A Huntington Family Thanksgiving

Published by nancyarmitage

Hi! I'm a writer, food & menu blogger of the Huntington Family History. I love Gilded Age menus & gourmet recipes. I am a fine artist/painter, journal-er, gardener, & a herbalist. View all posts by nancyarmitage

Arabella Huntington, Collis P. Huntington, food, Gilded Age, H. E. Huntington, Henry Huntington, holidays, recipe, recipes, San Marino Ranch, thanksgiving

by Nancy Armitage

Stunning Yellow & Orange & Yellow /Orange Blended Roses from my Rose Garden. They make a lovely flower arrangement for the Thanksgiving table or in the Living Room. Colorful roses Like “Judy Garland” or “Perfect Moment” roses (above); I call them “multi-color” roses. Often, I place a flower arrangement on a cake plate to elevate it, much more showy. Mrs. Arabella Huntington had an abundance of yellow, orange & rusts multi-color roses & flowers to decorate in the Thanksgiving season. During your Thanksgiving meal, you could always remove the flower arrangement (if too high) from the table so the guests can see each other. For simplicity, just have 3-5 roses in several small low vases down the Dining-Room table. Photo Credit: Nancy Armitage

Sadly, I never found a “Thanksgiving Menu” of the Huntington Family. I know that Mrs. Arabella Huntington’s & her son, Archer Thanksgiving dinner menu would have leaned towards Southern cuisine. I did find some invoices (November & December) & recipes they could have been used for the Huntington Thanksgiving & Christmas festivities. In the 1880’s-1890’s, the Collis & Arabella Huntington’s most-likely spent Thanksgiving at Throgg’s Neck “Huntington’s Homestead” estate (by the seaside) or at their New York Mansion at No. 2 57th St. NYC. But, there were times that Archer & his 1st wife Helen Huntington, hosted the Huntington Family Thanksgiving Dinner.

A photograph of Collis & Arabella Huntington’s “Family Dining-Room” at their No. 2. East 57th Street Mansion in NYC. They could have had Thanksgiving in this Family Dining-Room or there large Dining- Room or “East Salon” (24 guests). It looks like they could have fit about 8 guests around this table. I found this picture, published in Architectural Record in 1903, when Mrs. Arabella Huntington was a widow.

In the 1890’s, when Archer Huntington (Arabella Huntington’s son) was married to his 1st wife, Helen Gates Huntington, they hosted Thanksgiving Dinner [Huntington Woods now – Pelham Bay]. In 1922 &1923, The H. E. Huntingtons – “Arabella & Edwards” (HEH) were at the San Marino Ranch in Southern California.

Wedgewood Quail & Turkey plates. Some Wedgewood Turkey plates have gold on the rim & filigree with gold. So many companies like Royal Stafford have a Turkey pattern plates. What did Mrs. Arabella Huntington use for her Thanksgiving plate ware? She had so many choices; she did collect Wedgewood, it is not clear which pattern she collected. She also had mass quantities of gold & white plates. She owned elegant English Royal Crown Derby plates. She could have gone the elegant route with French Havilland or her French Limoges – gold & white plates, that could also have been an lovely option for her Thanksgiving table..

In America, many Thanksgiving dinners are served in the afternoon or early evening its such a large meal. Often, the guests have a light lunch or no lunch, because of the big feast ahead. So the hostess is smart to put out some yummy nibbles for hungry guests.

“Judy Garland” orange & yellow multi-color roses, perfect rose for a Thanksgiving flower arrangement! They were very prolific that year in the full sun (San Gabriel Valley), there must have been 50 roses on this plant blooming at the same time. Fertilizing every month & dead heading helps promote this abundance of roses. Photo Credit: Nancy Armitage

Appetizers on Thanksgiving Day:

Passed appetizers on silver trays, (doily-lined) & a Thanksgiving paper cocktail napkin.

Classic Deviled Eggs (on a oval 12-section egg plate)

Mrs. Huntington’s Roquefort Puffs (simple recipe: mixture of mayo, parmesan cheese, minced onion, crumbled Roquefort cheese, spread this mixture to bread 1 1/2″ round use cookie cutter. Using butter knife or baby spoon spread the cheese mixture top of the bread. Place cheese round on cookie sheet. Bake on cookie sheet for 425 for 15 mins. until golden brown ) Serve on a doily-lined silver tray.

Southern Sausage Balls with a toothpick

Bowl of nuts like walnuts, pecans, almonds, & pistachios

Southern Fried Okra with spicy Mayonnaise Sauce or French Aioli

Toasted or sauteed Slivered Almonds in a bowl

Southern Hush puppies (fried Sausage, onion, cornmeal, & cheese & Herb ball with Cajun seasoning)

A stunning abundance of Autumnal colored trees on the East coast of America.

In the 1880’s & 1890’s, in the Gilded Age, they had 8-16 courses dinners. Especially on large & festive occasions like banquets & holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years. Elegant meals especially at New York’s Delmonico’s restaurant or private clubs or fancy hotels, this menu could have been served.

Gilded Age Turkey plates by Royal Stafford, this one in front with pumpkins on the rim, very Autumnal & perfect for a Thanksgiving Dinner. Table set with a gold Damask table cloth, celadon green Damask napkins & Waterford glasses. The table is decorated with fancy glass pumpkins, glass turkeys & mercury gold candle votives. Photo Credit: Nancy Armitage

A typical Thanksgiving Dinner during the Gilded Age would have started with Blue Point Oysters or Oyster soup or Light Consommé or Bouillon, Fish course: Whitebait or Red Snapper. Roasted Turkey with Giblet Gravy, Oyster Dressing or Corn Bread & Sausage Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato & Marshmallow casserole, Ham or Leg of Lamb too, Giblet Gravy, Cranberry Relish with mandarin orange, Game like Duck, Quail or Pheasant or Chicken, French Petit Pois or French Green Beans with Toasted Slivered Almonds, Squash, Cheese Course with Grapes & Fruits, Waldorf Salad, Desserts like Sweet Potato pie, Apple pie, Mincemeat Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan pie served with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Petit Pecan Tarts , Chocolate BonBon (French truffles), Fancy Cakes & Coffee, Autumnal Nuts, & Candies.

Mr. Henry E. Huntington (Arabella)’s Huntington Mansion Dining-Room at the San Marino Ranch. Which is now the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Mrs. Arabella Huntington enjoyed entertaining 6 or 12 guest for luncheon & formal dinners. Photo Credit: Nancy Armitage

Southern Huntington Thanksgiving Dinner Menu:

Compiled from Huntington menus & invoices & other seasonal dinners:

Huntington “Champagne Punch” and Roquefort Puffs (served to guests)

Raw Shucked Oysters to start with Mignonette Sauce

Soup: Oyster soup, or New Orleans Gumbo

Appetizers: Canapes Lorenzo (Spicy Crab Canape) , Victorian Cheese Sticks

Relish dish: Queen Olives, Toasted Almonds, & Celery sticks

Fish Course: Crab Cake Balls or Crab Puffs

Entrée Course: Roasted Turkey (San Marino Ranch) with Giblet Gravy served with Moet & Chandon Champagne

Southern Oyster Herb Stuffing with sausage, onions & celery, with savory herbs & oysters (maybe bacon & scallions)

or Southern Cornbread & Savory Sausage stuffing with onions & celery with cornbread made with buttermilk sage, thyme & to moisten chicken stock & milk

Sweet Potato Casserole with brown sugar or Marshmallows & chopped Pecans on top

French Green Beans with Almonds & Bacon or French Bean Casserole

Garlic Mashed Potatoes or “Mashies” (Mashed Potato Casserole with garlic, cream cheese, sour cream & topped with bread crumbs & parmesan cheese & baby chives)

Creamed Spinach with onions & garlic, heavy cream & cream cheese topped with Parmesan cheese or

Southern Collard Greens or Southern Sautéed Mustard Greens with scallions, oil, & red chili flakes or cayenne

Best Corn Casserole with creamed corn & corn muffin mix, eggs, milk, & heavy cream, paprika & chives [Mrs. Pickett’s Corn Pudding – Civil War recipe – Mr. Huntington had a copy of her recipe in his SMR desk- in small office]

Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

Cranberry sauce or “Cranberry relish” (Cranberries minced with mandarin orange, walnuts, ginger and apples)

Homemade Southern Buttermilk Biscuits or Parkerhouse Rolls served with sweet honey butter

Salad: San Marino Tomato Aspic with Baby Shrimp

Desserts: American Pumpkin Pie, Southern Sweet Potato Pie, Apple pie, & petit Mincemeat tarts

Southern Pecan pie, or Petit Pecan Tassies (Petit pecan tartlette)

After-dinner Liqueurs: Crème de Menthe & Soda Water/Ginger ale (great digestive)

Wedgewood Autumnal plateware, perfect for Thanksgiving, elegant with the gold filigree. Mrs. Huntington collected Wedgewood plates, pattern unknown. Turkey plates is a fun collection of plates to collect for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Cranberry Relish recipe

Any portions works. This is so delicious & refreshing relish; make the day before Thanksgiving to let the flavors mingle.

grated apple (Granny Smith)

grated fresh Cranberries or blend in ninja blender

orange zest & juice to moisten

pecans or walnuts, minced

mandarin oranges, chopped

fresh ginger, grated

In a bowl, mix all together & refrigerate overnight.

Mrs. Arabella Huntington collected stunning Royal Crown Derby Plate ware, pattern unknown. These Royal Crown Derby English plates would be so ornate & elegant for a formal Huntington Thanksgiving table.

Huntington Thanksgiving Tea Party (Belle’s No. 2 Mansion, NYC) or “At-Home” tea gathering were held at the Huntington Mansion on Tuesdays at No. 2. Information from a Mr. H. E. Huntington’s gourmet food market below. Between November & early December (1919), there were a lot of tea goodies ordered for the H. E. Huntington household at No. 2 NYC. The Huntington Invoice is below from Park & Tilford Gourmet Market.

This was the larger of the 2 Huntington Dining-Rooms in the Huntington’s Mansion in NYC, called the “State Dining-Room”. This would have been the Dining- Room table used for over 8 guests to 24 guests. These Fancy Louis XV Dining chairs were green unlike the Vanderbilts red chairs. Mrs. Huntington decorated her Dining-Room in green & gold. Collis & Arabella built this NYC mansion, she used it when she was a widow in 1900, & when she married Henry E. Huntington in 1913. She could have had many receptions or “At-Homes” tea parties & large formal luncheons or dinners in this room. It is called a “State Dining-Room” because the Huntingtons entertained US presidents (Grant, Roosevelt, & Taft) in this very room. At the time, the only other, “State Dining-Room”in the USA was in the White House in Washington, DC.

Thanksgiving Teaparty Menu:

Huntington Tea Blend (India & Ceylon mix = Orange Pekoe ) or Pkg. of 5 o’clock tea blend (1900’s)

Mrs. Huntington Thanksgiving Champagne Punch with Apple Cider & Welch’s Grape drink with Champagne with cinnamon sticks & sweet spices (Adults)

Children’s Sparkling Martinelli’s Apple Cider (with sliced oranges & lemons & floating on top in a large punch bowl)

Nut Bowl: Virginia Peanuts, Walnuts, & Pecans in bowls with nut crackers

Jordan’s Almonds in a footed silver bowls (a favorite of Mrs. Huntington)

Tea Sandwiches: Deviled Egg Salad Sandwiches, Chicken Salad, Cranberry & Turkey Sandwiches, Salmon Pate, Pimento & Cheese, Bread & Butter Tea Sandwiches, Sardine Tea Sandwiches (popular in the 1920’s), McLaren Cheese Sandwiches. Laid out on a doily-lined Gorham silver flat rectangular tray, covered with moist paper towel so they don’t dry out.

Southern Pimento Cheese & Bacon Sandwiches: Fry some bacon & set aside. In a bowl, add cream cheese & mayonnaise with pimentos chopped, minced black olives, walnuts & grated cheese & bacon. Spread on bread or bread rounds to make a canape with dill snip on top.

Cream Scones with Currants or Orange zest or Buttermilk Biscuits with Raspberry Jam & Strawberry Jam & Orange Marmalade (SMR), with small bowls of Lemon Curd & Devonshire Cream

Irish-layered Trifle: Lady Finger or pound cake, Cream or Tapioca, chocolate pudding, hot house strawberries or berries or mandarin oranges, whipped cream, & minced nuts & chocolate shavings on top

Ambrosia Fruit Salad with apple, bananas, dried apricots, walnuts, mandarin oranges, in whipped cream or marshmallow cream

Cranberry Relish: grated cranberries, apple & ginger, with mandarin oranges, pecans or walnuts, orange juice (over apples so they won’t brown) & orange zest.

Brandied Peaches in a pretty fine china bowl with a small baby spoon to be served with pies or any dessert.

Fromage or Cheese course: Brie, Camembert served with dried apricots and grapes, served with Afternoon water crackers.

Huntington Petit Desserts: Opera Cake, Petit fours, small round vanilla cakes with chocolate frosting or ganache

Afternoon Tea Cookies or Tea Bisquits: “Butter thins” cookies, Arrowroot Crackers, French Beurre Butter Cookies, Tea Wafers, Bonnie Doone biscuits, Vanilla Wafers

Chocolate Bon Bons on Silver Bon-bon dishes (Chocolate truffle and peppermint from Huylers NYC)

Park and Tilford Gourmet Market: this was their H.E. & Arabella Huntington Market bill for the period of November 30,, 1919 to December 14, 1919

Royal Punch (1899)

At that time, high society emulated English royalty, especially Arabella Huntington. She was very fond of French Queen Marie Antoinette & French Empress Eugenia (from Spain). Recipes posted in magazines for “Royal Punch” or “Prince of Wales Tea” became quite a inspired fad in America. Personally, the calf’s foot jelly would have turned me off.

“Put a quarter of a lb. (1/4 lb.) of double refined sugar [super-fine sugar] in large lumps into a bowl & with it 2 limes & a thin slice of fresh lemon. With a bruiser, rub the sugar & the fruit well together, then mix thoroughly with 2 glassful of calf’s foot jelly in a hot state. Take brandy, rum, arrack,& curacoa [orange liqueur] in equal quantities & stir them into the preparation. When thoroughly mixed, add a pint of boiling green tea & serve hot. The quantity of spirits must be regulated by taste, 1/2 pint of each will generally be found sufficient. ” Rare book: Cassell’s Dictionary of Cookery (1899) Huntington Library San Marino, CA Nancy Note: “Arrack” is similar to rum, but it is distilled from fermented sugarcane, coconut flowers, grains, or fruit.

Published by nancyarmitage

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