Though we've read about that in Magic Tree House: Thanksgiving on Thursday and watched it on Charlie Brown's history of the holiday (which has a lot of death for a kid's show).
No, yesterday was our first official Thanksgiving feast, the potluck at our church.
And like the original pilgrims, we almost didn't make it. My car wouldn't start yesterday morning: dead battery (from interior lights accidentally left on during the search for a toy). But after Mama executed a 180 in the driveway and hooked up the jumper cables, nothing happened. A call to her dad and to roadside assistance didn't solve the problem. Our neighbor, Mr Plumber, did though. He was out with his morning coffee and saw our hoods up, coming over to help. In his spare time, he restores old hot rods and so jump-starting a car is second nature to him. He moved this and agitated that and it worked. Soon, we were off.
After a service that seemed inordinately long to the kids, no doubt (even with a communion "snack" of apple cider and tortilla chips there at the end), we headed into lunch, with four long tables filled with the best offerings of our members: turkey, dressings, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetable casseroles, cranberry sauces, Indian pulao, spiced lentils, Syrian rice, meatloaf, numerous pasta dishes. And that doesn't include the two full tables of desserts! This year, instead of just attacking the buffet like vultures at a kill, we went up table by table--and our table was last! But it was closest to the desserts, so we started with those (knowing they'd be gone by the time we got through the line). Pumpkin rolls, pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, our cranberry upside-down cake, key lime pie, cheese ring, and other desserts.
Bud liked his usuals (blueberry pie, ham, turkey), Sis hers (pumpkin pie, gravy), though neither ate the versions of the dishes they've requested for our own dinner. He ignored the cranberry sauces on his plate; she wouldn't touch either the sweet or the mashed potatoes. At least she said she liked my versions better. So I imagine I'll make them anyway. I really liked the non-traditional Thanksgiving dishes and sought out the recipes (of course). I haven't tracked down the spiced Syrian rice with fruits and nuts, but did find the pulao and Spiced Lentils, made by my church school co-teacher. And when she told me they were from Mollie Katzen's Enchanged Broccoli Forest, I laughed. See, I have that cookbook; it was my first vegetarian cookbook, long before I was a vegetarian (I had asked a veg friend to loan me hers but she refused and so I found my own). And as an inexperienced and not confident cook, I found it difficult and complicated to use. In fact, recently, remembering early failures with it, I thought about donating it to the church booksale. Well, not now--the rice and lentils were delicious. I think I'll have to give it another try (and I link to the recipe for pulao here because Katzen's illustrations are so charming).
Before we left lunch, we wrote what we were thankful for on leaves to attach to the centerpiece. Bud said, "baseball." Sis's leaf sums it all up: Mommy, Mama, Sis, Bud, Gommie, Pop, Ma, Gong, Hermione, Albus, friends, school, critters.
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Spiced Lentils with Spinach and Apples
2 cups dried lentils
5 cups water
1 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne
1/2 lb spinach , chopped
2 medium-sized green apples (Granny Smith or Pippin), peeled and chopped
Boil lentils in water and then reduce heat to low, partially covered, and simmer 15 minutes.
Add onion, celery, cumin, mustard, ginger, coriander, and turmeric. Cover and cook for 10 minutes more, then add lemon juice and garlic. Cover and cook again for 10 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
Stir in salt and add peppers to taste. Add spinach and apples at the end so they only cook slightly.
Mollie Katzen, Enchanted Broccoli Forest
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