Did you know that there was no gravy at the first official Thanksgiving here in the U.S? 😱
Nor were there potatoes. Read it and weep you mashed potato lovers…
Wild turkey was plentiful, stuffing was made of herbs, nuts, and onions, cooked in the bird to add flavor.
Cranberries were abundant, but they weren’t boiled with sugar until half a century later.
Even if they had wanted to, there were no 5# bags of sugar lining the grocery store shelves.
Pumpkins were eaten by the Native Americans and so would have been familiar to our ancestors but not in pies.
#Sosad
Why? No butter, no flour, and baking pies over an open fire is tricky. 🔥
The oven had not yet been invented.
Reading these historical food tidbits (Thanks to History.com) gives me a new reason to be grateful for how easy it is to acquire and prepare what I’ll be sharing on Thursday.
The Pilgrims had much to be thankful for besides their celebratory meal.
Without the help they received from the Native Americans when they landed near Cape Cod, half-starved and weakened by various maladies, they might not have survived.
Squanto, an English-speaking member of the Pawtuxet tribe taught those early settlers how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants.
The truth is as old as history itself despite what our present moment would have us think: people are inherently good and given the opportunity to help, they will.
I, maybe you too, have been given much because of history, because of courageous people who risked it all for a better life.
For all of that and for the reminder, I am grateful.
For you too, I am grateful.
You matter because you said “yes, I’ll read your stuff and maybe learn something.”
Now back to the gravy and the excess in moderation.
If you will be having gravy and pie, and cranberry cooked with sugar, some form of potatoes, stuffing, pie, (did I mention pie?) and all manner of goodness to overindulge in, here is my proclamation: Excess in moderation is my motto for the season.
If you must skip something, skip the guilt, the shame, the self-bullying.
Life is short.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
