Our Thanksgiving Feast

I daresay it was a success. But then to call it that, one must look at the goal. For me, it was to have a fun family meal that was something out of the ordinary, which would help us celebrate Thanksgiving, and participate in "thanks-giving." And that without all the unrealistic expectations of a meal too big for even our crew to eat, and then the leftovers to deal with that nobody really wants. Without the exhaustion of preparing such a meal, and the crabbiness and shortness of temper that has tended to go with such an endeavor. Without the dread of cleaning it all up, the drowsiness with which one can't but spend the rest of the day lolling around with an uncomfortably full belly, digesting. Without the depressed feeling that comes from it all, leaving one with an emotional hangover the next days immediately following. That said, here's the story.

Several years ago, I decided it was silly to make a turkey when neither my husband nor I are particularly fond of it, and it was too dry for our little ones to chew anyway. :)

This is typical of us, as in similar fashion we have never done the 'gift thing' at Christmas time, and in fact I don't recall the last time we even put up a tree. We don't do trick-or-treating, and no Easter Bunny visits our house. (Santa Claus? We-ell, that's a given.)

Since then I have tended to make ham and with it, the fixin's we like. Again, why make sweet potatoes if we don't like them? So until this year, I have typically done mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean bake, and crescent rolls. And of course pie, pumpkin for myself and the kids, and cherry, because that's Dad's favorite.

Now, we have changed our diet dramatically in the last year or two, which is one reason for me to rethink things this year. (That whole process is for another post.) The other reason is that as our children read and read about history, I thought it appropriate that we try to have a feast more similar to what the Pilgrims and Indians may have had at the first Thanksgiving. My oldest son, our own Encyclopedia Brown, was all over that idea. No problem getting suggestions, such as lobster, crab, and eel, then we chose from that list a reasonable amount of menu items that would be feasible to do.

We ended up with a small turkey, fish, clam chowder, biscuits, cornbread, a variety of root vegetables, corn, cranberry sauce, and pie.

Instead of waiting till the day of to do the turkey, I cut the wings and drumsticks off and put it in my 7.5 quart crock pot, and cooked it on low overnight. In the morning, I turned it to warm. I cooked the heart, gizzard, and neck in the 5 quart crock pot with some water for the broth. (Our kitties get to fight over the liver.)

Starting sometime around 9 am, I diced up and layered in a 9 by 13 pan rutabaga, turnip, carrot, and potato, then put sliced rings of onion on top and basted it all with broth from the turkey and baked it for an hour or so, covered in foil. I mixed up the cornbread and biscuits from scratch, and got them ready for the oven. The rest was easy, two cans of clam chowder to warm up, which by the way we decided we don't care for, the corn was heated from frozen, the cranberry sauce was also from a can. As my oven allowed, I baked the biscuits and cornbread, and closer to the meal, I baked the Tilapia, which I laid in glass baking dishes and seasoned with sea salt and dill, dotted with butter, and topped with thinly sliced fresh lemon. (Never going to do the lemon that way again, as the fish picked up the bitterness of the rind! Ugh! Looked pretty though.)

The kids had wanted to help, but they were so busy making 'gold' from field corn missed by the combine in the field next door, I didn't have the heart to interrupt them. It was so beautiful outside, too. So I pretty much did it all myself, and it was a lot of work, but I didn't feel overwhelmed. I think we ended up eating around 12:45, but that's only because I took my time getting going in the morning instead of stressing out. I had made the three pies the day before, so all I had to do for them was whip up the cream right before we ate and stick it in the freezer to stay cold.

We enjoyed the meal, and while we didn't like everything new we tried, we also didn't overeat. We had room enough for my good deep dish pie, and after the meal the little ones took their naps and the rest went right back outside to play. Dad and I were tired, but not the way we have been in the past, and not because of an overstuffed belly. Later on we turned on the (prerecorded ) Thanksgiving special of Lawrence Welk, then watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, both while snacking on popcorn, nuts, and sliced cheese. It was so pleasant and relaxing.

Next year, we probably won't have turkey at all. Nor will we have clam chowder, and I doubt we'll have rutabagas. But in our taking turns telling about all our blessings for which we are thankful, I reminded everyone that I am thankful their father is paid enough money that we don't have to worry about whether we'll eat, and in fact we have been eating very well, from a health standpoint. As the 'success' of a Christmas celebration ought not be measured by whether the tree looks a certain way, if there is one to be had at all, or how many gifts are under the tree, if there are any to be exchanged, or whether the cookies turned out right or if we made enough of them, so Thanksgiving isn't 'successfully' celebrated in how close to a Rockwell portrait we make our own table look. If it is truly about thanking our gracious God for the Son He sent to save us, and the wonderful blessings which on us He bestows daily, turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie are really petty in comparison. And a bloated tummy is not exactly my idea of fun or good stewardship.

I say to each his own, fix whatever you like for your own Thanksgiving. That isn't what it's about anyhow. And for me, I prefer to tone down the expectations on the meal, so that everyone-- including she who prepares it --can take full part in the family fellowship and the real "thanks-giving."