Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated throughout the United States which originated in October of 1621. Thanksgiving is the start to the beloved holiday season, and brings peace amongst family and friends as they celebrate what they are thankful for. Aside from family and friends, food is arguably the main way Americans gather to appreciate what they have.

Traditional foods such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie are essential to any honorable Thanksgiving feast, but there are also various unique family recipes which exist to be experimented with. Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday of every November, and as it approaches, consider these new recipes as an additional Thanksgiving dinner dish.

Apple crisps 

Recipe submitted by Doug Schmidt

Photo by AP Images

• 8 medium apples (apple of choice)
• 1 cup of water
• Ground cinnamon for taste
• 1 box of yellow cake mix (2 layer size)
• ½ cup of firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) of melted margarine

Directions: Prepare a 9×13 dish with cooking spray. Peel, core and slice apples, and place them into the pan. Cover the apples with water and sprinkle cinnamon over the apples. Combine cake mix, brown sugar and melted butter in a bowl and mix until crumbly. Put this mixture on top of the apples. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes.

Pecan cranberry salad

Recipe submitted by Doug Schmidt

• 2 15oz. crushed pineapple, drained, 2 cups of the reserved juice
• 2 cups of water
• 1 6oz. package of orange gelatin and 1 6oz. Package of cherry gelatin
• 2 16oz. Can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 12oz. Can frozen orange juice concentrate
• 2 cups of fine chopped celery
• 2 cups of chopped walnut

Directions: Combine the pineapple reserved juice and water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat. Pour it into a large bowl and add the two gelatin mixtures; stir until dissolved. Add the drained pineapple, cranberry sauce, orange concentrate, nuts and celery to the bowl and mix well. Spray a 12×4 pan with cooking spray and pour mixture into pan. Finally refrigerate it until firm.

Sweet potatoes

Recipe submitted by Dani S. ‘22

Photo by AP Images

• 6 large sweet potatoes
• 2 cups of light brown sugar
• 2 sticks of butter (no margarine)
• 1 ½ to 2 cups of frosted flakes
• 2 cups of mini marshmallows

Directions: Peel and slice (cubes) sweet potatoes. Boil the potatoes in large pan until soft (12-15 minutes). Melt one stick of butter and set it aside. Crush the frosted flakes in a sandwich bag. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Drain the potatoes with a strainer, and add one stick of melted butter and potatoes back into hot pan. Begin to hand mash potatoes and butter. Add in one cup of brown sugar and marshmallows; mix/mash until smooth. In a 9×9 pan, layer ½ of the potato mixture. Sprinkle brown sugar over the potatoes, drizzle with melted butter, and sprinkle a handful of frosted flakes over the potatoes. Repeat another layer of brown sugar, butter and flakes. Bake for 30 minutes, and cover it with foil. With three minutes left of cook time, remove the pan and cover the top with marshmallows. Put the pan back in the oven until marshmallows are golden brown.