amber glass turkey

amber glass turkey

filled with lists of gratitude

for Thanksgiving Day

So many families spread out across the country. What to do on holidays? My younger sister celebrates Thanksgiving on the Sunday before the official holiday for her family and friends, who are then free to visit other relatives on Thursday. 
          We drove five hours west to Lawrence, Kansas, for the event. Three generations, 18 people, spread out down the long dining table, with an extra card table at one end and a little low table with stools for two of the youngest girls.
          My sister set the table with our mother's blue onion china. An amber glass turkey, another keepsake from Mother, was the centerpiece. My sister passed around a little notebook and pen and each of us wrote our list of what we are grateful for and placed it inside the turkey. Next year we will read our list from the previous year and add to it.
          My sister roasted the turkey with dressing and made mashed potatoes with gravy. Everyone else brought a side dish and dessert. We had all the traditional foods. In addition to roast turkey and mashed potatoes, we had apple cider, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry relish, creamed onions, green beans, salad, rolls, pickled okra, olives, spiced pears, pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, maple syrup pie and spice cake. Of course, everyone was as stuffed as the turkey.
          I am grateful that we still have this tradition, even though Thanksgiving seems overshadowed by Black Friday shopping mania (which now begins before Thanksgiving) and early Christmas decorations and lights. On the other hand, I am grateful that we just have a chance to get together with family and friends, even if the food is not traditional. Today, Thanksgiving Thursday, our family in Fairfield will gather for a no fuss no muss pizza dinner followed by movies. And I'm sure we'll still get happily stuffed.

passing the turkey

passing the turkey

dancing to an old favorite

reading the paper

"Every day should be a day of thanksgiving for the gifts of life; sunshine, water, and the luscious fruits and greens that are indirect gifts of the Great Giver."

          ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Once a year we gather to celebrate these gifts and more; the love and companionship of family and friends, eating together, singing and dancing together, sitting quietly together.

golden heartstrings

golden heartstrings

in a butternut heart cave

protect the ripe seeds

For Thanksgiving dinner I am preparing a casserole with layers of Butternut squash, Gala apples and cranberries. With a cleaver I slice open the squash from stem to stern, exposing the firm orange-gold flesh. I notice, for the first time it seems, that the seed-filled cavity is shaped like a heart. 
          The American tradition of Thanksgiving is a wonderful celebration of the heart. Family and friends gather together for a feast commemorating the first Thanksgiving, when the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for their safe arrival in the New World. The first feast provided food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans and lasted three days. Perhaps this is why the official holiday, proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, was set for a Thursday, conveniently providing us with a long weekend to consume the leftovers. 
          The first feast consisted of fish, shellfish, wild fowl (including our traditional turkey), venison, vegetables, berries and fruit, grains, and the Three Sisters: dried Indian maize (or corn), beans and squash. My casserole includes squash, apples and cranberries, called sassamanash by Native Americans, who may have introduced them to the Pilgrims. 
         In addition to the squash, I am baking pinto beans and tomorrow I will pop some Chief Appanoose popcorn. This tiny, hull-less popcorn is named for the chief of the Sauk tribe in the early 19th century. Appanoose means "a chief when a child," indicating that his position was inherited. He was one of the "peace chiefs" sent to Washington, D.C. in 1837. The Sauk ("yellow earth people") and their relatives the Meskwaki ("red earth people") shared this heirloom variety of popcorn with a pioneer family in Iowa in the 1850s, and it was grown on the family farm for generations. The last quart of this flavorful popcorn was nearly lost in the 1970s, but enough was saved for planting. One more thing to be thankful for!