|
|
|
|
|
|
The traditional Thanksgiving Day that has been officially set aside as a day to celebrate the harvest, give gratitude for America’s discovery and to commemorate and give thanks to Almighty God for his providential guidance, all took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, back in 1621.
Almost 400 years later, we still gather for this festive occasion to celebrate. A collage of traditions, food groups and amusing activities has attached itself to this special event, transcending cultures over a period of time.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Minnesota is the top turkey-producer in America, with a planned production total of 49 million this year. Just six states — Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Indiana — will probably produce two-thirds of the estimated 271 million birds that will be raised in the U.S. this year.
The National Turkey Federation estimates that 46 million turkeys — one fifth of the annual total of 235 million consumed in the United States — are consumed during the Thanksgiving holidays. Now that’s a lot of bird. That would make old Ben Franklin turkey proud!
Almost 90 percent of you good folks will eat turkey during the holidays and a rather plump bird at that. The average turkey consumed in the U.S. will weigh about fifteen pounds, which means nearly 700 million pounds of the great American bird was consumed last year. Look out giblets and gravy, the cranberry sauce is coming through!
Kathleen Curtin, the food historian at Plymouth Plantation offers her expert observations as to what was and what was not on the table during their three days of celebrating, but first let me tell about a few things that probably weren’t served.
Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, in all likelihood didn’t appear on the Pilgrims’ first feast table.
Ham. There is no evidence the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they brought pigs with them from England.
Can you imagine not having yams in November? Sweet potatoes were not very common. How about some good ole corn on the cob? Well, the truth of the matter is that most of the corn was kept dried at this time of year. Cranberry sauce you ask? The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin pie? No, but I have something for you to try out — stewed pumpkin! You understand, don’t you, that Beaver Cleaver’s mom had not yet introduced a recipe at this point.
How about a chicken leg or some fried eggs? And we’ve got some milk to wash it all down for you or to make cheese out of. I don’t think any cows make the trip over on the Mayflower.
Did you know that lobster, clams, seal and swan were all part of the meal that day?
For you hunters, venison was very much a part of their diet. For their grain, they had wheat and Indian corn. The herbs and seasonings were made up of olive oil, liverwort, leeks, dried currants and parsnips. That’s enough to make you pucker up!
Would you like to garnish your plate with some lettuce, onions and radishes? And you need your serving of vegetables such as pumpkin, peas, beans and, of course, carrots. They are good for the skin after all that saltwater and sunshine during the voyage.
Hey, the best is yet to come — dessert. No pecan or pumpkin pie, though, at least probably not on that first Thanksgiving Day. But they did have some good fruit in the form of plums and grapes.
For some between-meal snacks you could toss in a few walnuts, chestnuts and acorns.
Now if all of that talk about food hasn’t made you good and hungry, then there must be something absolutely wrong with you!
Trust you and your family had a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Randy Sheridan of Burleson is a speaker, counselor and
mediator. He can be reached
at drsheridan@aol.com.
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
