There is only so much you can say about Thanksgiving in a blog about Santa so, having explained the importance of a harvest festival to a midwinter celebration, I am moving on to Plan B.  I picked out about twenty of my favorite vintage Thanksgiving postcards, most of the postmarked between 1907 and 1910, and five of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes.  I will post four cards and one recipe every day, although the posts remain up indefinitely.  I hope you like them.

The first recipe, which I borrowed from Emeril Lagasse, is for the best cranberry sauce ever made. If it is not as much as you want, you can double or triple the ingredients without any problem. 

Mix the following Ingredients a good sauce pan:

  • 2 cups cranberries
  • Juice and zest of one orange
  • 1/4 cup Ruby Port
  • 1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for a couple of hours.  Use potato masher to break up cranberries.

If it is not thick enough for your taste, simmer longer or add a tablespoon of cornstarch, mixed with water.  You can make and refrigerate two or three days in advance.