Over the past week or so our unusually warm and sunny autumn has given way to freezing temperatures and the occasional dusting of snow. Winter is clearly on its way. And Thanksgiving is almost here, the great American holiday where tastes and aromas can connect us to the past.

Many Thanksgiving celebrations will be centered around a big family meal featuring favorite traditional dishes, many of which only seem to appear on the fourth Thursday in November (with, perhaps, an encore appearance in late December).¹ These Thanksgiving foods do more than stuff us with tasty calories. These holiday dishes often connect us to our own family and community history, sometimes in ways that are more immediate, nostalgic, and powerful than almost any other. Just as Proust had his madeleine, Americans have…green bean casserole. And apples.

Historic apple varieties, Brightonwoods Orchard, Burlington, Wisconsin. Photo credit Reed Perkins, 2022.