Thanks for Dinner: Side
The little piece on the side

Menus: By Decade

Recipes: By Type

Sides and all the Trimmings

The sides are among the most varied in Thanksgiving menus through time. They range from the classics (mashed potatoes), to the dated (creamed onions), to the incomprehensible (savory molded jellies), to the just plain bizarre (cottage cheese pineapple fritters?!?!). The sides seem to be where cooks can get creative, and the range of sides reflects that creativity. The argument could be made that stuffings (or dressings as they are called in some parts of the US) belong in breads. Or they could be included as part of the main course since traditionally, stuffings were cooked inside of the meat. This method is no longer recommended. As for the bread part, since I've never seen stuffings classified as a yeasted or quick bread, I've chosen to classify stuffings as a side.

Side Dish Recipes

1874: Cold Slaw
  • 1 head of cabbage
  • Vinegar
  • Salt
Take a small head of cabbage and remove the outer most 6-7 leaves. Cut off the stalk as close as possible, chop fine, and mix the chopped cabbage with vinegar until evenly coated. Salt to taste.
- Croly, Jane Cunninghame. Jennie June's American Cookery Book: Containing Upwards of Twelve Hundred Choice And Carefully Tested Receipts.... New York: American News Co., 1874.

1874: Boiled Onions
  • Onions
  • Butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Milk
Peel enough onions to comfortably fit in your pot. Boil water in the pot and add the onions to the boiling water. When they are fork tender, drain off the water and add salt and pepper to taste, butter, and a little bit of milk. Bring them just below a boil and send them to the table hot.
- Croly, Jane Cunninghame. Jennie June's American Cookery Book: Containing Upwards of Twelve Hundred Choice And Carefully Tested Receipts.... New York: American News Co., 1874.

1882: Chestnut Dressing
  • 3 cups chestnuts
  • 1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 3/4 cup melted butter
Cook chestnuts in salted water to cover until the shells can be removed. Mash and then add remaining ingredients.
- De Graf, Belle. The California Practical Cook Book. Oakland, Cal.: Pacific Press Pub. Co., 1882.

1882: Succotash
  • 1 cup cooked corn
  • 1 cup cooked string beans
  • 1 cup cooked lima beans
  • 1 tsp onion juice
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • Pinch of salt
Mix corn, string beans, and lima beans. Season with onion juice, butter, and salt.
- De Graf, Belle. The California Practical Cook Book. Oakland, Cal.: Pacific Press Pub. Co., 1882.

1882: Candied Sweet Potatoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • 3 tbsp butter, plus enough to butter the baking dish
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
Wash and boil until tender enough sweet potatoes to line the bottom of your baking dish. Drain, peel, and cut into halves, lengthwise. Arrange in a buttered baking dish. Make a syrup using the sugar, water, and 3 tbsps of butter. Pour over the sweet potatoes and bake at 350° until sweet potatoes are brown, about 30 minutes. Baste frequently.
- De Graf, Belle. The California Practical Cook Book. Oakland, Cal.: Pacific Press Pub. Co., 1882.

1882: Caramel Sweet Potatoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Butter
  • Brown sugar
  • Salt
  • Flour
  • Milk
Wash and boil until tender as many sweet potatoes as you want. Let cool, remove the skins, and slice into rounds. Butter your baking dish, put in a layer of sweet potatoes, a sprinkling of brown sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp of butter cut into small pieces, and 1 tbsp of flour. Add another layer of sweet potatoe slices and repeat toppings as directed above. Continue until all sweet potatoe slices have been used. Cover with milk and bake at 350° until brown. Do not let the sugar burn.
- De Graf, Belle. The California Practical Cook Book. Oakland, Cal.: Pacific Press Pub. Co., 1882.

1882: Baked Cream Squash
  • Cream squash
  • Salt
  • Butter
Cut a small cream squash in half. Remove the seeds and any fiber. Sprinkle with salt and dot with small bits of butter. Bake at 350° for around 45 minutes.
- De Graf, Belle. The California Practical Cook Book. Oakland, Cal.: Pacific Press Pub. Co., 1882.

1886: Parsnip Fritters
  • 2 medium parsnips
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk or cream
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
  • 3 tbsps flour, or more if needed
  • lard or fat for frying
Boil and mash smooth the parsnips. To this add the egg, milk or cream, melted butter, and enough flour to make a batter that will drop easily from a spoon. Drop by the spoonful into hot fat, drying until brown. Drain. Serve.
- Ballou's Monthly Magazine Boston, Mass.: Elliott, Thomes & Talbot, vol. 64, 1886.

1887: Carrots with Cream
  • 4-6 large carrots (about 4-6 cups)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper
Clean and peel carrots. Remove tops. Add carrots to a pot with enough water to cover. Boil in water until fork tender over medium-high heat. Once tender, drain, slice into disks, and add to a sauce pan with cream. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
- Chase, Alvin Wood. Dr. Chase's Third, And Last Complete Receipt Book And Household Physician. [Memorial ed.] Detroit, Mich.: F. B. Dickerson & co., 1887.

1887: Baked Beans
  • 1 qt of white beans
  • 2 qts water
  • 1 pound salt pork
Wash the beans, put them in a large pot with the 2 qts of water, and let soak overnight. In the morning pick out any bad ones. Put the large pot on the stove over medium-high heat, and boil them until the beans begin to crack open. Transfer the beans to a large, oven safe pan (such as cast iron or a dutch oven). Pour over them just enough of the bean water to cover them. Cut the rind of the salt pork into strips. Lay the strips over the beans in the pan, and press it down until it is almost even with the top of the beans. Cover. Bake in a 300-350° F oven for 4-5 hours.
- Chase, Alvin Wood. Dr. Chase's Third, And Last Complete Receipt Book And Household Physician. [Memorial ed.] Detroit, Mich.: F. B. Dickerson & co., 1887.

1888: French Peas
  • 2 cans French peas
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chicken stock
Open the cans of French peas and empty them into a strainer. Rinse with cold water. Now put them in a sauce pan with the butter, sugar, salt and chicken stock. Cook them on the stove on medium-high heat and let them boil rapidly for ten minutes. Place into a vegetable dish and serve.
- Good Housekeeping Holyoke, Mass.: C.W. Bryan, 1888.

1893: Potato Croquettes
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 5 cups mashed potatoes
  • 2 tbsps parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • 1 tsp onion juice
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 egg
  • Bread crumbs
In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks and then add in the mashed potatoes. Mix well. Add in parsley, cream, onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the bowl into a large sauce pan on medium-low and cook until the potato mixture is just heated through. Remove from the stove and let cool. Once cool, beat the egg in a bowl and pour the bread crumbs into a shallow dish. Heat a large amount of oil or lard to to just below it's smoke point. Form the cooked potato mixture into inch round balls, dip in the egg, and then roll in the bread crumbs. Fry the croquettes until brown.
The quanitity given is sufficient for twelve people.
- Table Talk. Philadelphia: Table Talk Publishing Company, vol. 8, 1893.

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