Thanksgiving is a time-honored American tradition. The holiday is often celebrated eating a great home-cooked meal, surrounded by family and friends. It includes gathering in the kitchen in the morning to make that pumpkin pie or prepare the turkey while creating memorable moments.
When you’re congregated in the kitchen making all the side dishes and trimmings, have you ever stopped to think about how Thanksgiving dinner was made in your grandma’s kitchen? While some things never go out of style, kitchen appliances have come a long way… which is something we should all be thankful for.
In grandma’s kitchen, you had the feeling of being home. There was love and warmth around every corner. You also knew you were going to get a hearty home-cooked meal; not taking seconds was a serious offense. During after-dinner clean up, dishes had to be washed and dried by hand, which was no fun at all.
The day after the big feast probably involved some Black Friday shopping and then maybe cleaning the oven; after all, the oven just had its biggest day of the year. Back then, ovens were cleaned manually (or “womanually”). This involved spraying the oven with toxic cleaners, letting it soak, putting on rubber gloves, then mopping dirty toxic sludge out with rags. (Don’t forget to open the windows to let the toxic fumes out.)
Speaking of the cleaning your Grandma had to do, we would be remiss not to mention the nasty task of defrosting the refrigerator. This task included emptying the fridge and freezer, storing everything in coolers, letting the fridge warm up, and then chipping the ice out of the freezer with a steel spatula. Once the cleaning was completed, you could finally put the food back.
Today’s kitchen is not your Grandma’s – now, you can fit your unique personality into Thanksgiving without giving up the modern conveniences. Much like their original 1950s counterparts, retro fridges today offer customized shades and a range of styles to choose from. The outside may look foreign to those of the millennial generation, but its features are not.
Here are just a few bells and whistles to expect:
- Self-cleaning ovens
- Convection ovens for faster, even, precise baking and broiling
- Programmable ovens for baking and self-clean
- Warmer drawers
- Frost-free fridges
- Ice makers
- Large functional freezers
- Filtered cold water dispensers
It’s fun to look back to the days of June Cleaver, when evenings only consisted of the family dinner and the fellowship around the table was the most important part of the day; and Thanksgiving dinner perhaps the most important meal of the year. The innovation of modern technology in kitchen appliances has helped preparing Thanksgiving dinner come into the 21st century, but some things like the warmth and love of family and friends while eating great food will never go out of style.