Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

On October 3, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed a day of prayer and thanksgiving for Thursday, November 26, 1789.

Thanksgiving History

Wiki photo

The History Channel has information on the first Thanksgiving celebrations celebrated by the pilgrims in the New World. It quotes Edward Winslow describing the proceedings





"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

Ben and the Bird

Benjamin Franklin famously compared the turkey to the eagle for the national symbol in a letter to his daughter. For more check out this website about the Great Seal.

Sauerkraut for Thanksgiving?

My father was a fiend for sauerkraut, but he liked his served with bratwurst or some similar sausage. I never cared for it, though I tolerate it on a Reuben sandwich since it is part of what makes the sandwich what it is. I usually ask them to go light on the kraut, though.

I was recently browsing the Coconut and Lime blog, and discovered this interesting kraut and pork dish to be served for Thanksgiving. According to C&L, sauerkraut for Thanksgiving is a tradition in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, because of the German-American heritage of the city.

Sarah's Field Trip

Sarah enjoyed her class field trip to the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend this week. They did a cooking demostration of some sort, and the children helped. As I was buckling her into Sherry's car this morning, the child was lobbying us to take her back up there. I've been wanting to visit the center for months, so I suspect we'll make that trip eventually.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

On this day of thanks and feasting, contemplate the turkey, upon which many of us are feasting today. To hear recordings of wild turkey calls, check out the National Wild Turkey Federation website.

The Center Formerly Known as Sommet

The Nashville Predators National Hockey League team is suing the Sommet Group alleging that Sommet breached the contract by which it has naming rights on the downtown Nashville facility in which the Predators play. The same thing happened several years ago when the Adelphia name was removed from the Tennessee Titans stadium. The Titans stadium is right next door to the Juvenile Center in Nashville, and I snapped a few photographs on my way to court one morning of crews removing "Adelphia" from the stadium.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

New York City is geared up for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will divert from Broadway for the first time since part of that thoroughfare is closed to vehicle traffic.

Thanksgiving Preparation

Mom arrived here at our place yesterday afternoon armed with a fully cooked eighteen pound turkey. We refrained from cutting into it and made a pizza for supper. Sherry also made her cranberry congealed salad and a pecan pie, which somehow also survived last night unscathed. She talked to one or both of the boys yesterday afternoon, and they had already reached their destination down in Florida. I talked to Laura, who was already at the rental cabin at Tim's Ford State Park and relaxing after her drive. I suspect we'll hit the road within the next hour or so, and Leslie and Frazier will depart Knoxville around midday after Thanksgiving dinner with his kinfolk.

No Plinkin' This Time

Because Grandmother and Granddaddy's cabin is in a rural area, I planned to take my 22 caliber bolt action rifles out there for some target practice. I have two. One, affectionately named Vernon, I bought years ago. Since I've had Vernon for longer, I'm a better shot with it. Granddaddy gave me the other one, which he had for years, and it is also a nice little rifle. I thought about buying trigger locks for them, and finally did. My problem is that I now have no idea where the keys are. Rats!

Hillside Heaven

The old, red cabin on that hill may not look like much, and Grandmother herself always warned, "It's cruuuuuuuuude." My sisters and I dearly love the old place, and my heart swells every time I hear the sound of Taylor Creek, the creak of the front door opening and the musty smell of our cabin when we arrive there. I look forward to a couple of quiet days with family in the woods in Estill Springs.

Cabins and Kinfolk

We're going to pack the car tonight and drive tomorrow to what I used to refer to as Grandmotherland, which is Winchester and Estill Springs in Middle Tennessee. Laura and Grace are driving to Tims Ford State Park, where Laura has a cabin rented, today. Mom is cooking our Thanksgiving turkey today, and then coming to spend the night at our house so that we can get an early start to get there. I'm not sure if Les and Fraz are driving there today or tomorrow morning. The park is on Tims Ford Reservoir, pictured above, from the linked park website.

We're fortunate to be able to share our Thanksgiving holiday with some kinfolk we don't get to see as often as we'd like. My father's first cousins, Fran and Jimmy, live in Murfreesboro. Fran and her kids, Kinsey and Kelly, and Kelly's husband, Howard, are joining us for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at Tims Ford. We're hoping that on Friday Jimmy and his wife Debbie will be able to come out to visit our family cabin, which Dad and Jim and Fran played at when they were kids. There are generations of love in that place.

Joey and Jake Departing for Destin

Jake and Joey are spending the Thanksgiving weekend with their dad and his girlfriend down at her stepmom's place in Sandestin this year. We're going to miss them, but are happy they have the opportunity to have another beach trip to close out 2009. It is supposed to be 70 degrees down there today. There are showers forecast for this morning, but then it is supposed to clear up and be sunny tomorrow. I'm betting the boys will swim in 70 degree weather.

Grandmother Ogle and Thanksgiving

My Grandmother Ogle died on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2004, so today is the fifth anniversary of her death. In my memories of the Thanksgiving celebrations of my life, my grandparents' home in Winchester, Tennessee, and especially Grandmother's kitchen and dining room, figure prominently. We are celebrating this year by enjoying Thanksgiving at Grandmother and Granddaddy's cabin in Estill Springs. Laura has also reserved a cabin at nearby Tim's Ford State Park. Laura took the photo, which is the fireplace at our family cabin. I imagine it will have a similar blaze in it tonight.

Grandmother's typical Thanksgiving meal featured turkey and ham, and her cornbread dressing was a family favorite that we still make. She almost always made a congealed salad or two, usually a cranberry and/or orange salad. We referred to the latter as "orange jiggle salad." She almost always made cheese peas, which is basically Velveeta melted over peas, sometimes with other ingredients like onion, pimientos and/or boiled egg, depending on what she had in the kitchen that needed to be used up. She usually served a variety of vegetables, with green beans, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and Lima beans being among them.

Grandmother loved store-bought bread, especially dinner rolls, and she pushed them hard because she didn't want to wind up with them not being eaten and going stale. She always said, "Butter you up two, while they're hot!"

I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and though I will eat sweets occasionally, I would usually rather have another round of the main course than a dessert. With that caveat out of the way, I can't tell you how wonderful it would be to have a piece of Grandmother's pecan pie again. Pecan pie was my favorite, but for holidays she'd also have coconut cake and apricot nectar cake.

I just gained ten pounds thinking about it.

Jake and Joey Eligible for Magnet Schools

Joey and Jake just learned that they are eligible to attend one of Metro Nashville's magnet schools. Sherry is excited about he idea that they might be lucky enough to attend the beautiful Hume-Fogg school downtown, from which her grandmother graduated, though the slots are assigned by lottery.