Thanksgiving Dinner 2025 Making Family Traditions

 This Thanksgiving was a true blessing, especially in a time of turbulence. Across the United States, citizens were impacted by the government using the poor and underprivileged as pawns on a chessboard. However, the American people found ways to support the poor by donating to food lockers and other points of distribution. I'd like to thank Mather Market Basket for their generous donation of a Thanksgiving turkey and a top box of fresh produce. Now I belong to this community for older adults.

I had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at my son's home, Herbert E. Raney Jr's, down in Mascoutah, Illinois. He made his famous soul food,  good luck greens, and a glazed ham with sweet corn bread. So delicious. I even froze my greens enough so that I can have them for Sunday Dinner during December. Oh my goodness, even the Pot Liquor (Likker) you can make into a Soup. 

"This is as Southern as it gets.  Take your time, and try not to take shortcuts; do not go for the quicker route by using canned products and prepackaged greens. You have to go through the ritual of picking and washing your greens, boiling the hamhock until it falls off the bone, and you have to seriously make the pot likker, using bacon grease, and other vegetables (onions, garlic, red bell peppers).  Serve with nice, thick slices of cornbread.

Ingredients

(16 ounce) package fresh collard greens, mustard, turnip greens chopped, lbs ham steaks, chopped, tablespoons hot sauce, tablespoons bacon grease, medium onions, chopped, garlic cloves, minced, celery, red pepper, (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth (you can use your own stock if you'd like), cups water, tablespoon white vinegar, teaspoon salt. The trick is to let the greens simmer until tender but not overcooked.  For non-pork eaters, you can put your smoked turkey, olive oil, and season to taste with veggies and broth.

Brown Sugar Honey Glazed Baked Ham

Glazed ham is one of the easiest holiday main dishes to make. You’re starting with a baked or smoked ham, which is already cooked, so the hard work is done. And the ham glaze couldn’t be simpler or any more delicious. For this recipe, you’ll gently warm the ham in the oven, then crank up the heat and brush on the glaze so it turns sticky, shiny, and caramelized. It’s an easy process, and your guests will be so impressed.  Make the glaze: While the ham bakes, combine ¼ cup of apple juice with the brown sugar, honey, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, pepper, and allspice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until syrupy, 5 to 8 minutes. As it simmers, stay close and lower the heat if the mixture begins to bubble up to close to the top of the saucepan.

Glaze the ham: When the ham reaches 115°F (46°C), increase the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C). Brush the ham generously with glaze and roast, uncovered, for 40 minutes, brushing with more glaze every 10 minutes.

This year, I added pecan slices on top of this sweet potato pie. Some of the potatoes were donated, and I added another bag of sweet potatoes, so I was able to make four pies.  I use the recipe from Iron Pots, and Wooden Spoons by Jessica Harris. A tried and true recipe, more buttery than too sweet. Whether you serve this traditional sweet potato pie as part of your holiday dessert spread or as one of your side dishes at a true Southern feast, it's sure to have you and your guests coming back for more. My Southern sweet potato pie recipe features a silky-smooth and creamy texture thanks to evaporated milk, Borden's condensed sweet milk, and a stick of butter, perfectly balancing out the subtle spice of ground nutmeg and pure vanilla extract.  I bake my sweet potatoes instead of boiling them, adding eggs, brown sugar creamed, and folding them into the potato mixture.  I also bake the pie shells, and then add the filling and back in the oven at 325 degrees.  I also like to roll out and add crust decor to the edges so that the pie shell doesn't burn. 

Pg 169 for the best Sweet Potato Pie Recipe.

My appetizers were pickled deviled eggs made with fresh, farmed eggs from a small farmer in Mascuthah. I used regular mayonnaise and hot mayonnaise for color, sprinkled cayenne pepper on top, and finished with green and black olives.

Vegetable Tray with assorted green and black olives. 

Growing up, my mother always set out a tray for us to snack on while she was making the Thanksgiving dinner, of black olives, green olives, and pickles. We grew up in  West Fresno, California, on Lemon Avenue.  My parents bought the house from an Armenian family, Fresno, where early in the settlement by Armenians.  Our street was lined with olive trees, and in our yard, we also had pomegranate trees. My step-father, John C. Laney, would cure the olives in a lye bath; needless to say, we had an abundance of olives. Olives that are fresh off the tree are quite bitter, so they must be cured to remove the bitterness and make them more palatable. 

My daughter, Jazmin Bruton Davis, recently showcased her culinary talents by preparing a delightful feast for 2025 Thanksgiving. At my request, she made a pan of smothered turkey wings that were melt-in-your-mouth tender, alongside a pan of jerked turkey wings cooked by her friends, Chef Andre and Tasha. To complement the main dishes, she whipped up a creamy mashed potato salad that paired perfectly with her mac and cheese. The feast also featured a pan of savory dressing, bursting with flavors of herbs and spices, as well as sweet, syrupy candied yams, mustard greens, and an apple crumble cheese cake. 

Jazmin has always had a passion for cooking during the holidays, honing her skills in the kitchen since she was just ten years old. Growing up in the warm environment of Mother Bessie’s house, where she spent her first thirteen years, she was fortunate to have a grandmother who encouraged her culinary endeavors. Mother Bessie would let her assist in baking and glazing splendid lemon cakes, instilling in her the joy of cooking. Over the years, Jazmin has mastered various recipes and developed a deep familiarity with the kitchen, igniting her desire to take the reins and host our Thanksgiving meals in the future.

Grandma's Cornbread Dressing

1 cup self-rising cornmeal, I used  Goya Harina de Maiz, finely ground, 1/2 cup self-rising flour, I used all-purpose bleached flour, 3/4 cup evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Dressing Ingredients
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
3 medium onions, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 pieces of toast, crumbled
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients for cornbread. Pour into a lightly greased 9-inch cast-iron pan or a 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Before using, crumble it into small pieces.
3. Heat butter over medium heat in a large pan. Add celery and onion, and cook until they are soft.
4. Add sage, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper to the onion mixture.
5. In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread and toast.
6. Whisk together milk and eggs and add to the bowl. Could you stir in 2 cups of chicken broth?
7. Stir in the onion mixture. The mixture should be very moist. Please add more broth if needed.
8. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Cut butter into tiny slivers and scatter on top of the dressing.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until it turns light brown on top.

Recipe Notes
Note: The cornbread should be made a day or two in advance. And the veggies should be cut up in advance, so all you have to do is combine all ingredients and put them into the oven on Thanksgiving morning.

Recipe Notes for Cured Olives Lye Bath: By Tracy Ariza, DDS, November 13, 2021

Water-cured olives are generally smashed or sliced before soaking in water to reduce the cure time. (It still generally takes around a week to remove the bitterness.) Whole olives would take much, much longer. By curing the olives in lye, the cure time for whole olives is greatly reduced. Lye curing is also more effective at removing bitterness. Lye cures some of them, and water or salt cures the rest of the olives.

Ingredients

To make lye-cured olives, you’ll need a batch of green ripe olives. You’ll also need some lye (also known as caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, or NaOH). While some people successfully cure their olives with lye found in the cleaning section and sold as drain cleaner, I prefer to use food-grade lye. (If you do use lye from the cleaning section, make sure that it only includes lye and no other chemical additives.) Apart from the lye and the olives, you’ll need some filtered (unchlorinated) water. You’ll also need some salt for brining the olives after curing them in lye. This will add flavor and will help preserve the olives.

For added flavor, you can optionally add some herbs, spices, garlic, and/or vinegar. You should also have some olive oil on hand to pour over the surface of the brined olives to keep them from being exposed to air. (This will prevent mold formation.)