Thanksgiving countdown begins

The American Thanksgiving holiday is associated with those religious dissidents we call Pilgrims. We envision Jennie Brownscombe’s 1914 painting, The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, with Separatists and Native Wampanoags gathered around an outdoor table, an elder raising his hands to the heavens in prayer. The painting depicts the harvest celebration in the early fall of 1621. This was not what the Separatists would have called a “thanksgiving.” For them, a thanksgiving was strictly a religious observance. The harvest celebration of 1621 was a time for the remaining 53 Pilgrims to mark their survival of the first winter in the New World.

America observed no annual Thanksgiving holiday until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, declared a national day of thanksgiving for the fourth Thursday of November. So began the tradition of gathering for a feast with family and friends. When I was a child, the men spent Thanksgiving morning hunting in the woods, while the women spent those hours cooking in the kitchen. Teen-agers attended the hotly contested high school football game between rival teams. All gathered in the afternoon for the big meal.

This year, it’s my turn to host the family feast. I’ve devised the menu. We always begin with soup. This quells appetites and gives the cook leeway in the preparation of the main meal. Traditionally, New Englanders serve a seafood chowder, followed by roasted turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, potatoes and winter squash. My family also includes baked ham because some family members don’t like turkey. The host leaves desserts to the guests. Apple and pumpkin pies are usually among the offerings.

Thanksgiving Menu

Lobster chowder with mini-corn muffins

Roasted turkey with apple-sage stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy

Baked maple-glazed ham

Mashed potatoes, baked winter squash, roasted Brussels sprouts

Assorted desserts

Apple cider, ale and coffee

Saucy Pilgrims & Indians: cranberry sauce

The Pilgrims probably didn’t eat cranberry sauce for the first harvest celebration in 1621 because sugar was in short supply. But not much later they did indeed make cranberry sauce, according to John Josselyn’s New-Englands Rarities Discovered, published in 1672. Josselyn visited Massachusetts in 1638 and 1663. Of cranberries, he writes, “The Indians and English use them much, boyling them with Sugar for Sauce to eat with their Meat; and it is a delicate Sauce, especially for roasted Mutton: Some make Tarts with them as with Goose Berries.”

Here’s a basic recipe for whole-berry sauce:

Cranberry sauce

2 cups cranberries, picked over and rinsed well

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Place all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. If you prefer a loose sauce, boil the berries for about 10 minutes, partially covered. Cool and refrigerate. For a gelled sauce, simmer berries for about 15 minutes, uncovered. Seal sauce in a glass jar and set on counter to cool. Then place jar in refrigerator for at least 24 hours to allow sauce to gel before serving. Makes about 16 ounces.