Victorians loved to celebrate Thanksgiving, and nothing was dearer to their hearts than a traditional Thanksgiving feast, including turkey with all the trimmings.

The tradition of serving a Thanksgiving turkey for the holiday began almost as soon as Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

The Thanksgiving turkey was served as a nod to the early Pilgrims and settlers who relied on wild turkey as one of their primary sources of food when they arrived in the new world. The earliest recipes for turkey dinners usually included traditional dressing (or stuffing) ingredients like stale bread, corn meal, and seasonings.

During the Victorian era, however, cooks became more creative. Thanksgiving turkey might be stuffed with chestnuts and dried cranberries, oysters, sausage, or various fruits. Since refrigeration of any kind was still a luxury few had, stuffing tended to vary depending upon what was locally fresh.

Victorians always enjoyed a lavish banquet, but they were also frugal. After the Thanksgiving turkey dinner had been eaten– they ate plenty of leftovers, just like we do today. Victorian cookbooks and magazines contained recipes such as “Deviled Turkey,” “Turkey in Savory Jelly,” and “Thanksgiving Turkey Pot Pie” for dressing up the remains of the Thanksgiving meal to be served on Friday.

If you would like to serve an authentic Victorian Thanksgiving dinner, look for older stuffing recipes from the era. You should also ask your grandmother or other older relatives – they may have some recipes that have been handed down for generations.

Use local, seasonal vegetables for your side dishes. This could be potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, or carrots. If you live in a coastal area, oyster soup or stuffing would be perfect.

And of course, you can’t serve a Thanksgiving turkey without finishing the meal with another Victorian favorite – pumpkin pie

Old Fashioned PUMPKIN PIE-
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 c. pumpkin
1/2 c. reg. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

With mixer or blender, mix above ingredients. Pour into prepared pie crusts and bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes. Makes two pies.

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