The First Thanksgiving

The first colonists often celebrated days of thanksgiving as it was a big part of their religious beliefs. Thanksgiving days for the early colonists were quiet days of prayer - not feasts as we think of them today. However, in 1621 the pilgrims had their first big harvest and the reason why this harvest was successful was in part due to the support they received from the local Wampanoag Indians.

To celebrate the first large harvest as well as the cooperation and interaction between the English colonists and the Native Americans, a feast was held in Plymouth in the fall of 1621 - this is by many to be considered the first Thanksgiving. Since Plymouth is just a few miles from where I live, this time of year brings added meaning as we think about this historical event that took place hundreds of years ago right out our back door.

The legacy of thanks, and particularly of the feast, have survived the centuries as people throughout the United States gather with family, friends, and enormous amounts of food for their yearly Thanksgiving meal.


So, what foods were on the table during that first historical meal? Although we can't be certain as to exactly what they ate, we do know that this meal did not have mashed potatoes since potatoes were not available to the colonists during that time. Based on historical writings we can be certain that venison and wild fowl, probably wild turkey since it's so common to this area, was most definitely on the menu.

Although our modern Thanksgiving menu includes lots of vegetables, the colonists' menu was centered around many different meats since vegetables did not traditionally play a large part of any meal. Back then colonists needed lots of protein since they were more active and needed to survive long cold winters.

It's also interesting to note that pilgrims did not use forks to eat since they had yet to be invented. Instead they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers. Salt also would have been at the table, but pepper would not have been.

Above - Traditional Wampanoag Indian place setting included a spoon, turtle shell, and knife.

Above - Traditional Colonial English Setting Table from early 1600's

Here's a list of foods that were probably on the menu. This list has been obtained from Plimoth Plantation.

Foods That May Have Been on the Menu

Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

What Was Not on the Menu

Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims' first feast table:

Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.


So, as you prepare for your Thanksgiving meal think about what the early colonist may have eaten and how different things are today. But one thing that has not changed throughout the years is our gratitude for the blessings we have received and for the family and friends that are so close to our hearts.

You Know Thanksgiving is Coming When...

....A bunch of wild turkeys cross the street in front of your house (sorry the pics are blurry, but these guys were moving fast!).

Their Final Resting Place

As the birthplace of our country Massachusetts has a long and storied past. With so many generations having lived here and with it being the home to many famous people there are bound to be a bevy of haunted places. So on this eve of Halloween grab a friend and hang on to your heart as we take a tour of some of the creepiest cemeteries in the Boston area.



King's Chapel Burying Ground was founded in 1630 as the first cemetery in the city of Boston.

John Winthrop's grave site. He was the first Puritan governor of Massachusetts.



William Dawes, Revolutionary War hero, grave site.



Founded in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is the city's third-oldest cemetery. It is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War patriots, signers of the Declaration of Independence, and victims of the Boston Massacre.



Paul Revere's grave site.



John Hancock's grave site.


Boston Massacre grave site.



Mother Goose's grave site - yes she was a real person.

Burial Hill is the oldest cemetery in Plymouth dating back to colonial times. Before it became a cemetery, it was the site of the first fort, meeting house, and place of worship. Last Halloween night we took a ghost tour of this cemetery. Talk about scary! Our tour guide told many bone chilling stories that night.


John Howland's grave site. John was one of the pilgrims that came over on the Mayflower.

I think the creepiest cemetery is Salem's Burying Point. On this small patch of land are buried those responsible for the Salem Witch Trials.




One of the most notorious figures of the witch trials - Justice John Hathorne's grave site.


This now concludes our tour - be sure no one from beyond is following you home. ;)

Happy Halloween!!!

Fertilizer Friday - October 16

Happy Friday everyone! Please join me and our host Tootsie over at Tootsie Time for another edition of Fertilizer Friday.

It's mid-October already and this weekend we are expecting a Nor' Easter and a dusting of snow. Around my yard there's not much blooming and the houseplants have been taken in for the season, but thankfully the mums are still doing really well.


The coleus tilt-a-whirl hasn't been affected by the cold yet. I'm planning on propagating this one.



I found this leaf really interesting with the bug-eaten holes.



Shades of red and burgundy are all around us this time of year. The sumac fruit is so vibrant.




There are lots of rose hips on the side of the road and especially around the beaches.



Wildflowers always make me happy especially in fall. I found these growing in the backyard.





I'm still amazed this zinnia is around. I've really got to gather up some seeds from it - if it ever would stop raining.

Kayaking on a Crisp Autumn Day

One of the best ways to take in nature's beauty is by kayaking. Whether you're paddling along a sleepy river, exploring a salt marsh, or catching the waves of the ocean this fun sport enables you to go places and see things that you'd never be able to explore on land.

Leaf peeping takes on new meaning when you are in a kayak. On a recent chilly autumn day we took in all the glorious colors during a paddle down the Nemasket river.

On this day the river was calm and the air still so it made for an easy paddle. Here you can see the river looked like a mirror.



As the river was winding we started to hit some thick vegetation. This actually made it challenging to paddle.

Turning the corner we started to spot something moving. I grabbed for my camera and....

....look what I saw! A blue heron standing proudly in the marsh.


Continuing on we spotted many brightly colored maple trees like the tall one below with dazzling red leaves.
There were a few large rocks and boulders on the side of the river. Some were actually right in the middle of the river and we had to navigate around them.


As you can see Andy paddles much faster than I do and he's always way ahead of me.... hey whatever happened to the buddy system?






We often hit spots where the trees made a gorgeous canopy over the river. Some canopies were so low we'd have to duck to go under them.


Once we were through the first canopy we saw some really interesting dead trees and branches.




Here was an old abandoned cottage. When we got to this area we could hear coyotes howling.... I was glad I was on the water! It made for a spooky pre-Halloween trip.




I love the way the leaves look when they have fallen on the water. I wish the camera could have captured the colors better because they were so radiant.




We paddled on for 3 hours and enjoyed some more bird watching. There were a few other kayakers and one couple canoeing that passed by us. As the sun started to set we knew we had to head back to the boat ramp. With heavy hearts we returned to our cars. There won't be many more days this season like this one. Soon the trees will be bare and the river frozen over, but for the moment we felt like we went back in time - we could just imagine what the Indians saw and the pilgrims who settled not too far from here in Plymouth.

Cranberry Country

When the air gets brisk and the leaves put on their golden display it's time to harvest cranberries. Massachusetts is the 2nd largest producer of cranberries in the United States with Wisconsin being the largest. The cranberry is one of only a handful of fruits native to North America - the Concord grape and blueberry being the others. Cranberries were widely found in Massachusetts, as documented by the Pilgrims who settled here. Rumor has it that cranberries may have been served at the first Thanksgiving dinner in Plymouth. Recipes using cranberries date back to the 1700s.


Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines that have slender, wiry stems and small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink in the spring which eventually yields a large red berry in the fall. The plants are found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler parts of the United States. The name cranberry derives from "craneberry," first named by early European settlers in America who felt the expanding flower, stem, calyx, and petals resembled the neck, head, and bill of a crane.

We are lucky enough to live in the heart of cranberry country.


As a matter of fact the corporate headquarters of Ocean Spray is only a few miles from our house. So what does one do when it's cranberry season? Why you celebrate this colorful fall bounty by visiting the annual Cranberry Festival.

There are several cranberry festivals all over our region, but our favorite is the one hosted by Edaville in Carver, Massachusetts. Edaville is a family amusement park famous for it's old-fashion train rides that wind through acres of cranberry bogs.








After a leisurely train ride we headed for the exhibitor booths and food court.

We stopped at the general store for some some delicious cranberry jam and warm bread.


I enjoyed watching the blacksmith do some forging. My grandfather was a blacksmith so this always brings back memories of visiting his shop when I was a child.




After enjoying some time talking to local craftsman we headed for the cranberry museum. Here's a display made entirely of vintage labels.


This is an early cranberry processing machine. The cranberries would move along the belt and the ones that bounced the most had the highest quality.

Some old cranberry crates.

A vintage barrel label.

These are dry harvesting machines.

A selection of vintage wooden cranberry scoops. These comb-like tools are used to harvest cranberries by hand.



This displays shows the different layers that comprise a cranberry bog.


Here's what's in those layers.

A vintage wet harvesting machine.

Vintage wheelbarrows that are made to hold crates of cranberries.


A vintage barrel.


This display shows the timeline of Ocean Spray.


A cool old truck.... every time I see one of these I want one for myself.

Another harvesting machine.


When we left the cranberry museum we headed for a tour of the bogs.


Here the cranberry bog has been flooded for harvesting.




Andy (on the left) stopped to chat with the man who had just finished harvesting one of the bogs.




As the vines are wet harvested they often get tangled in the machine and have to be cleaned out periodically.


These 3 cranberries look like eggs to me.


Here's a cranberry bog as it looks prior to being flooded. It's not very pretty at this stage but soon it will be a sea of red berries.

All of these cranberries got me itching to do some baking. I'll be posting my favorite cranberry bread recipe soon so stay tuned.