THANKSGIVING

When the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in December 1620, they were hoping to forge a godly and peaceful life on this new continent of the Americas, and no doubt were quite shocked at the struggle they were about to endure.

102 people sailed aboard the Mayflower for this brave new land, about a third of which were members of the Puritan sect The English Separatist Church who had fled their English homeland and its religious persecution for Holland, but then grew intolerant of the easygoing and ‘ungodly’ Dutch way of life.  The rest of the colonists were mostly hired to protect the group’s interests.  The colony had a disastrous first winter, and as the following autumn came round 46 of the original 102 had died.

It took the local native tribe to teach these newcomers how to survive in this new land, which indiginous foods were edible, and how to grow sustainable crops.  Consequently the 1621 harvest was bountiful, and the Pilgrims celebrated with a feast, inviting 91 Indians who had helped them survive this harsh first year.

We do know that this, the first ever American Thanksgiving feast, lasted three days and featured fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison and plums.  The modern Thanksgiving centrepiece of turkey may or may not have been on the table – at this stage wild turkey had not yet been domesticated, and the Pilgrims referred to any sort of wild fowl as “turkey”.  Wild ducks and geese were often eaten at the time, so perhaps the turkey on the menu referred to them.

Pumpkin pie, another modern staple of the Thanksgiving feast, was probably not on the menu either due to the Pilgrims flour being long gone – so no bread or pastries of any kind.  They did enjoy boiled pumpkin, however, and despite still believing the newly-discovered potato poisonous (like most Europeans at the time), they did manage to use their corn crop to produce a kind of fried corn bread.

This feast was considered a one off until two years later, when a severe drought led the desperate Pilgrims to gather for a service praying for rain.  Lo and behold, the rains came the next day and saved the crops, so the Governor proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, and once again the Indians were invited.

The holiday didn’t become a regular event until 1676 in Massachusetts, and not until 1777 did all 13 colonies of the country join in, though this was, again, a one off.  George Washington proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving in 1789, which was repealed by Jefferson, reinstated by Lincoln, and upheld by every President since.  Despite changing the date several times, the American Thanksgiving has been the fourth Thursday in November since 1941.  Canadians have celebrated the holiday on the second Monday in October since 1879.

Heather’s Canadian Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 ½ cups crushed gingersnap cookies

½ cup finely chopped pecans

1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix these ingredients together in a bowl, then press into the bottom and up the sides of a 21cm springform pan.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 175 C degrees.

500g cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Mix together well

3 eggs

Mix in, one at a time, blending well after each

Set aside 1 cup of this mixture

¼ cup sugar

1 cup cooked (very soft) pumpkin, mashed

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Blend these ingredients into the above mixture (not the 1 cup you’ve set aside), then spread this evenly onto the pre-baked biscuit base.  Drop the plan mixture which you’ve set aside into the pumpkin flavour mixture in tablespoon sized dollops, then swirl through with a knife to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 55 minutes in the oven at 175 C degrees, or until filling is set. 

Run a knife around the edge of the pan, but allow to cool before removing the pan rim.  Chill for a few hours to set through before serving.

Note – the recipe actually called for 1 cup CANNED pumpkin, but since we don’t have the luxury of pre-canned mashed pumpkin, you’ll have to boil and mash it yourselves!

Thanks to my dear friend Heather in Ontario for pointing me in the right direction, and for the delicious cheesecake recipe!

Thanks also to the following sites for invaluable research:

‘The Thanksgiving Story’ by Jerry Wilson at http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm

‘The history of Thanksgiving and its celebrations’ at www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/story.htm

Be excellent to each other

Shane Pinnegar

December 2004