BILL OF FARE

Roast turkey with cranberry and apple sauces
Sweet potatoes, roasted.White potatoes, mashed
Macaroni and cheese.Celery, pickles, cold slaw.
Rolls and Boston brown bread.
Mince and pumpkin pies.
Sweet cider
Raisins and nuts
Black coffee

Our bill of fare is a simple one, and of course as many additions can be made to it as desired. The first article to make on either Monday or Tuesday are the pies. Make the paste of one quart of flour, one half-pound of sweet, good butter, the same of lard, and one small cup of cold water. Chop the butter and lard into the flour, until as fine as powder, wet into a stiff dough, knead into a ball, and roll deftly and quickly into a thin sheet, always rolling from you. Fit on the pie plates.

For the pumpkin pies take one pint of stewed pumpkin, strained through a sieve, four eggs, one quart of milk, a little mace, cinnamon and nutmeg, and three-fourths of a cup of sugar. Beat well together and bake in a moderately hot oven without a cover. Before putting on the table sprinkle with powdered sugar.

If you have not mince meat already made buy from a good grocer a quart. Fill the pie plates and put on a thin crust. Before serving place in the oven to heat.

The turkey should be ordered or bought a few days before Thanksgiving. Have him plump and firm, also tender. To test a tender turkey, lift the wings, and if the skin breaks easily he is alright. As soon as you get your turkey home dress it and place it in salt water, first washing it in several waters, and in the last, mixing in a teaspoonful of soda. Two hours will roast a ten-pound turkey, if your fire is brisk. Make a dressing of bread crumbs, butter, pepper, salt, sage, thyme, sweet marjoram, one egg, and wet with a little hot milk. A little sausage and onion is liked by many. Sew the turkey up tightly, and dredge with flour. Baste at first with butter and water, afterward with the pan dripping. Fried oysters laid about the dish, when the turkey is served, is an improvement.

The cranberries should be boiled until very tender, then strained and sweetened. To make them jell, add a very little gelatine dissolved in warm water.

The apple sauce should be made of tart apples, and not sweetened. It may be also stuffed with gelatine, and both, if made the day before Thanksgiving, will save labor.

The white potatoes should be mashed as soon as done, and piled in a pyramid with a tiny tuft of parsley sticking out of the top. Allow an hour or more to roast the sweet potatoes. Keep the celery in water until time of serving.

Boil the macaroni in water until tender, then place in a deep dish, mix in a tablespoon of canned tomatoes, grate a little cheese over the layer, then put on another layer of macaroni, and so on until the dish is filled. Cover the top with grated cheese and place in a hot oven for ten minutes. Serve hot. This is a delicious dish.

Serve the cider with pie, and the raisins and nuts afterward, ending with a small cup of black coffee, which is made by taking a tea cup of coffee to a pint of water boil for ten minutes and serve without cream and sugar.--Canton Journal.

New England Style Recipes

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Pilgrims Banquet to Indian Chiefs was fit to set before a King

"The state dinner of the occasion--the real Thanksgiving dinner--took place on Saturday, the last day of the celebration." Writes Clifford Howard of "The First Thanksgiving Dinner" in America, in the November Ladies' Home Journal. "Notwithstanding that the kitchens of these wilderness homes were sadly wanting in many of the most common essentials of cookery, there was no lack of good things nor of appetizing dishes at this great feast. The earth, the air and the water had yielded their bountiful supplies, and the good dames had done honor to their skill and ingenuity by setting before their hungry guests and companions a repast as sumptuous and tempting as it was varied and delightful. Foremost of all there was roast turkey, dressed with beechnuts; then came rare venison pasties, savory meat stews with dumplings of barley flour, delicious oysters (the gift of the Indians, and the first ever tasted by the white men), great bowls of clam chowder with sea biscuit floating in the broth, roasts of all kinds, broiled fish, salads, cakes and plum porridge; while the center of each of the long tables was adorned with a large basket overflowing with wild grapes and plums and nuts of every variety.

"It was the time of the Indian summer. The soft, mellow sunlight shone warmly through the drowsy haze, illumining the sombre woodland with a rich golden light, while the gentle winds of the south, laden with the sweet perfumes of the forest, came as a lingering dream of summer to add to the joy and brightness of this Thanksgiving feast. Upon the balmy air arose the hum of many voices and the merry music of laughter, as the Pilgrims with their Indian guests partook of the feast that the Provider of all things had given them."

 

 

Days For Thanksgiving
Were Once More Common

Nowadays we Americans tend to think of Thanksgiving as an annual family ritual which began with the first joint Thanksgiving feast of the Pilgrims and Indians. What many of us do not realize is that in Colonial times despite the fact that life was a constant struggle against diseases which are now easily cured and against economic deprivations now handled through welfare departments, there were several occasions marked by special services of thanksgiving. These times for thanksgiving were not marked on a calendar; instead, they were celebrations arising from immediate reasons to give thanks.

For example, during time of war, whenever the colonists learned of victories for their side, they celebrated with festivals and gave public thanks to God in the old meeting-house. It is interesting to note that they thought days of solemn fasting might exert the necessary influence to give them occasion for the days of thanksgiving. As Huntoon's History of Canton, Mass., expresses it:

"When a squadron of French were in our northern waters, or disaster seemed about to overtake us from Indians from earthquakes, drought, and insects, days of solemn fasting, humiliation, and prayer were held, in which the devine guidance was sought and the covenant with God and with one another renewed."

On June 17, 1745, Parson Dunbar recorded that the French forces had been defeated at Cape Breton. He must have felt that the success of our soldiers could be related to two days of public fasting and prayer the Town had held to invoke victory, for he wrote: "Blessed be God who heareth prayer!"

On the following day a public thanksgiving was held in the church and sim~lar services to honor French defeats were held on November 27,1745; October 25, 1759; and October 9, 1760.

The faith of the old pastor in the tangible answer to prayer is very touching as we read his following words: "A private fast was held on June 22, 1757, on account of God's judgment upon the land, especially war and drought. The very next day God sent us in the morning and towards evening showers of rain. On June 30 the same thing was tried again; a public fast was held and on the following Tuesday God gave a plentiful rain, and the next day plentiful showers of ruin, by which he abundantly watered the earth."

A general fasting "on account of a very severe and distressing drought" was held on July 28, 1762, with the desired effect occurring two days later. Parson Dunbar called the rainfall "a gracious answer to our prayers."

The progress of science has made it possible for modern weather forecasters to make predictions with reasonable accuracy but there is still something we should have in common with Parson Dunbar and his flock, - a spirit of thankfulness for any blessings that refresh the areas of drought in our lives.

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