Thanksgiving and All That Includes

Most believe that Thanksgiving began in 1621 at the Plymouth Plantation in Virginia. The Plymouth Colonists and the Wampanoag Indians sat down and had a great feast together! In fact (according to Edward Winslow) they celebrated for three days! Imagine eating all that wonderful food for three days!
The first harvest meal stood for coopaeration and interaction between English Colonists and Native Americans. This festival in 1621 was the first meal shared between Europeans and Native Americans!
This however was not the first celebration of Thanksgiving. Many Indian tribes had been celebrating the giving of thanks with harvest festivals and ceremonial dances and so much more. Among those tribes were the Cherokee, Creek, Pueblo, and many more!
Also in 1619 European Settlers and British Colonists knelt down near the Charles River in Berekley Plantation, Virginia during December to give thanks to God for their healthy arrival after a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

Buy at AllPosters.com
No one knows exactly what was on the menu that glorious day, however here is a list of the probabilities!

Meat: Venison, Seal
Seafood: Lobster, Eel, Cod, Clams
Wild Fowl: Eagles, Wild Turkey, Crane, Goose, Duck, Partridge, Swan
Vegetables: Carrots, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Pumpkin, Radishes, Peas
Grain: Indian Corn, Wheat Flour
Nuts: Acorns, Walnuts, Chestnuts
Fruit: Grapes, Plums
Seasonings: Parsnips, Olive Oil, Leeks, Liverwort, Dried Currants

The manners pilgrims and Indians used in the year 1621 differ very much from those we are taught today!
For instance they only ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers! I know my mother would have killed me had I ate with my fingers!
They also used large cloth napkins to pick up hot morsels, or to wipe their hands. They would use the same cloth napkin to do both.
Pepper was only used for cooking back then, however salt was available at the table.
Food was also used to show importance. If you were more important in the community you recieved the better food.
People only ate the food that was near them, they did not sample everything that was prepared.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Thanksgiving traditions is the White House date back all the way to the Lincoln era, however the ceremonies now only date back to 1947 when President Harry Truman was presented with the first National Thanksgiving Turkey!
Every year a turkey is specifically raised to be presented to the President of the United States, who will then pardon said turkey, and the turkey will then be flown to Disney World to lead the Macy's Day Parade!

a>read more...

Thanksgiving Day:
(Year/Month/Day)
2008/11/27

2009/11/26

2010/11/25

2011/11/24

2012/11/22

2013/11/28

I have found that without the correct preparation, organization, and determination Thanksgiving will just not turn out right for me! I get overly stressed, and make multiple mistakes that could have been avoided had I properly prepared, organized, and became determined!

In order to prepare for this Thanksgiving Feast you will need:

A notebook or planner of some sort.
Invitations
Decorations
Food
Recipes
Pots and Pans
Entertainment

I know that sounds like a lot, however we will be breaking it down piece by piece, so please don't get or feel overwhelmed!

Remember "I Can Do This! I Am Able!"

Okay so now that you have yourself prepared to become organized and determined pull out your notebook! Take notes, every little thing you see that pops out at you, write it down! If you remember something important, write it down! You will be very busy and when your mind is busy it's hard to remember everything! You will find that a piece of paper and pencil can be your best friend during these times of mental stress!

You can never have to many lists!
I would start by making a list of the people who you will be inviting to attend your Thanksgiving Dinner! Include their name, number, and address. By doing this you will only have to look in one spot when the time comes to send out those invitations! You could also go ahead and make out those place cards!

Make a note of some decorations you need to remember to put out before the big day! Have an inflatable turkey, or pictures of past Thanksgiving dinners you want to set out to spruce up the environment of your dining room? Go ahead and write that down!

Now make a list of all the food that you are wanting to prepare for your meal, as well as the food you will ask others to provide. (If you ask other guests to bring a dish) Include where you can find the recipe for the certain dish, that will save you tons of time when it actually comes to preparing the food! You can add as much as you like, if you find your list is too long you can always go back and edit it! Once you are finished listing the dishes you plan to prepare, why not go ahead and make out the grocery list as well! It only takes a few minutes!
( I will also be giving you ideas and recipes below to help you with this list)

Do you and your friends and family have games you all play together, or maybe you watch the football game, or the Macy's Day Parade together. Whatever it is that you do write it down!

Clean, Clean, Clean
How long has it been since your oven and fridge have been cleaned? You don't really want your guests to see these things dirty, they will question the cleanliness of their meal! Also, since you will be using alot of your pots and pans to prepare the food you may want to give them a once over as well!

Make sure you set aside a time to clean the rest of your house also! You don't want your guests arriving while you are trying to clean a dirty toilet!

Alright so now you have a clean house and lists of things you need to do and have. Lets get the ball rolling! Sit down and fill out the invitations, mail them the same day, so that you can cross it off your list of to-do's!

Pull those recipes out of that recipe box and double check your grocery list! Once double-checked head on out to the grocery store! You might as well get that finished with! While your there look for a few more Turkey Day Decorations, find a little something you like, grab it and bring it home!

Once your home, pull out the rest of that dusty decor, and clean it off! Once clean decorate!

After you have finished the above mentioned you can cross them off your list of to-do's. This will help keep you motivated and your stress level down because most of the things that have to be done will be done ahead of time, which leaves Thanksgiving Eve and Day for cooking and mingling! Oh did I mention eating as well!

Buy at AllPosters.com
(recipes are below)

The Food List

Appetizers:
Cheeseball and Crackers
Chips
Cheesy Bread Bowl Dip

Main Course
Turkey
Corn
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce
Deviled Eggs
Stuffing
Bread Rolls
Sweet Potatoes

Sides/Extras:
Honey-butter
Butter
Gravy
Baby Carrots
Cut Celery
Baby Dill Pickles
Baby Sweet Pickles
Black Olives
Green Olives (pitted)
Vegetable Dip

Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Pie
Pumpkin Spice Bread
Spiced Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Cheesecake

Ingredients
1 package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 package of Buddhing sliced beef
2-3 stalks of green onion

Slice beef and set half aside. Mix the other half with the rest of the ingredients, and form into a ball. Coat ball with the remaining meat, serve with crackers.
( I prefer Ritz, Townhouse, or Wheat crackers)

Ingredients
Round Sourdough bread loaf
8oz Cream Cheese (softened)
12oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
16oz Sour Cream
3Tablespoons melted butter
dash onion powder*
dash garlic powder*

Cut top off bread loaf and rip out inside. Save for dipping. Mix together other ingredients in medium bowl. Pour in bread bowl and cover with the top of the bread bowl. Wrap in aluminum foil, place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours or until filling is completely melted. Serve hot.
This works best if you plan ahead, throw it in the oven a couple hours before guests will be arriving, then have it ready when they all show up!

*optional

Ingredients
1 Turkey
Butter
Turkey Baster
Salt & Pepper
Turkey Roasting Pan
prepared stuffing

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F, put turkey in roasting pan and stuff with stuffing. Melt butter in Microwave for 45 Seconds. Pour butter over turkey and salt & pepper to taste.
Bake for 3-4 hours, or until thermometer says done, every 30 minutes put more butter over turkey using turkey baster, as well as adding more butter to the pan.
Wait 10-15 minutes to cut and serve!

Ingredients
6 large sweet potatoes, peeled & sliced (3/4 inch thick)
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
8Tbsp. packed brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted *

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Greast large rimmed baking sheet, and arrange potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet. Brush with butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with 3 Tbsp. of the brown sugar; cover with foil. Bake covered, 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Turn potatoes; sprinkle with remaining 5 Tbsp brown sugar. Gently brush tops with sugar glaze in bottom of pan to moisten brown sugar. Bake at 450 degrees F. uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until tender and glazed. *Sprinkle with pecans, spoon any glaze remaining in pan over potatoes when serving.

*optional

To toast pecans place on baking sheet, bake at 375 degrees F. for 4-6 minutes or until slightly darker in color. Cool.

Ingredients
1-2 Cups butter
3-4 tablespoons Honey

Mix together well, DO NOT MELT BUTTER!!, serve on bread or on mashed potatoes!

Ingredients

Bread
1 & 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 & 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened, cut-up
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
2 eggs

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1-1&1/2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F., grease bottom of 9X5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and baking powder in medium bowl.
Beat sugar and butter at medium-high speed for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, eggs, and ginger; beat at medium speed until well-blended. (batter may look curdled) Slowly beat in flour mixture at low speed just until blended. Spoom batter into pan.
Bake 60-65 minutes or until edges pull away slightly from sides of pan and center springs back when lightly touched. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely.
Whisk all glaze ingredients in small bowl. Pour into small resealable bag and cut off small corner. Drizzle glaze over bread; let stand until set.