Why do I always make sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving dinner? And why do grocery stores highlight all the ingredients for green bean casserole every November? Traditions are a big part of the holidays, for sure. And some of them go way back in time.

For instance, there’s a good chance that turkey was on the table in 1621 when the colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts, gathered to thank God for a successful harvest after surviving a grueling winter. Wild turkeys were abundant at the time.

I just recently learned, however, that Thanksgiving turkeys spawned the frozen dinner industry. Right after Thanksgiving in 1953, the Swanson food company unexpectedly found itself with 260 tons (!) of leftover frozen turkeys.

From their headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, they packaged and froze cooked turkey on aluminum trays along with stuffing and sweet potatoes. The rest is literally history.

Green bean casserole? An employee in the test kitchen at Campbell’s Soup Company came up with this classic in 1955. Originally called “Green Bean Bake” the recipe calls for six ingredients: canned or fresh green beans, cream of mushroom soup, soy sauce, black pepper, milk and French-fried onions.

It wasn’t until the 1960s, however, that green bean casserole became a Thanksgiving “thing." That’s when Campbell’s printed the recipe on their cream of mushroom soup can.

Although cranberry sauce has a reputation of being the most disliked Thanksgiving food, it’s a favorite in our family. Cranberries grow naturally in North America and were introduced to the early colonists by Native Americans, according to the Library of Congress.

Accounts as early as 1672 mention how cranberries were “boyled” with fruit and sugar to make a sauce to eat with meat. By 1796 (that’s 229 years ago!), cranberry sauce became a Thanksgiving side when recipes began to pair it with turkey.

Stuffing birds and other animals with bread, herbs and spices goes back to ancient Rome. So it’s plausible that the first American colonists stuffed their wild turkeys with similar ingredients.

I grew up in New Mexico in a family with Southern roots. So we called it dressing. And my mom always made it with cornbread. Stuffing or dressing, it’s another Thanksgiving staple.

And what’s with sweet potatoes and marshmallows? Believe it or not, in 1907, a company called Angelus Marshmallows introduced these sweet fluffy treats to Americans, according to an article in Smithsonian Magazine. When sales didn’t pan out, the corporation enlisted the help of Janet McKenzie Hill from the Boston Cooking School Magazine to develop recipes that included marshmallows.

In 1917, a cookbook was published that included — along with marshmallow-topped hot cocoa and marshmallow fudge — mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping. It apparently worked. Peak times for marshmallow sales are summer (s’mores) and winter holiday season.

Whatever our food traditions, take time to remember the real reason for this day of Thanksgiving. Have a blessed holiday.

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