At Thanksgiving, I think it is nice to serve foods that were produced locally, that reflect New England traditions, and that preferably originate in our household. In Sarah Josepha Hale‘s novel Northwood, a chapter is given up to describing the family’s Thanksgiving feast. The matriarch takes pride and pleasure in pointing out which foods on the table were made at home.

Rhubarb is one of the most local foods you can serve, especially if you have it in your own garden. Of course by Thanksgiving it will not still be producing stalks, but many rhubarb products can still be on your table.

1] At breakfast, serve a traditional cornbread slathered with Rhubarb Jam. How about a Rhubarb Coffee Cake or Quick Bread?

2] At the dinner table, serve a Rhubarb-Onion Relish along side the usual cranberry sauce.

3] Surprise your guests with a Rhubarb Wine as a dinner beverage. If you didn’t make your own, you might find some producers on line who ship to New Hampshire. Make sure that you get a drier wine for dinner, since sweeter wines are better suited for dessert.

4] Serve Rhubarb Baked Beans as a side dish at dinner or for an easy-to-prepare dinner the night before.

5] For dessert — what else?! — Rhubarb pie, made from frozen Rhubarb or put into the freezer assembled but unbaked last Summer.

6] The next day, Rhubarb Pie for breakfast, and a Rhubarb relish on your turkey sandwich.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your’s!

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on December 16, 2025. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.