Let's Talk Turkey!

First of all - Happy Thanksgiving! America is the first country to make a National holiday for giving thanks.  The tradition began because one woman, Sarah Josapha Hale, persistently wrote (for 15 years) to numerous presidents, circa 1850 onward, in order that it be established.  Abraham Lincoln instituted it as an American custom.  This custom is in remembrance of the first harvest feast between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims.  They blessed their feast with a grace that went something like this: "We thank God for our homes, food, and safety in a new land.  We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world of freedom and justice. Amen."  What do I have to be thankful for?

The campground we're currently staying at, holds an annual Thanksgiving dinner. It's pot-luck style where whomever signs up to attend, brings a holiday dish of some sort. Brian was in charge of getting the turkey, hams, rolls & pies. On Tuesday, the count of people coming was around 40.  By Thursday afternoon, it was over 80.  The hall only holds 60 people. The people who checked in on Wednesday and Thursday were told about the dinner, but not told to bring something.  Three factors saved this meal from being ruined; One, someone had the wherewithal to ration the turkey and ham portions; Two, the first tables to be served didn't hoard food; Three, the ones who did bring casseroles and other dishes brought enough to feed an army.  Initially, there was some concern that there wouldn't be enough food, but enough was left not only for seconds, but also take home plates.  Cooperation, on everyone's part, made what could've been a very chaotic situation become orderly.

The week prior to Thanksgiving was full of turkey talk--how many ways have you tried to cook a turkey? There's deep frying it, smoked, baked, and new to us - "trashcan turkey"

How to make a trashcan turkey:
 - First, wrap your turkey in aluminum foil, then make a fire in a safe place on the ground. 
 - Second, when the fire is just hot coals, place a stake with the turkey on it in the center and cover it with a new trashcan. 
 - Third, heap more hot coals on top as well as around the bottom of the trashcan.  We were told that within an hour and a half, a 15 pound turkey is done, is succulent and juicy as it peels easily off the bone.  Bon appetite!

Talk around the campground also centered on Christmas and the doing away with Black Friday. Most everyone agreed that in the corporate world and their quest for more money, the big box stores have shot themselves in the foot.  By putting out much of the Christmas paraphernalia just after Halloween, and having "pre-Black Friday" sales, the stores are starting to take the rush out of shopping the day after Thanksgiving.  Consumers don't have the urgency like they used to for Black Friday sales.

Haven't we lost the true meaning of Christmas?  Christ came to heal our relationship with God.  He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. God is pure love and couldn't mingle with sin.  Christ is love incarnate in order that we may learn love. The Christmas of our hearts would become an everyday sacred practice. Wouldn't it mean more to our family and friends if we were "present" in our daily rounds for one another? Gifts wouldn't be necessary and stuff wouldn't pollute our world. We would all have what we need and even poverty might be alleviated if people would share their wealth instead of hoarding it.

I am thankful for my family and friends. I'm thankful for our Nomad which has kept us warm and dry.  I'm grateful for the Southern fare that accompanied our turkey and I'm grateful for watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving where I was reminded that it's not what is being served, but the company you are with.

We called our children and talked with them for about an half an hour each. The two youngest grandchildren were with their daddy for the day.  The two older ones had quite a take on Thanksgiving.  Tristan talked to us at length about the families day- watching the Macy's parade and going out with his dad in the morning.  Apparently, Alyssa couldn't come to the phone because, "I'm cooking!" she told her mother.  For our granddaughter, Thanksgiving is all about the feast.  We imagined her with an apron on in the kitchen with her daddy making deviled eggs, crab tarts, and many other types of goodies.

We wanted to bring lobster rolls or lobster salad to the campgrounds' feast, but couldn't find a lobster here. 

We managed to bring New England cranberry sauce though.  We read that the original feast had foul- not limited to turkey, also duck and goose.  The cranberries and blueberries were in their natural form. Squash and pumkin (sorry, no pies yet ).  Fish and shellfish were plentiful.  Walnuts and spices flavored the turkey. (No potatoes, or gravy or stuffing.)  Onions, beans, spinach, cabbage, and carrots were on the table. Corn was actually made into mushy cornmeal and possibly flavored with molasses.  Fruits- plums and grapes were abundant. Lastly, there was venison cooked on a spit. According to legend, the Native Americans brought five deer to the feast.

The first feast would have been like a big campfire with basic but not boring fare.  Dave met a man today who just received his RV from an aunt.  It was a fairly old model like ours, but had lots of work done to it. He only had it for 2 days - he was a nervous wreck, but excited to have it.  When David told me about him, I remembered the man from Turkey (the country) who sold us the Nomad and his father who told me, "Don't worry, it will get you where you have to go."

Until next time,
The Happy Campers,
Jill & Dave