A New England Thanksgiving in the Inland Northwest

These are my Publix Pilgrim salt and pepper shakers.

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, I had a few colleagues and friends over for Thanksgiving dinner in typical New England style.  We had roasted turkey (organic, free range, minimally processed), mashed potatoes (from Olsen Farms), stuffing (see previous post), homemade apple sauce (yes, those same Braeburns are back a it), homemade bread (local flour), Washington state wine, and cranberry relish and green bean casserole brought by the Sauers, pecan pie, brought by Debby and pumpkin pie brought by Philip.  Even though a lot of the food was local, it was New England through and through, not just because of the cook!  I suppose it is because, having grown up in New England and that's where this American holiday originates, it's really all I know about Thanksgiving.  I have been a guest at others homes and places for Thanksgiving, but really, it is almost always a New England meal.  Americans, for as much as we love technology, also love nostalgia. 

And that love of nostalgia is both a good thing and a bad thing for ethical food.  On the one hand, it makes us want for food grown and raised by farmers not industry.  And that is a good thing.  On the other hand, it makes some people think that that is in fact the way food is grown and raised.  And since that isn't usually so, that is a bad thing.  So making some effort, even on the other side of the country to make an ethical New England Thanksgiving is an act of rebellion and of tradition.  Rebellion in the sense that trying to have a New England meal in the Inland Northwest might seem a little less than local and doing it ethically means changing some things to make it local and more sustainable.  And traditional in the sense that this is what Americans all across the country were eating at about the same time. 

Setting the table for friends and colleagues for Thanksgiving this year was a little different for me.  It was a good fun day even with all the snow and treacherous travel to get to my neighborhood which never seems to get plowed.  But still, it lacked something, as have most of my Thanksgivings in Spokane--family.  To make up for it in some small way, I read a short story to my guests that I absolutely love before we ate, MFK Fisher's "A Thing Shared."  It isn't even three pages long, but it is such a moving tale of how food and family come together and how through those experiences we learn about one another and often treasure the memories in our hearts.  This Thanksgiving is a new memory for me.  The first I hosted without family there and it is a memory I will treasure in a special bittersweet kind of way.

The weather hasn't gotten any better and I don't expect it will for a while.  So I am holed up in my apartment with lots of Thanksgiving leftovers--which is a good thing.  And that does remind me that a day spent with friends, good ethical food, and memories is something to give thanks for.  Gratitude can come in all shapes and sizes is something I am learning once again.  That is, after all, what Thanksgiving is about--giving thanks for the year's blessings, looking forward to the winter and the tough times that winter can bring (for us, in Spokane, it will likely be the weather making for tough times), and hopes for the spring when it finally comes, bringing with it the beginnings of new meals and next year's feast.