Seven Traditional-with-a-Twist Thanksgiving Desserts

Many years ago, while visiting a friend, we got to talking about the upcoming Christmas holiday. When I asked if she was planning a big holiday feast, she said not really, that she didn't think holidays "are just about the meal."  It was at that moment that I realized I had the opposite opinion -- all holidays are just about the meal, and really, little else. Raising our family in a Jewish-Catholic home, we celebrate all the holidays -- Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Passover, etc. without ever setting foot into a church or temple.  What distinguishes one holiday from another is the food.

Almost everyone would agree that Thanksgiving IS about the food.  And it's all about tradition, but let's face it, tradition can get a bit monotonous.  So today, I bring you a compendium of traditional-with-a-twist Thanksgiving recipes, almost all of them from handwritten recipe cards from the collections of early to mid-20th century American households.  (Just click on the titles to access the recipes.)

Apple Dumplings
A novel, but still traditional, apple pie alternative.

Pumpkin Pie Squares
For when you want the taste of pumpkin pie, but don't want to fuss with a crust.  This recipe also serves about 20 (as opposed to eight, like a pie).

Pumpkin Pie with Cream
A light and custard-y take on pumpkin pie.

Southern Spoon Corn Bread
A truly delicious side dish for your Thanksgiving table.

Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread
A lovely hostess gift and wonderful repository for any leftover fresh (or frozen) cranberries.

Creole Praline Pecan Bars
The most delicious alternative to pecan pie.  Not from a hand-written recipe, but it is old. And southern.

Perfect Pecan Pie
The best traditional pecan pie recipe out there. Modern, but delicious.

Southern Spoon Corn Bread

Despite the title of this vintage recipe card, I doubt this is a true southern spoon corn bread. But I have no doubt that it would be a delicious addition to anyone's Thanksgiving table this year.  True spoon bread is to be eaten with a spoon and is more of a souffle than a bread (at least according to the trusty internet).

This corn bread may look like typical corn bread, but it is very, very moist -- not typical at all of traditional corn bread. And despite the fact that it contains no corn, something about its texture fools the palate into thinking otherwise.  It also tastes fairly sweet, surprising since only a small amount of sugar is called for.

So if you want to add something new to your Thanksgiving meal this year (and who doesn't?), let's get started. This couldn't be easier to make.  Add boiling water to cornmeal and let it sit until cool.

Next, add the buttermilk, egg yolks, melted butter and the dry ingredients.

Blend together and then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour into a pan.  This is where it gets tricky.  The recipe cards says to use a pan where the batter is less than two inches deep.  Having had my cup batter runneth over recently, I opted for a 9 x 12 pan. My guess is using a smaller pan would result in the corn bread having a more pudding-like texture (and probably require a spoon to eat).

Production notes: I used melted butter for the fat, and supermarket buttermilk for the sour milk. I misread the recipe and used three eggs instead of two, which may have accounted for the extra moistness.