Thanksgiving Dinner

Just think what Thanksgiving would be like without all the food we have come to love!

Why do we serve turkey on Thanksgiving? Well, in 1621 the first colonist did hunt fowl- we don't know exactly what type they hunted, but we do know they hunted it. It could have been turkey, ducks, or even geese. Since a famous colonist named Bradford wrote in his journals documenting in autumn that they were hunting fowl. And since turkeys are uniquely an American bird, it gave way to what we now have as a Thanksgiving meal of choice. And what a mouth watering meal it is!

Cranberry Sauce, no they didn't have cranberry sauce back then. That would have required sugar. Sugar, which was a luxury item at that time, and therefore not brought on the pilgrimage. It wasn't till years later that people were commenting on the boiled cranberries that accompanied meat that we started to call it cranberry sauce.

Pumpkin Pie, well pumpkins yes, but in a stew, soup or as a vegetable: not a pie. That's right, NO PUMPKIN PIE! Again, sugar was a luxury, and butter would have never sustained the voyage over. Pumpkin pies weren't on tables until the 17th century, and were still considered a luxury item, so not all were feasting on this cap to a great meal!

What did they eat? We know they ate a fowl of some kind, corn, bread, pumpkins, squash, beans, sea food and venison. We might never know exactly what they ate the very first Thanksgiving, but looking into recipes from that area gave us these clues. It was not, however, the banquet we are going to be gorging ourselves on on Thursday.

P.S.
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