Thanksgiving Thankfulness

It is hard to believe that we have arrived at this time of year again so
quickly.  Last year, we re-created the first harvest festival by following
some of the recipes and activities that are included in the Thanksgiving
Primer.  We even dressed up as pilgrims to attend our Thanksgiving feast. 
Everyone, that is, except my mother-in-law.  She came as the solitary
native american.  What incredible memories we made!  What a wonderful
day we spent together as family and friends.

Today, I would like to inspire you to make this Thanksgiving celebration
(coming up next week!) a memorable and reflective occasion.   This
newsletter is jam-packed with recipes, creative ideas and inspirational
stories to help you plan your special day with your loved ones.
 

The Word on Thanksgiving

JoJo Tabares, from Art of Eloquence has graciously given us this
meaningful little ebook that I have attached for you here.  There are
some great scripture passages included which would be perfect for
memorization.  It is a very quick read!

My Favorite Stuffing Recipe

I have made this stuffing recipe for 15 years in a row.  Why?  Because
no one will let me out of it, my family loves it so much!  They look
forward to it every year.  That and my spring green salad, but I will
share that will you in a future newsletter because you can have that
anytime!

Sausage Apple Stuffing

24oz loaf egg bread                  ½ pint sour cream

6 T butter                          ¼ C Madeira wine

1lb bulk pork sausage               2 eggs

2 C chopped onion                   Salt and Pepper

½ C chopped celery

2 medium apples (peeled/chopped)

3 cloves of crushed garlic

¾ C chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 200 degrees; cut crusts off bread to make croutons
(or just buy croutons!).  In a large skillet, melt 2 T of butter, add
the sausage and cook until all pink is gone.  Place in bowls with bread
croutons.  Melt remaining 4 T of butter in skillet and sauté onions,
celery, apples and garlic, stirring 8 minutes.  Remove to bowl with bread
cubes.  Add pecans.  In a small bowl, combine eggs, sour cream and Madeira
wine.  Pour over stuffing and toss lightly.  Season to taste (how you do
this with raw eggs, I do not know - just take a good guess knowing you can
always salt more at the table.)  Stuff the bird or place in a large shallow
casserole dish.  Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.  Bake
uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.  Delicious!  You will be stuck
with making this recipe for life!

Thanksgiving Feast on a Dime

by Jill Cooper

It's really hard to find ways to save on your Thanksgiving dinner because,
let's face it -- It doesn't get a whole lot cheaper than a turkey dinner!
Still, I have found some ways that you can save and today I'll pass them
on to you! ;-)

For starters, the larger turkeys are usually cheaper, so buy the largest
one you can. I hear some of you groaning now about what to do with all
those leftovers because you really don't need a 22 lb. turkey for 6 people.
Not to worry -- just don't bake the whole thing.

I discovered one year by accident that my butcher (at a regular national
chain grocery store) would cut it in half for me. Even if it is frozen he
can still do it. This discovery really changed my life. (That sounds
dramatic, but I was really having a problem becoming "one" with my
turkeys.)

I suddenly had the revelation that I didn't have to deal with mounds of
leftover turkey that haunted my post Thanksgiving menu for years. I had
just enough for a good old turkey sandwich and some soup. I mean
Thanksgiving really isn't Thanksgiving without a few leftovers, is it?

It was so much easier to handle and prepare an 11 lb. turkey rather than
to man handle a 22 lb. one. Getting it cleaned and into the pan was a
breeze and in and out of the oven was just plain simple.

Just wrap the other half and freeze it to use for Christmas. I've often
made ham for Christmas just because by Christmas we are so sick of turkey
that we don't want to think of preparing another one -- ever! By not
creating so many leftovers, your family might not mind having turkey
again. That's also potentially one less thing to buy for Christmas
dinner.

If you still don't want to have turkey for Christmas, save it for some
cold day in January. If you have a large enough crock pot, cook the
turkey it the crock pot. If not, cook it on very low in the oven so that
it slow cooks all day. Do you know how delightful it is to come home to
the yummy smell of slow cooked turkey?

Save by making your own pies and instead of buying the expensive pre-made
ones. If you are daunted by the thought of making pie crust, just buy a
ready made one. They are usually on sale for very little around
Thanksgiving.

It really isn't that hard to make the filling for most pies. Often they
are easier to make than a cake or cookies. If you like the traditional
pumpkin pie, most cans have the recipe on the back. I also know a real
good book you can find the recipe in called Dining on a Dime. HA!HA!

If your family and friends aren't fussy about having the traditional,
then you can make banana cream, chocolate, or butterscotch pie. Just take
a box of banana pudding, mix it up and pour it into a baked pie crust.
Cover with sliced bananas and whipped topping. For the chocolate pie use
chocolate pudding with chocolate chips in it and cover it with whipped
topping. For the butterscotch use butterscotch pudding, whipped topping
and sprinkle with butterscotch chips. My mouth is watering just thinking
about it!

You don't have to make so many pies that you could open a bakery. I have
found that most kids are just as happy with a platter of cookies. Don't
overdo it. You'll just wear yourself out! If you have time, make the
cookies in the shapes of pumpkins and turkeys.

Save on your relish dish. Buying ingredients for a relish dish can get
expensive, especially where we live. One year I paid more for my relish
dish items than my turkey. If you're having this problem, only use 3-4
veggies on it instead of 10 and cut out on the more expensive veggies.
For example broccoli and cauliflower are very high priced for us so I
would probably use carrots and celery. I fill the celery with cheese or
peanut butter or cut them into fancy shapes. On this occasion, the turkey
is the star and most people won't even notice that you cut back on the
relish dish.

Don't make so many side dishes-- Like I said the turkey, gravy and mashed
potatoes are above all else. By the time everyone stuffs themselves on
those, they only eat a token amount of the side dishes. Why? ---Because
of course everyone wants to save room for dessert!!!!!

Jill Cooper  raised two teenagers on $500 a month after becoming ill with
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.   She is a frequent contributor to web ezines
and has her own web site: www.LivingOnADime.com where she shares her
newest ideas for everything from decorating for holidays to cleaning the
kitchen floor. 

A History Lesson
The First Thanksgiving

America's Thanksgiving Day commemorates the Pilgrims' 1621 harvest feast,
part of the story of the settling of Plymouth Colony, an important period
in American history. The Pilgrims had originally planned to travel to
America during the summer of 1620, but they encountered several delays
in getting started. Finally they left England in September, sailed across
the ocean on the Mayflower, and arrived at Plymouth in December. The cold
and snow interfered with the workers as they tried to construct their
homes in the wilderness. Half of the Pilgrims died during the long
winter.

On March 16, 1621, an Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement.
The Pilgrims were surprised to hear him say "Welcome" in English! His name
was Samoset and he had learned some English words from ship captains who
sailed and fished along the east coast. Samoset soon returned with another
Indian named Tisquantum (Squanto), who spoke even better English and
became a good friend to the Pilgrims. Squanto showed them which plants
were poisonous and which had medicinal properties. He taught them how to
grow corn, how to use fish as fertilizer, and how to tap the maple trees
for sap. He also served as an interpreter between the Pilgrims and Chief
Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe.

The Pilgrims had a bountiful first harvest and there was enough food to
place in storage for the coming winter. Despite their severe hardships in
the beginning, the Pilgrims had much to be thankful for because they had
successfully built a settlement, raised crops, achieved religious freedom,
and were at peace with the native people. Governor William Bradford
announced that they should have a harvest festival, and invite their
Indian neighbors to join them. Exactly when the celebration took place
is uncertain, but it is believed to have been in mid-October, and it
lasted for three days.

The festivities included playing games, running races, marching and
drumming. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow
while the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Four adult Pilgrim
women (the only women left after the terrible first winter) were probably
in charge of all the cooking, serving about fifty Pilgrims, Chief
Massasoit, and ninety Indian braves. The harvest feast would have included
the following foods: venison, wild fowl (ducks, geese, and turkeys), fish,
lobsters, mussels, scallops, clams, corn, beans, squash, pumpkin, crab
apples, wild grapes, berries, and nuts.

The second year's harvest was not as plentiful, and the Pilgrims ran
short of food after sharing some with newcomers. The third year, spring
and summer were hot and dry with the crops dying in the fields. Governor
Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and rain came soon
afterwards. To celebrate, November 29th of that year was proclaimed a
day of thanksgiving, which in this case was actually a formal religious
service.

Since the Pilgrims' original feast was not repeated, it can't be called
the beginning of a tradition, nor did the Pilgrims call it a Thanksgiving
Feast. Nevertheless, an annually celebrated thanksgiving held after the
harvest gradually became a custom in many states. In 1676, the town council
of Charlestown, Massachusetts proclaimed the first official Thanksgiving
Day. In 1789, President George Washington recommended to the American
people a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. However, it wasn't until
1863 that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day.

Fun Facts

The Pilgrims didn't wash their wooden bowls - they just wiped them out.
They used stale bread as plates, and then they would eat the plates! They
would pass one or two cups around for everyone to drink from. Children
usually stood at the table and shared a dish.

Did You Know...? The Pilgrims liked to recite psalms and sing hymns, such as:

"Lord of the earth and seas and skies,

Thou Source Supreme of all supplies,

accept our praise for mercies given,

for mercies shewn on Earth from Heaven."

 ~A Thanksgiving Hymn to Almighty God for His Blessing on the Harvest

Pilgrim Timeline

Plymouth Colony existed from 1620 until 1691 when it was incorporated
into the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During this time period, the Dutch
artists Rembrandt and Vermeer were painting masterpieces, the Three
Musketeers were guarding the king of France, Isaac Newton was making
scientific discoveries, the First Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays
was published in England, and pirates of all nationalities were using
the island of Tortuga as their base of operations in the Caribbean.

Teri Ann Berg Olsen is a home educator and author of the book "Learning
for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom." For more information, visit
www.knowledgehouse.info. 

Coloring Page

Here is a beautiful coloring page you can print drawn by Barbara Shukin -
http://www.homeschooljourney.com/massasoit2.pdf

This coloring book page is of Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag, and
his warriors entering Plymouth. It depicts the event of 1621 in which
Massasoit, shown respectfully escorted by Captain Myles Standish, signed
a treaty with the Pilgrims. This treaty lasted until Massasoit's death in
1656.

Margaret Pumphrey wrote a chapter on this peace treaty in her book
Stories of the Pilgrims. You can read that chapter at The Baldwin Project.
Click here for Stories of the Pilgrims.

Let's Remember to be Thankful!
By Katie Kubesh

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our
blessings."  ~Eric Hoffer

It is the first of December and your kids have spent the entire month of
November learning about the first Thanksgiving, they made a Thanksgiving
lapbook, your family started a Tree of Thanks, and you may have even
helped those less fortunate by serving a Thanksgiving meal at a shelter
or church.  November is a great month to teach your kids about gratitude. 

So what happens after you have packed away the Thanksgiving lapbook, the
Tree of Thanks, and the aprons you wore to serve the Thanksgiving meal? 
Do the lessons they learned about being thankful get packed away too? 
Tucked away in a little corner of their brain ready to be unpacked again
next November? 

November is a great time of year to teach your kids about gratitude, and
one of the greatest lessons of all is to teach them how to be grateful
the entire year- not just for the few weeks that the Tree of Thanks hangs
on the hall closet door!  December is the perfect month to be able to
continue the great lesson of gratitude!

Every year on Christmas Eve, my entire family meets at my parents' house. 
It is not unusual to have 25 or more people all tearing open presents at
the same moment, bows and ribbons flying through the air, and people
shouting "thank you" across a room of noisy kids and Christmas carols in
the background.  Now that I have three children participating in this
annual event, I can't help but wonder if they even have the chance to be
grateful in all this chaos.  How do I go about teaching them gratitude,
not just this Christmas, but all year long?  How can we make it a
priority in our busy lives to take time out each day to show our
gratitude?  Fortunately, I have found a few tips to help me teach my
children (and re-teach myself) to be thankful every day of the year.

v     If your family did not do a Tree of Thanks for Thanksgiving, why
not make one for Christmas?  Or switch the fall-themed tree you used in
November to a conifer tree and continue the custom of writing what you
are thankful for and displaying it for everyone to see.

"Saying thank you is more than good manners.  It is good spirituality."

 ~Alfred Painter

v     Gratitude starts with your own attitude as a parent.  Talk to your
kids about the things you are grateful for.  Start a conversation with
them by telling your kids something that you are grateful for and why. 
Encourage them to share the same with you.  Do this in the car, while
you are giving them a bath, before you tuck them in each night.  Make
gratitude a part of your spirit.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest
appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

~John F. Kennedy

v     As your children hand you their Christmas "wish lists" ask them why
the items on their lists are important to them.  Encourage them to start
thinking about ways they can show their gratitude for the gifts they will
receive.  For example, encourage your son or daughter to not only tell
Grandma "thank you" for the gift, but to do something special to thank
her- it could be shoveling her porch off, writing her a brief note, or
making her favorite batch of cookies.

Gratitude keeps you healthy!  Studies have even been conducted on the
effects of gratitude.  Since ancient history, philosophers and spiritual
leaders have celebrated and encouraged gratitude among the faithful. 
Major religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hindu
encourage gratitude.  Only until recently have scientists began to
question the relationship between gratitude and emotional and physical
well being.

One study divided several hundred people into three groups.  The first
group kept a diary of events that occurred during their day, the second
group listed their unpleasant experiences, and the third group kept a
daily list of things they were grateful for.  The results of this study
showed that exercises in daily gratitude increased a person's level of
alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism, and energy.  It also
showed that the group who wrote about their gratitude daily were less
likely to experience depression, were more likely to help others,
exercised more regularly, and were able to achieve personal goals. 
Scientists who conducted this study suggest that you can increase your
sense of well-being simply by counting your blessings!

In another study, researchers found that people who wrote a list of five
things they were grateful for each day each night before going to bed
actually got more sleep and felt more refreshed the next morning than
people who did not count their blessings before bed!

Borrow some ideas and traditions of gratitude from other cultures. 
Around the world, people practice different customs of gratitude. 

v     In Japan it is customary for someone who is moving into a new
home to give soba noodles to the nearest neighbors.  This symbolizes a
wish for long-lasting friendship.

v     In France, dinner guests take flowers to the host or hostess to
say thank you.  But not just any flowers- the bouquet must have an odd
number (but not 7 or 13) and it must not have any carnations or it will
bring bad luck!

v     In Albania, guests at Christmas Eve feasts leave one bite of food
on their plate to show gratitude that there was more than what was
needed.

v     It is a Buddhist custom to say an expression of gratitude both
before and after a meal.  Before the meal, Buddhists say the "Itadaki-masu"
to express gratitude to Buddha and those who have provided the meal. 
After the meal, Buddhists say the "Gochiso-sama" to express gratitude for
the effort that was taken to prepare the meal.

Katie Kubesh is co-owner and writer/researcher for In the Hands of a
Child.  Recognizing that hands-on projects are essential to the learning
experience, In the Hands of a Child has created Project Packs that go
beyond the hands-on aspect.   We have taken the preparation time out of
the parent/teacher job description with our Complete Ready to Assemble
Lapbook-Style Units that are available in printed book or ebook formats.   

Please visit our website at www.handsofachild.com.

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