Tap Grandma's Brain, Boys and Girls, for Frugal Thanksgiving (and other holiday) Ideas

It's a no-brainer. Most of us are feeling at least a few twinges of economical strife, and as the holidays grow closer we're faced with turkey dinners, entertaining guests and coming up with gifts.

WWGD? What would Grandma do? If you're a baby boomer like me, you should recall how Grandma handled the holidays. After all, she lived through the Great Depression when there were no EBT cards or the countless programs available today for those down on their luck. When Grandma was down on her luck she relied only upon the kindness of family members and good neighbors.

I was blessed to have both of my grandmothers throughout my entire childhood and for a good portion of my adult life as well. One has been gone for a decade and one for almost 7 years. I even knew my great-grandmother quite well, although she passed more than 30 years ago. So while I can't literally tap Grandma's brain for her frugal Thanksgiving or other holiday ideas, I can draw on my memories of how things were absolutely wonderful when there wasn't much money around. Even better, I am the heir to not one, but three amazing recipe boxes; filled to the brim with homemade delights that precede not just the Great Depression, but the turn of the century....the 20th one!

So as I figurately tap the brains of my late grandmothers, I find that they would make do quite nicely with what they had available. If there wasn't money for two choices of fine wine to serve at the Thanksgiving table, they would simply serve ice water in the shiniest, prettiest goblets they owned. They'd raise their glasses high after saying a blessing over their dinner, and proudly acknowledge the many things they did have...like the loved ones gathered around their tables.

They wouldn't serve elaborate appetizers before Thanksgiving dinner, because...after all, it would be a sin to ruin appetites before sitting down to such a wonderful meal. Their pies would be apple from the trees out back (or those of their neighbor's; the ones who let the apples fall and rot...Grandma wasn't too proud to ask) and pumpkin from the dented can sale at the grocery store that they found and shelved in August. But they would be absolutely delicious pies, and everyone would have seconds.

The vegetables wouldn't be fresh from the natural food market, but would come from shelves downstairs in the cool cellar; harvested from the small gardens they lovingly tended in their small yards.

Grandma wouldn't have spent a hundred dollars on new linens for her table at Macy's the week before Thanksgiving. Instead she'd have pulled her old ones from the drawer in the dining room or kitchen; the same ones she lovingly spent two days soaking and scrubbing by hand the year before, after Uncle Mort spilled cranberry sauce on the hem. And when it didn't completely come out it became a source of remembrance years after Uncle Mort had passed on.

If all this is sounding trite, you've missed the point. No, we don't all have yards in which we can plant gardens. If I tried to plant a vegetable garden (and I have; I've honestly tried!) it would wither up and die as soon as the seeds sprouted. We don't all have time to preserve the vegetables if we did grow them. But we do all have the ability to stop and slow down and observe the Thanksgivings, Christmases and other holidays of our grandmothers before us, and note the simplicity and goodness that was present at those tables.

And even more importantly, we have a choice we can make right now. We can keep up with the elaborate spreads on the covers of gourmet magazines or we can offer what we can easily afford; making it the very best we can, and sharing it with those we love.

So tap Grandma's brain, boys and girls. Read her recipes, scour the recesses of your minds for the memories, and start the holiday season off on the right foot; not the one that's pinched and struggling to stay atop the ill-fitting Manolo Blahnik! (Try the one in the old worn house slipper....it's far more becoming, and shows a little humility, too!)

Kimberly Ripley is a freelance writer and published author from New Hampshire. She treasures her memories of both her grandmothers and great-grandmother, and works diligently to replicate their holidays in her own humble home with her husband, five children, and two grandchildren. Visit Kim's web site at http://www.kimberlyripleywrites.com.