Food for Thought 

THANKSGIVING  TIPS AND TIDBITS

 ”Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.”
                               ~ Edward Sanford Martin

Although some historians claim that the first day of giving thanks in the New World was on December 4, 1619, at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia, it is commonly believed that the first actual celebration of the harvest and blessings from God took place in Plymouth in 1621.

The festivities lasted three days and included feasting, entertainment, and competitions. President George Washington issued the first governmental National Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789. In 1863, during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, Thanksgiving became a federal holiday, and FDR, in 1939, designated the fourth Thursday in November as the official Day of Thanksgiving.

Food Fact:   The first Thanksgiving feast most likely did not include turkey, mashed potatoes, or pumpkin pie, but the early settlers did enjoy seafood of all kinds, seals, swans, geese, corn, turnips, and spinach. 

Here are some great sites for Thanksgiving recipes!! Here you will find food from the past (chestnut stuffing, mince pies), meals for the vegetarian or diabetic, healthy adaptations for old favorites, gourmet dishes, treats for kids (Daddy’s Popcorn, cheesy ranch Chex mix). Also visit the websites of Ocean Spray, M and M’s, Pepperidge Farm, and McCormicks. And get all your Turkey cooking questions answered at Butterball or call  the Turkey Talk Line – 800-288-8372.

“What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?
                                  ~Erma Bombeck
                                    “No One Diets on Thanksgiving,” 26 November 1981

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