Post by Laurel Chaisson on Nov 29, 2005 11:54:54 GMT -5
Cooking Around the Calendar with Kids: Holiday and Seasonal Food and Fun
by Amy Houts
by Amy Houts
Come, ye thankful people come,
Raise the song of harvest-home,
All is safely gathered in,
‘Ere the winter storms begin.
So begins my favorite childhood Thanksgiving song written by Henry Alford in 1844. What is Thanksgiving to you? Is it turkey, stuffing, and cranberries? Or family, friends, and football? Or is it Pilgrims, Indians, and freedom?
There is a history in this feasting day, which is a proud American event. One where people celebrated the freedom they gained to worship in a way they believed to be true. One where people learned from and became friends with people of another culture. Pilgrims and Indians talked together, played games together, ate together, and gave thanks this first Thanksgiving celebration, which lasted three days.
Thanksgiving became a national holiday in the 19th century. In Sandra Markle’s book, Exploring Autumn, she explains: “The current observance of a national Thanksgiving Day is largely the result of the thirty-year effort of Sarah Josepha Hale. As the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, a very popular publication in the United States, she campaigned for the establishment of this holiday. Finally, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday in November be set aside for this holiday, and the first official Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in 1863.”
The foods we associate with this meal are not necessarily the ones they ate in 1621. The Pilgrims ate what was near by, or food which they could grow in the rocky soil. The menu most probably included cod, sea bass, and possibly lobsters, clams, eels, and oysters from the ocean; wild turkey, duck, goose, and deer from the land; wild cranberries, currants, blueberries, cherries and raspberries, and carrots, turnips, radishes, onions, cabbages, and corn which they grew in the garden. In fact, deer meat was the featured main dish, rather than turkey, as it is today. Goat’s milk was used to drink and make cheese instead of cow’s, as this domestic animal did not arrive until 1625.
What would Thanksgiving be without pumpkin pie? Who else, besides pumpkin growers, would want to eat pumpkin pie in the spring or summer? Once a year seems to be just enough. Yet what else would you dream of eating when the chill in the air made you mindful of what lies ahead. The scent of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, the essence of pumpkin pie spice, fills the warmth of the kitchen, and you know you will be well fed.
When my older daughter, Emily, was preschool age, she didn’t like many vegetables or fruits. And fruit pies were something she shied away from with a firm, “No, thank you.” But there was something about pumpkin pie that made her try a bite and eat a whole piece. Maybe it was the texture, the smooth, spicy sweetness, and the whipped cream topping. She loved it! Children always keep me second-guessing because I never would have believed that pumpkin would have been the one pie Emily would eat.
People have tried modernizing pumpkin. They have made pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin muffins, but the best way to serve pumpkin is baked in a pie. And pumpkin pie is relatively easy to make, even with children. After the pie crust is ready, all ingredients are mixed together in one bowl, poured into the crust and baked.
What makes up the filling of a pumpkin pie? The First American Cookbook—A Facsimile of American Cookery, published in 1796 simply states: ‘Pompkin (Pumpkin) No.2, One quart of milk, 1 pint pompkin, 4 eggs, molaffes (molasses), allfpice (allspice), and ginger in a cruft (crust), bake 1 hour.’
Traditional Pumpkin Pie:
Unbaked 9-inch pie shell
2 cups (16 oz.) pumpkin
1 2/3 cups light cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teasthingy cinnamon
1/4 teasthingy cloves
1/2 teasthingy ginger
1 /2 teasthingy salt
Have pie crust ready. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Ask children to help measure and mix ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into pie shell.
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 45 minutes or until set.
Cool. Serve each piece with a dollop of whipped cream.
Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie
Be sure to refrigerate your pie after it cools. Pumpkin pie is made with eggs so it would spoil if left unrefrigerated.
No-Sugar Date Bars:
1 cup dates
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 teasthingy vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teasthingy baking soda
1/4 teasthingy salt
Children can use kitchen scissors to cut dates into small pieces. In medium saucepan, boil dates and water for 5 minutes. Add butter or margarine. Mix and set aside to cool.
Add eggs and vanilla to the date mixture in saucepan. Measure flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to mixture in pan. Stir in nuts.
Spread in greased 7 x 11-inch pan and bake in 350 degrees F oven for 20 - 25 minutes.
Yield: 15 bars
Variation for Spicy Date Bars: add 1/2 teasthingy cinnamon and 1/4 teasthingy nutmeg to flour mixture.