‘Over the River and Through the Woods…’

Last week the New York Times featured a pullout section entitled: “A Classic Thanksgiving.” You couldn’t avoid noticing it because of the size, 22 inches by 48, and the enticing four-color photographs of a turkey and the other food against a bright red patterned background. The New York Times, founded in 1851, has a long history of publishing Thanksgiving recipes and the ones featured last week were a “dozen of their favorites.”

As you can imagine, the classic menu included turkey, gravy and dressing, cauliflower, carrots, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, potatoes, cranberry sauce, followed by apple and pumpkin pies and cheesecake. It sent the mind spinning back to glorious Thanksgiving dinners surrounded by friends and family.
What I have been thinking about is why Thanksgiving has become the holiday that is just slipped in between Halloween and Christmas: the blockbusters. Retailers ignore Thanksgiving; the media seems to focus on football and the difficulties traveling over the river and through the woods to get there. We forget that this is the “holiest secular holiday” in the United States and one that should have special meaning for every American. Many of my friends in New York vary the traditional menu because they are strictly vegetarian and vegan, or Indian, Chinese, or Japanese. Fish can replace the turkey; tofu is substituted for a number of traditional dishes and a curry dish enhances any feast. These changes reflect America.

A few years ago I discovered a Louisa May Alcott short story that was written about a Thanksgiving in New Hampshire. The piece is titled, “An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving.” The first line reads: “In November, 1881, sixty years ago, up among the New Hampshire hills, lived Farmer Bassett, with a houseful of sturdy sons and daughters growing up about him. They were poor in money, but rich in land and love, for the wide acres of wood, corn and pasture land fed, warmed and clothed the flock, while mutual patience, affection, and courage made the old farmhouse a very happy home.”
One year I edited the story and we read it between courses during our Thanksgiving feast. It can easily be found and downloaded from the Internet.

I love traveling to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving. My favorite dishes? Mashed turnip, real cranberry sauce made with very little sugar and, of course, mincemeat pie, made with the mincemeat from the recipe my grandparents used.

In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. The world has changed in ways President Lincoln couldn’t possibly imagine. What hasn’t changed is the need to give thanks and praise for all we have been given as Americans.

…Over the river, and through the wood,
with a clear blue winter sky,
The dogs do bark, and children hark,
as we go jingling by.

Over the river, and through the wood,
to have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring, “Ting-a-ling-ding!”,
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!

“Over the River and Through the Wood” was “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day”, a poem by Lydia Maria Child, originally published in 1844 in Flowers for Children, Volume 2.