Turkey Hill Steamers
A Scant Number Of Autumn Turkey Actualities
While you probably always remember eating delicious Thanksgiving turkey on Thanksgiving Day, historians note that the turkey was not the featured food on the original Thanksgiving Day menu. It only was following a few years that the Pilgrims put tough years, especially tough winters, behind them.
The breakthrough came in 1621 when their harvest was a total success. It was so special, in fact, that the Pilgrims invited their Indian neighbors for a three-day celebration and stuffed themselves with all kinds of food. We know this included turkey because Governor Bradford wrote they took many wild turkeys from the storage of fowl. But, it likely included other types of birds and venison, plus many types of seafood.
What could have been on the initial Thanksgiving Day menu:
- Duck
- Venison
- Indian corn
Is it true they conducted Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?! Unfortunately it’s true, as they lacked spices and sugar and ovens at that early stage in our nation’s history!
It was not until 1863, under the guidance of President Lincoln, that Thanksgiving became an official U.S. holiday. Previously, George Washington declared it to be a holiday.Yet,Thanksgiving didn’t become the holiday we know it to be until the mid-1850s . And the main staple of today’s Thanksgiving feasts, the turkey, didn’t become a regular on Thanksgiving tables until after the 1850s.
Although the foods we eat may be similar, if not identical, the values of Thanksgiving and Christmas are markedly different. During Thanksgiving, people thank God for the food and blessings that they received throughout the previous year, and ask for continued blessings. More religious-based than Thanksgiving, Christmas is geared toward Christianity.
Turkey during Thanksgiving certainly is a big business. In the U.S. alone, nearly five billion pounds of turkey are eaten during Thanksgiving and Christmas {This adds up to nearly $8 billion|In dollars and cents, Americans spend about $8 billion each Thanksgiving and Christmas to eat turkey. In the last few decades, the Thanksgiving turkey itself has become bigger and bigger. The size of domestic turkeys increases annually, courtesy of genetic engineering and improved breeding practices.
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