Ideas for Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Thanksgiving is all about tradition. The sweet potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie are all Thanksgiving traditional foods. And of course, the centerpiece, Tom turkey! But, for most of us, it is also a feast, filled with new and different foods. Here are five of the best side dishes my mother, June, made throughout the Thanksgiving dinners over the years.

This one is refreshing and fun and original. It is a twist on cole slaw and is just tart enough to make you sit up and take notice:

Waldorf Slaw Salad
Combine six cups of coarsely shredded green cabbage, bite-size chunks of a nice big apple, with the peel, and a half cup of raisins. Pour on a cup of slaw dressing and toss gently to coat everything. Chill to let the flavors blend. There are a variety of slaw dressings that can be obtained but MOM always liked Marzetti's. Before serving, garnish with more apples slices, dipped in lemon juice to prevent browning and ¼ cup chopped walnuts. You can, of course, get creative and add other ingredients of your own liking-but this was one of the great recipes and favorites that went over big each year at our house.

Green Bean Casserole

I know you are laughing, but let's face it, what would Thanksgiving be without Green Bean Casserole.

Ingredients
1 (10 ¾ ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup milk
1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (3-ounce) can French -fried onions, divided
2 tablespoons pimientos
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 (9-ounce) packages frozen French-cut green beans, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine the soup, milk, mushrooms, half the onion rings, pimientos, and black pepper in a large bowl and mix well.
3. Combine green beans and half the soup mixture in a medium bowl and mix well. Spoon into a 1 ½ quart baking dish. Top with remaining soup mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining onion rings. Bake until browned, about 5 minutes.

For a kick, add ½ cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

One year I attended a meeting close to Thanksgiving. All of the women were talking about the dinners they were preparing and how they were overburdened with the work. One woman stated that she had repeatedly asked her sister-in-law to bring a dish. Last year the sister-in -law had said she would bring something with green beans. The woman just knew she would bring a green bean casserole. When the sister-in-law arrived with a can of green beans she was speechless. So was I. I laugh every time I think about this story. The image of this woman walking in with a can of green beans is, well, priceless!
Here is one of the best dishes my mother made on Thanksgiving.

Black Forest Cake
Ingredients
1-18 oz devil's food cake mix
2 1 oz cherry pie filling
1 tsp almond flavoring
1-5.1 oz pkg of vanilla instant pudding
2 tbsp vanilla extract
8 oz Whipped Topping
2 tbsp chocolate sprinkles
Maraschino cherries

Directions:
Bake cake according to directions in 9" x 13" x 2" pan. Mix pie filling and almond flavor. While cake is still warm, poke top with fork and spread cherry filling over cake. While cake cools, prepare pudding, adding extra vanilla flavoring. Fold in Whipped Topping. Spread pudding mixture over cake, carefully covering cherry pie filling. Decorate with chocolate sprinkles and maraschino cherries. Cover and refrigerate.

Serves 10-12

Authors Note* If you are not sick from all the other food you have eaten up to this point - I can promise you -this will finish off the job! It is so rich!

And last, but not least:

Holiday Fruited Waldorf Mold

2 cans (30 oz) fruit cocktail 1/3 cup slivered almonds
4 cups apples 1 cup dairy sour cream
2 cups celery ¼ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup chopped parsley ½ tsp. salt
2/3 chopped green onions 1 tsp lemon juice

Drain fruit cocktail well. In large bowl combine fruit cocktail, apples, celery, parsley, green onions, and almonds. In separate bowl, mix together dairy sour cream, mayonnaise, salt, and lemon juice. Toss dressing with fruit mixture. Turn into 10-cup mold and pack well. Chill several hours or overnight. Unmold onto lettuce-lined platter and serve.

This is a swell Thanksgiving dessert and pretty good-looking too. The colors are beautiful and remind you that Christmas is just around the corner. These are just a few of the no-fail Thanksgiving recipes that my mother, June Diehm, accumulated over the years and we got to taste each one. I hope you enjoy them like we have.