Thanksgiving Day, Recipes, And Fun Family Activities

The history of Thanksgiving, different types of menu, and family fun activities during this festive holiday.

Thanksgiving today is not just about food, family, friends, and football. To really appreciate the meaning of this festive holiday we need to remember why we are being thankful and when and where did Thanksgiving start?

The history of the American Thanksgiving starts in 1621 with the English colonist who landed in Plymouth. Known as the Pilgrims today, they celebrated with the Wampanoag Indians a three-day feast. The Pilgrims arrived in the “New World” from the Mayflower in 1620 and were part of the English colony that was seeking a better life, more religious freedom, and made mainly of “Puritans” and “Separatists” who believed King James of England had too much control on the church system.

The Plymouth colony had to endure a lot just to survive. Many Pilgrims died during the first winter of 1620. They were actually living on a huge plantation, the Pilgrims had to work hard on the land to produce a lot of food for families and live stock. The local Native Americans and Pilgrims soon became fast friends and joined together in farming and trading goods. By 1621 a large feast was made with the Wampanoag Indians to celebrate the fall season’s great harvest. A Thanksgiving was observed in honor of this. This marks the best mutual, peaceful moment with the Native Americans, and the New Englanders at this time.

In many respects, if not for the help of the Wampanoag tribe, the Plymouth colony wouldn’t have survived at all. The sympathetic Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, fishing techniques, hunting skills, cultivating and gathering various crops. For a long time the two groups lived peacefully and celebrated their combined efforts for a better life. For hundreds of years the message and meaning of Thanksgiving is about sharing, caring, loving, making new friendships, having sympathy for another, giving selflessly, showing acts of kindness, and mercy. Celebrating with everyone everywhere with an abundant harvest feast.

What does a traditional Thanksgiving dinner consist of? There are many different types of menu items to choose from for your Thanksgiving dinner. Here are a list of menu favorites you can try. Let’s start with the turkey. Oven roast turkey, butter, sage, parsley, basil, and thyme seasoning. Some roast turkey with rosemary, garlic, and lemon. Wine smoked turkey on grill with wine infused woodchips. Barbecued glazed turkey. All are quite good and any herb rubbed roast turkey will do as well. For detailed recipes go to Reader’sdigest.com, Bonappetit.com, and Betterhomesandgarden’s.com for variations.

What are the most popular sides to go with the turkey dinner? There are many varieties of stuffing, but the basics are cornbread stuffing, beard seasoned stuffing with onion, celery, sage, and herb spices. Apple-bacon cornbread stuffing, and cornbread, sausage, and dried fruit dressing. Wild rice or white rice with gravy. Brussels sprouts, green beans, tender carrots, creamed spinach, and broccoli. Fluffy mashed potatoes with chives, sweet potatoes or candy yams with marshmallows. Romaine or spinach salad, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, and herb rolls. Thanksgiving desserts consist of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, apple pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, cheesecake, pear tarts, and apple tarts. For list of vegan recipes for Thanksgiving check: Allrecipes.com, vegweb.com and the Foodnetwork.com under vegetarian Thanksgiving menu.

What kind of fun activities the whole family can do during Thanksgiving? For free Thanksgiving coloring pages click to Kaboose.com, other fun activities can be found on the familyfun.com, celebrations.com, thanksgivingfun.net/crafts, theholidayspot.com, other great tips at familycorner.com, Moms can try momswhothink.com for everything about Thanksgiving activities and recipes. Besides watching sports, indoor board games, and lively conversation are fun too. You can even find an enjoyable holiday movie to watch with the whole family. Christmas is right around the corner and films about thankfulness is at the top of the list. Thanksgiving is a day for gratitude. A day to give thanks to everything in your life with family and friends.



T.S.Garp © Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved.

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Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is a great seasonal alternative to Pumpkin this Fall and Winter. Butternut squash is loaded with nutritional benefits and full of preventional properties that help fight cancer.

Butternut squash is from the gourd family or part of the Cucurbitaceae family that includes the cucumber, melon, and pumpkins. Butternut squash is a winter squash and can be harvested in late fall and early winter. Members of the fall and winter squash family are Butternut squash, Hubbard, Pumpkins, Turban, and Acorn squash. There are many different types of squash from size, shape, color, and flavor. All winter squash have a thick skins, varied shapes, and colors from dark green, orange-yellow, grey-blue, cream-colored and orange-red with speckled patches of yellow-orange. Butternut squash is shaped like an elongated pear with cream colored skin and sweet tasting flesh on the inside.

Butternut squash, like most winter squash, have a very high nutritional value. Butternut squash in particular has a long history spanning back over 7000 years ago from native Indians living in the Western Hemisphere who cultivated and were eating this tasty and very beneficial squash. What are the health benefits of eating Butternut squash? During this autumn season instead of cooking with pumpkin, which will be on the menu throughout this holiday season, why not switch it up a bit and try reaping the rewards of this other flavorful squash. Butternut squash is rich in beta carotene, high in fiber, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and potassium.

Butternut squash has some powerful anti-cancer properties that are beneficial to the body. Science and research are just beginning to catch up with the health benefits of eating this particular squash. The beta-carotene found in Butternut squash gives a powerful nutritional value of vitamin A that can help reduce your risk of certain cancers like leukemia, may also help with BPH or benign prostatic hypertrophy, vision problems, and developing skin disorders. Butternut squash also has potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that prevent oxidization of cholesterol within the body which can help lower weight gain. Butternut squash is high in fiber and potassium that are beneficial in the prevention of high blood pressure and heart disease. Butternut squash is rich in folate, and has very low calories making this incredible autumn vegetable very healthy and beneficial to eat.

Butternut squash is available in early Autumn through Winter and can be found in most grocery stores and local food markets. Butternut squash has a sweet tasting orange flesh and can be a nice change of pace from regular pumpkin recipes. Try your hand at making new dishes with Butternut squash in soups, salads, stew, and pies. Butternut squash makes a great complement for this Fall season’s cooking recipes, and it makes a great alternative for a healthy diet too. For a list of 100 recipes on Butternut squash visit the Foodnetwork or Allrecipes or go to these links:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/butternut-squash/index.html or http://allrecipes.com/recipes/fruits-and-vegetables/vegetables-n-z/squash/winter-squash/butternut-squash/main.aspx

Try reading:
Pumpkin, Butternut and Squash: 30 Sweet and Savoury Recipes

T.S.Garp © Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved.

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