Arroyo Seco Valley, California
“Leftovers are for quitters.” ~ Unknown
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It has everything going for it: time off work, abundant fine food, a celebration with friends and family, all topped with a generous helping of gratitude. When I was a kid, our mother would rise at the crack of dawn to stuff a bird and slip it into the oven to cook all day, filling the house with its aroma and us with anticipation. How all those dishes arrived at the table at the same time, hot and delicious, was nothing short of witchery.
We think of Thanksgiving as an American Holiday, but the tradition has been around for as long as people have been harvesting autumn crops. When the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag shared a meal in 1621, both groups drew on ancient traditions from their cultures. Back then, a good harvest was basic survival, food for the long winter ahead, a meaning much different than our current celebration.
Today, you can buy a precooked Thanksgiving meal from a grocery store chain and lounge around all day watching football on a big screen TV. The food has evolved, its abundance now only a passing thought, but the holiday is still alive all these centuries later. What we’re grateful for has also changed, more personal I think, good health, a visit from a son or daughter, or even the simple pleasure of a few old recipes that managed to survive. Gathering with family and friends, sharing a meal, and giving thanks are the traditions that have endured. But personally, I’m just there for the pie.