wistfulness and longing for my momma and my family and laugh all in the same willard! thank you!
You are so welcome, and thank you for being here! xoxo
Banana Cream Pie! My Aunt Susan makes ONE every year, and all the banana lovers in our family hover, plates in hand, forks as a potential weapon if needed to get our one delectable slice of heaven. With a Sugar Cookie crust, custard with just the right thickness, gooey bananas and vanilla bean whip cream on top, it is pure heaven. Although, I have children of my own and should defer to their desire for I bite, it is the one thing all year that I savor every last morsel for myself, with a bit of champagne, of course!
I love banana cream pie too!
Love the traveling leaf, the tea dishes, the drying bread, the biscuits, Jack, YOU, Joe for graciously sharing you with us. 🙂
As a result of gaining two of our daughters-in-love, we have had new dishes added to our traditional Thanksgiving meal. They are each called salads, but are definitely “desserty” salads! One is a fruit salad made with fruit cocktail, miniature marshmallows, and pomegranate seeds and a whipped dressing, the other is called pretzel salad and has pretzels, whipped topping, strawberries and I think strawberry Jello. I do not make them so I am not sure of each ingredient. I only know that we all look forward to these salads on Thanksgiving! 🙂
I have a question. What is the best way to locate my comments on your post? People comment so quickly to your blog that I have trouble finding my entry when I try to find your response to my comments.
Once again, thank you for your generous, loving spirit, Susan. You can sign me up as one who would loved a personally-Susan Branch-signed book! Congratulations on being featured in it!
That is a very good question…I actually don’t know! I’m new at this too . . . maybe someone else will help us! Thank you Pauli!
It doesn’t seem quirky to us – it’s a Maryland Thanksgiving tradition – sauerkraut on the table. Some mix it with the mashed potatoes, others savor it up straight. Even our holiday lunch at school (which was last Thursday) has a side of kraut. So I guess some might say “ewww” but we Old Liners say “yum”. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Congratulations on the new book.
Our odd tradition is the main course which is a puff pastry cornucopia filled with roasted vegetables. (Gravy on the side) No turkey here.
Sounds beautiful!
I’ve appreciated your talent, artistry, cleverness and generosity but today I’ve come to realize just how REAL you are. Well done Miss Branch.
hahaha! Thank you!
I am so glad to have found your website and blog. Love it!
Hello from Ireland
I’ll have to make those lemon peppered biscuits for tea, they look delicious and I’m sure they are. This book looks fantastic and I’d love to have one in my hands, cuddle up with a cup of tea and see all the yummy things I’d make.
Thanks for the recipes!
My family today would never go for these dishes, but as a child my daddy’s oyster dressing and ambrosia were his contributions to the meal and they were so special to me. He never entered the kitchen except to make these dishes for the holidays and to make potato salad in the summer. Oh, to taste those dishes one more time!
How wonderful that you were included in the new book. I loved seeing that there was a new Willard in my inbox. Have a blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones.
Oh, how I wish my mother could have seen your house in Cape Cod Home (I just lost her in May and she is buried on Cape Cod where she lived for 25 years)! Mother became a big fan because I was a big fan of yours and we (you and I)also have an uncanny resemblance to each other. She went to at least one of your book signings and that cookbook, along with all your other books, are very dear to me. I transplanted myself from the Boston area to Washington, D.C. some 30 years ago and ended up marrying a native Virginian. We live in a beautiful small town – Ashland VA – and are very happy here but the heart always wants what the heart wants – I will return to the Cape (a little cottage in downtown Sandwich) some day and spend time on the Islands and drink lots of tea! And maybe we will recognize that uncanny resemblance!
P.S. Reading your blog and “Willard” makes me a little less homesick – you never get over New England!
Susan
Do you look like Paul McCartney?
Hi Susan, Just read my Willard and I have to say that not only are you an artist with paint but also with words. Your description of your Thanksgiving party felt so real that I got that cozy, warm, homey feeling that I used to experience as a little girl on Thanksgiving Day. I don’t get that feeling very often anymore as my life has changed so drastically…it sure felt good. Very enjoyable read. And I loved the Andy Williams/Osmond kids video…loved his show and watched it every week. My late husband and I went to see his show on our 10th anniversary and tv didn’t do his voice justice. He had such a powerful voice and he was a little, skinny guy. Surprising. Wasn’t Marie just adorable and she had an obvious crush on Andy. So sweet. I wish sweet was back in style. Hugs.
It is Evelyn, here anyway!
My favorite part of this is seeing your special china and table settings. Love the beautiful teapot and Spode pink teacups and saucers. Thank you for sharing and inspiring us all!
Well, first of all I just want to say that I can’t wait to make those biscuits of yours. They look so delicious. Thank-you for sharing.
Now, probably the strangest thing I serve at my Thanksgiving feast is plain old Jello Chocolate pudding pie. It isn’t anything fancy but my thirty year old son always asks for it for thanksgiving…it is just cook and serve jello pudding in a graham cracker crust with whipped cream on top. It always just makes me laugh when he calls to make sure I am fixing it.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Yes but he’s right, it’s good!
Dear Susan,
When I read Willard, it feels like I am reconnecting with a friend. We have many experiences in common…Independence Pass, CO, Stockbridge Red Lion Inn, and this time…taking a few moments to leave the family to have the Norman Rockwell image albeit from my screen porch instead. I feel like I’ve known you for years and am always touched by your finding of the right quote to bring the essence of the time, place, people in our lives. With grateful thanks, Dawn Ericksen
Thank you Dawn!
The strangest thing wasn’t what we ate it was the fact that it had to be cut with a saw! It was a homegrown Turkey and it wouldn’t fit in the oven, my Grandma had to have it in half. It was the most delicious turkey though!
I know you’ll have a wonderful Thanksgiving – We all have a lot to be Thankful for!
So funny! Definitely memorable!
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is not very strange either – but I just can’t get enough of the candied sweet potatoes – and naturally they have to be covered with marshmallows!!!! The BEST!
One of my favorite Thanksgiving’s was two years ago. I was newly pregnant with my first baby and was sick most of the days. The thought of a Thanksgiving meal was enough in itself to make me sick, but with family coming into town I knew I had to whip something in to shape. When family came in the night before, we all worked to get the meal together. It was our first Thanksgiving meal in our new home and it wasn’t the meal that made it special. The loving presence of family is what mattered most, especially that year. 🙂
I love this magazine and it’s sister, Where Womem Create. They’re both 2 of my favorites. I’m so excited about the cookbook because I collect them and you’re in this one Susan. Love the tea biscuits too. Yum!
Well coming from England we dont do Thanksgiving but will give your recipes a go and give thanks to everything I have and all the things I learn and hope to pass on. Enjoy your celebrations. Marie
My favorite Thanksgiving thing would be my mother’s stuffing and her gravy. The best, I cannot duplicate it. She has been gone more than ten years now, I miss her so, especially at the holidays. Thanks.
That touches my heart. xo
My favorite Thanksgiving thing is not quirky or odd it’s just delicious. Ever since I was a small child I loved the marshmallow, brown sugar topped sweet potatoes. Nothing gourmet….just homey and good.
Frozen pumpkin dessert! Not so unusual but oh so yummy and definately makes me think of my Sweet Mom…… Congrats on all your new “features”, Susan! How wonderful that you are finally getting the recognition for your wonderful art and cooking talents!
Thank you Care!
I always fondly remember my cat Rascals (he was a tuxie also!) who’s favorite day had to be Thanksgiving for he looooooooved turkey. I swear he could smell a frozen turkey as he would dance around me with excitement in the kitchen when I brought the groceries home! He just knew a turkey had arrived!! Being in his “tux” he was the best dressed on Thanksgiving day and ready for dining!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and creating wonderful new memories!!
How cute!
Wow 12,6+++ comments! We all love you! Thanksgiving was never a big holiday in my family because we were British and it was not celebrated there. My mom would always pop a turkey in just to be Canadian. Still one of my favourite smells, a roasting turkey. Makes a house smell like a home. xo
You’re right about that Shelagh! 🙂
Susan, I can always count on you to make me smile. I was having an awful day but then I saw Willard in the inbox (big smile!). A cup of tea later the bad mood had gone. We have had several funny Thanksgivings at our house. The first Thanksgiving I was married, I put the turkey in the oven and forgot to turn it on! Our oddest dish would have to be the year we moved into our current home. We were far from family and thought maybe we should tweak traditions a bit for some fun so we had ribs cooked on the grill in place of turkey. They were yummy, but we decided that it did not feel right without the turkey. So we moved the ribs to Christmas. That tradition has stuck for the past 7 years. Everyone who visits loves the ribs mixed in with our traditional fare! And the guys like hanging out around the grill 🙂
Oh the best part of Thanksgiving used to be we went around the table and each person told what they were most thankful for…there was always someone who made a joke but most of it was very sincere. One year (thankfully) after dinner as I was cleaning up the dog got the turkey and ate it all up!! The next day at work my hubby was eating his lunch when his boss looked at it and said”What are you eating?” He had made himself a stuffing sandwich with a little cranberry sauce!!! Love your blogs–I can almost smell the food cooking . Thanks
Susan, thank you for your wonderful Willard today, and for sharing all those thoughts and stories. Yes, this is a season of Thanks…
We have many Thanksgiving (& Christmas- samed menu, a month apart!) dinner traditions, but one remains at the top of the list. Not a recipe, but a technique, I guess. My mom always slid a can of jellied cranberry sauce out of the can, sliced it in about 1/4″ slices, then used a turkey shaped cookie cutter to cut out ‘cranberry turkeys’. The turkey slices are arranged on a pretty plate to serve. The leftover edges are heaped in a bowl with a pretty serving spoon. There have been a couple of times the turkey cutter went missing, and things just weren’t the same! It’s all about traditions!
I enjoyed the hitchhiker & loved the scenery along the way. You sure do live in a beautiful area.
Love your posts reminding us to rejoice in the every day, little things! I always save your posts for the last e-mail I open – I know they will be filled with joy. They always put me in the mood to get back to housework, cooking, or just snuggling my kidlet.
Just got home from being out of town and trying to keep up to speed with everything on my little Android phone so haven’t read Willard yet but was so excited to see that the first order of business was a painting of Jack! Yay! So excited for you. Now, on to the more important business of reading the Willard! Thanks, Susan…..love you! xoxo….kp
Sorry, Susan, but one more thing to comment on….I LOVE how they put your sweet self smack dab in the middle of the front of the book! How appropriate! Also, a question, is that apron you’re wearing some of your fabric? Looks like a page right out of one of your books but I can’t quite tell. (I apologize if these have been asked/commented on already…I haven’t had time to sit down and read through all the comments yet…will be for tomorrow’s “cup of tea and Willard time!” Thanks! kp
Yes, right out of the Autumn Book, the page on tea, they made fabric out of it. Gone now, I’m afraid, but cute while it lasted!
Oh poop! 🙁
Gosh, I really can’t think of anything strange or unusual at Thanksgiving, but like you I enjoy tradition, which connects me and my family to all those who are no longer with us.
The book looks wonderful! Practical for the kitchen, but beautiful enough for the coffee table:)
Thanks for all the beauty you share!
Hi Susan,
I am new to this “comment” thing, so I think this may be my 4th(?) try. I hope this one works. I have all of your cookbooks and I would love to add this one to my collection, even though it’s not all yours. I love to cook and cook for a faith-based home for woman recovering from addictions. Most of the time I do not stray from my tried and true recipes, but once in awhile I try something different and sometimes it’s a recipe from one of your books. My very favorite Thanksgiving dessert is my mother’s (alive and well at 93) Concord Grape Pie. It’s absolutely delicious and most people have never heard of it, let alone tasted it. If I can get my hands on some of those luscious grapes in the Pennsylvania area, I will be sure to make one for Thanksgiving this year for “the girls.”
I love your Blog!
Marianne
I did see this before and replied to it, I don’t know why it isn’t going through, but let’s try again! Thank you!
I am relatively new to the blog and today-WOW! Another surprise, Willard. Everyday I find something more. We have much to be thankful for, our son is not deployed and home for the holidays with the family.
My Mom has made two dishes of jello for Thanksgiving, lemon and lime with halved red grapes and shredded cabbage in the jello. She start ed making it to bring to my Grandmother’s Thanksgiving dinner back in the 1950’s. She said she read the recipe in a magazine and thought that my brothers & I would enjoy it. About 10 year ago, she didn’t make it and we all complained, so it’s still on our Thanksgiving menu. I just finished reading my first Willard and it was wonderful!
Welcome Debbie, thank you!
Looks like a great book,Susan! I enjoy reading your blog, given me lots of great ideas! Happy Thanksgiving, Rhonda
Oh dear, I responded and now I cannot see my name, so here I go again spouting off how wonderful this blog is and how you have fulfilled my life here in Illinois! I love Thanksgiving and all the traditions that go along with it. It was tough last year to eat Key Lime Pie in our Mid western household…. a relative thought she would switch things up a bit and bring Key Lime Pie. My kids were so looking forward to Pumpkin and Apple, and out came Key Lime…. they were very kind and ate it with a smile on their face, but let me know that I needed to make them ASAP pumpkin and Apple pie soon after!
Hope this one goes up, thank you for trying again!
HI!! First of all,I don’t know if it is quirky, but when I married into my husbands family I learned they do a cranberry salad. Cranberry sauce ( the whole berry kind and made from scratch), whipped cream and saltine crackers, layer upon layer in a trifle bowl….very pretty, very yummy, I cannot get enough of it. Can’t wait to have it next week.
Secondly, Susan, I need gravy help………….HELP……please!!!!
Thank you
Carie
LOL. I wrote kind of a long page about it in Autumn…It’s really easy once you get the hang of it. You need a rich stock. You can get that from drippings or you can make it ahead of time–by making stock. If you make it ahead, you can put it into the fridge and the fat will rise to the top, and you can just scrape it off. If you boil homemade stock down until it’s more concentrated, then thicken it by mixing a little flour with water and whisk it into the stock slowly. Then taste for seasonings. s and p. That’s basically it; bottom line is the richness of the stock. Hope this helps!!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The first time I cooked a turkey, I cooked it upside down. Everyone laughed, but everyone agreed it was wonderful. I found out years later that is how to have a turkey that is not dry. I was ahead of my time, ha, ha. I enjoy your blog. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Susan C.
Intrinsically brilliant!
Well…aren’t you the popular girl at the dance? I am so happy for you and we are just computer friends. Happy Happy Thanksgiving! Blessings to everyone in the coming holiday season and the coming New Year!
That is funny! Happy Thanksgiving to you too Vida!
Thanks for the heartwarming blog and Willard. Love to Girl Kitty and Jack too. (Seconded by daughter Elizabeth :3) Wishing you, your family and all the girlfriends a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Same to you Lisa and Elizabeth!!
Just like in “Dances With Wolves,” we definitely need to give YOU your own Native American nickname…how about “Dances With Doilies” or “One Who Irons Bread!”:) Though the one that would suit you best is…”She That Inspires!”
Happy Thanksgiving Susan!!
I love to go outside before Thanksgiving dinner, too! I go out to breathe deeply, to look through the windows to take that mind picture, and to thank the Lord for all that I call mine… and I do it on other feasting days as well. In fact, I love walking through my neighborhood enjoying the scenes through other windows, too. One time as I was passing a house everyone in the parlor stood, as if on cue, took a partner and started to dance. It was a wonderful picture that I still carry with me. I have no odd Thanksgiving food to report, but I’ve eaten Thanksgiving food in some odd places–it made it all vividly memorable. I still wish to do some out of the ordinary Thanksgiving celebrations–maybe next year.
I would LOVE to win this incredible book! Thank you so much for the opportunity!
Dearest Susan,
I just love, love, love the fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas! I come from a very “regular” family – no royalty in our bloodline. 🙂 I love to do the little extra’s like homemade invitations, lot’s of decorations – mostly homemade – placing ruffled leaf lettuce and candied crab apples under and around the turkey for presentation. However, THE best part of all is using my collection of delicate teacups that dissappointingly get very little use. Some of the tea cups came from my grandmother and some are treasures I have found at second-hand shops and yard sales. I make everyone drink from them, whether they have water, soda pop, milk, coffee or my favorite-hot tea! Now, I say I “MAKE” them drink from them, but really, no one questions it and I cannot tell you how sweet it is to see them all use them. Our “Harley Davidson” brother who’s 55 years old and always wears his worn, signature leather vest to every occassion (and we love him dearly-he’s a big teddy bear!!), to the 19 year old young men, the little ones and, yes, even grandpa drinks from the fragile, delicate, mostly pastel colored & flowered cups. 🙂 I watch as they sip and talk as if it’s the most natural thing! It’s wonderful!! And I really think they enjoy the little touch of “high class” dining…:-))
LOVE that!! What a smart idea!
I just noticed your new Christmas cards. How I wish (please, please, pretty please) you would bring back the beautiful “Christmas Joy” Christmas card design. I’m almost out of them. What shall I do? Oh boo hoo hoo !!
Looking into that Carol . . . but it couldn’t be for this year … no time to print!
Susan – How I love your blog! My husband knows to expect to hear the chirping of birds soon after I log into my computer each day. It always makes me happy to log on to your website or see a Willard in my mailbox.
Thanks for giving so much wonderment to us!
Have fun on your day off!!
Susan, I have the cute heart cast-iron pan like yours! My husband bought it at a garage sale, and it has never been used. Here is my sign! I will be making heart-shaped Lemon Pepper Tea Biscuits this weekend. The cookbook sounds wonderful. Happy Thanksgiving!
Many years ago we decided to go out for Thanksgiving dinner. Before the meal some of us ordered pumpkin bisque while others ordered seafood bisque. When the soups arrived, none of us could tell the difference! Were we eating pumpkin, or seafood? We never did figure it out and we still laugh about it today : )
I think the funniest Thanksgiving story I have ever heard came from a next door neighbor who was married in the 1950’s. She was making her first turkey and had asked her mother how to prepare it. The mother said, “Be sure you wash the bird before you start cooking.” And so Helen washed the turkey with soap and water and then hanged it on the clothesline to dry !!! I kid you not!
Thank-you for your beautiful Thanksgiving messages. The background music in each post is such a wonderful added touch. Thanks!
The things we do with our first turkey!!!
Wow, the cookbook sounds great. How exciting!
I never thought to get extra “parts” from which to make early gravy. Oh, I am so doing this.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
I got my very first WILLARD today!!! Needless to say, I ate it up! It was wonderful. Filled with so many goodies to read. I’ve saved it of course as I will all the rest, to try the different recipes and just feel all warm and cozy inside. Thanks so much!
You are so welcome Ellen!
Susan: Your art and words can brighten the darkest day (especially here in western PA) & thank you for the recipes & photos of your lovely home. I look forward to all of your posts. My birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, so I’m sure there will be birthday cake in there somewhere. Congratulations on the book & Happy Thanksgiving.
Jane
Happy Birthday Jane!
Well I finally made it back to VA from WI, stuffed with cheese curds, summer sausage and bakery unique to my childhood and I sit here catching up on all your blogs and the famous Willard. I guess you could call me a fat cat, which reminds me, Mr. Socks says HI to Jack. Yes Susan ~ you do make grill cheese sandwiches the correct way!!! Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich will keep me filled until all that Turkey and trimmings. We have a lot to be thankful for!!!
I love your Willards Susan! Thank you so much. And i would LOVE that cookbook as well 🙂
well, my friend susan (i DO feel like you’re my friend) –
you asked about quirky thanksgiving things…i love, love, love thanksgiving and besides the warmth & thankfulness & together-time, i love the tradition of it but here’s the weird thing…in all the traditional food, our family just never made gravy (can you imagine that?) i never really thought about it until the year my grandmother attempted to create a batch. it was thick – i’m talking like dough – and LAVENDER. no joke. my cousin had to take a picture because it was so stinkin ODD!!! how could she have possibly made that sort of concoction??? i don’t remember gravy after that…until i got married…my mother in law is a kansas farm girl and amazing cook and…she makes gravy. it became a staple from that day forward. anyway, when i think of it, i always snicker a little because my family was
so gravy-challenged:)
wishing you the happiest of thanksgivings!
Gravy seems to stump many. Once you get it though, it’s easy, right?
Congrats on 2 simultaneous publications! I’d like to see both–and last summer’s Where Women Create magazine, too.
I hope this isn’t a duplicate message; last time it didn’t think my email address was okay and blipped it away. I would be tempted to give up except for the cookbook! =)