All in the family

In 1621 there was a gathering; the pilgrims and Wampanoag people shared in the harvest and signed a treaty.  It is in this romantic spirit that thanksgiving is remembered, as a time of sharing...no one mentions a broken treaty and subsequent wars - 1621 was actually a harvest festival and the first thanksgiving was declared following the massacre of the Pequot tribe in 1637. 

In the United States people have been giving thanks on the fourth Thursday in November since 1863; it became a national holiday in 1941, and has traditionally marked the onset of the Christmas shopping season.  Philadelphia has the nation's oldest thanksgiving day parade - it began in 1920 by Gimbel's department store...thanksgiving has been historically enmeshed in consumption - land, food, and consumer goods (mostly electronics in modern times). 

To the average family, none of this really matters - thanksgiving is a time for sharing, spending time with family, and being thankful for the many blessings of the previous years.  It has also become a time of remembrance and generosity - many families do not have the luxury to sit down at a table overflowing with food.

When we returned from the parade I made puttanesca.  My son asked if we were going to my Aunt Mary's - I said I would call her - he said, why do you have to call her, we can go there anytime...it was at that moment that I understood what thanksgiving meant for my children.  He was absolutely right; on any given "holiday" my Aunt Mary prepared a table full of food and had a house full of people - an open invitation.  I immediately dashed downstairs, made a key lime pie - my daughter suggested that i make cookies because key lime pie is an acquired taste, so I baked a batch of cookies.

We had a great time as usual at Aunt Mary's, lots of good food (turkey, roast beef, ham, greens, string beans, candied yams, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and rolls)  and hilarious conversation.  I exchanged the cookies for a sweet potato pie (she makes at least 10 every thanksgiving).  We then went to my mother-in-law's - at 7pm they were just sitting down to eat (turkey, ham, fried chicken, greens, string beans, mashed sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, pasta salad, fried eggplant, sauteed zucchini, and rolls).  We chit-chatted, watched the football game, and then I pulled out the key lime pie - although some wondered why it wasn't green, it was a hit. 

Tomorrow I'll make turkey salad from the remaining 1/2 breast...although cranberries are a northern hemisphere bog fruit, sadly there wasn't any sauce on either table.