Thanksgiving in the South
A typical Thanksgiving menu found in many Southern homes in the US
The history of Thanksgiving in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States; a bird's eye view of a traditional Thanksgiving and holiday meal in the Southern U.S.
There is nothing like Thanksgiving in the South! Thanksgiving, the annual holiday to give thanks to God for the bounty of harvest, is celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada on the second Monday of October. It is celebrated in the United Kingdom as “Harvest Festival,” and is held in local churches on a Sunday at the end of harvest season.
The Harvest Festival tradition was brought to America by the first colonists, who celebrated their first American Thanksgiving with Native American Guests. John Hanson, President of the Continental Congress, declared the first official Thanksgiving Day in the United States in 1775. The Continental Congress appointed thanksgiving days each year, except in 1777. In 1777, George Washington proclaimed the day of thanksgiving, and again in 1789 and 1795.
The traditional Southern Thanksgiving meal at my home in North Carolina always centered on a large turkey and a large ham – both baked slowly in the oven under tinfoil or a cover to seal in the juices. The natural juices were always made into gravy, and the turkey was always packed full of stuffing. But no holiday meal was ever complete without the vegetables from our garden, from which there was always a profusion of irresistable food that our mother had stored, frozen, or canned in the summer.
Our “must have” favorite vegetable dishes for Thanksgiving included:
- Stewed collards with seasoning meat (usually part of the ham or ham hocks)
- Corn on the cob
- Creamed Corn
- Corn fritters
- Stewed butterbeans
- Stewed tomatoes
- Fried okra
- Cranberry Sauce
- Pumpkin Pies and Sweet Potato Pies
- Stewed potatoes with onions
- Baked sweet potatoes
- Mustard-based potato salad
Our holiday dining table was literally so full, there was hardly enough room for your plates. Thanksgiving and Christmas were always the seasons of "over abundance." When I started cooking holiday meals for my own family, I found myself carrying on the same traditions I had learned at home. Other items we added, as they were available, might include:
- Southern fried (breaded) venison with onion gravy
- Pecan pie
- Banana pudding
- Preserved pears, peaches or frozen blueberries
- Endless array of cakes, biscuits, and sweet treats
If you'd like a whole page of healthy Thanksgiving recipes, including vegetable dishes, turkey, and much more, see Stephanie Gallagher's Healthy Cooking recipes here. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of Southerners turn to deep-fried turkey for a refreshing change of pace. There is a great simple recipe at http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_32324,00.html.
Typically, in Southern homes where hunters live, the lady of the house is up early cooking. The hunter is gone by daybreak, returns at lunchtime for the traditional Thanksgiving meal, and then he returns to his hunting. The rest of the meal is consumed at dinner time (which Southerners sometimes call “supper,” around 6 pm.)
Our Thanksgivings include watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, drinking a lot of iced tea, and sharing all the latest news with visiting friends and family members. When we were young, at Thanksgiving, we took our annual "big walk in the woods" to pick out a cedar tree for Christmas. This was exciting. Mom would invent stories about Indian braves and maidens along the way. Every tree in the forest was magical...
However you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I hope it will be a wonderful occasion, full of healthy vegetables, good friends and family, and a lot of love. Remember to give thanks for your blessings.
Resources:
Read about a German-American Thanksgiving
