Ideas On This Yr’s Thanksgiving – JP

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Guest post by George Navarini

The cranberry sauce is all gone, and what’s left of the turkey and the sides have been put away. A hot cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin pie still await me, as do several days of leftovers, but I finally have a few moments to share some thoughts with my friends.

Few commentators on television, in print, or on the web have noted that this is the 405th anniversary of what most of us refer to as the observance of the “First” Thanksgiving in 1621; in one form or another, all this—perhaps far less tomorrow’s Black Friday Specials–predates our Republic by about 157 years.

One of the most interesting things about this most particularly American holiday is how the menu has changed in four centuries.

While some wild turkeys might have been on the table, along with duck, geese, and other game birds, much of what was on that table was seafood. Codfish, as well as mussels and other shellfish, were plentiful just offshore. Lobster, on the other hand, although abundant, was still considered vermin. Much later, the jails of the Massachusetts Bay Colony would feed its inmates boiled lobster—but no drawn butter, sorry—as it was cheap and plentiful, and no one else would touch the stuff.

Wild and home-grown vegetables rounded out the meal, as did venison, as several dozen neighboring Wampanoags, who arrived uninvited to the feast, brought with them the roasted bounty of their most recent hunt to share with everyone.

Across the years, each generation of Americans, particularly each generation of new Americans, added their own twists and treats to this holiday table, and in doing so, contributed their family traditions to the American family.

Today, in South Florida, it is not unusual to find slow-cooked black beans and rice, or a tasty feijoada, ackee & saltfish, even Asian-style vegetables alongside the traditional turkey and green bean casserole (by the way, invented in 1955 by Mrs. Dorcas Reilly of the Campbell Soup Company).

Growing up Italian, homemade risotto was always a part of our Thanksgiving menu, as was a full-bore antipasto. I’m still surprised it’s not on your table as well, but I’m sure you have some other tasty treat that harkens back to your grandma’s secret recipe.

And that is what makes this national holiday; it’s also a very personal family tradition as we start the holiday season.

I hope your Thanksgiving was great, and the Holidays are festive and bright in each one of your homes.

Let us all give thanks for the many blessings we have and share: faith, family, friends, and most of all, the freedom we enjoy every day by virtue of living in the greatest country in the history of the world, the United States of America.

All the best to you and yours this holiday season,

George Navarini