In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770's) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

Turkey Breast Braised with Garlic and Rice

Ingredients:

• · 1 Cup long-grain rice
• · 1 Can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
• · 1/2 Cup white wine
• · 2 Teaspoons dried parsley
• · 1/2 Teaspoon each dried rosemary, thyme and sage
• · 1 Bay leaf
• · 1 BONE-IN TURKEY BREAST (5-6 pounds)
• · Paprika
• · 3 Cloves garlic

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• In 5-quart Dutch oven combine rice, broth, wine, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage and bay leaf. Place turkey over rice mixture and sprinkle turkey generously with paprika.
• Cut off root ends of garlic cloves. Place whole garlic bulbs, cut-end-up, in rice around turkey breast.
• Cover top of Dutch oven with foil and lid.
• Bake at 350 degrees F. 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 170-175 degrees F.
• Allow to stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
• To serve, carve turkey into slices and place on platter.
• Spoon rice mixture into serving bowl.
• Squeeze garlic from skins onto turkey and rice.

The Thanksgiving Turkey

Of all the Thanksgiving symbols the Turkey has become the most well known. The wild turkey is native to northern Mexico and the eastern United States The turkey has brown features with buff-colored feathers on the tips of the wing and on the tail. The male turkey is called a Tom and, as with most birds, is bigger and has brighter and more colorful plumage. The female is called a Hen and is generally smaller and drab in color. The Tom turkey has a long wattle (a fleshy, wrinkled, brightly colored fold of skin hanging from the neck or throat)at the base of its bill and additional wattles on the neck, as well as a prominent tuft of bristles resembling a beard projecting downward from its chest. The turkey was originally domesticated in Mexico, and was brought into Europe early in the 16th century. Since that time, turkeys have been extensively raised because of the excellent quality of their meat and eggs. Some of the common breeds of turkey in the United States are the Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, and Bourbon Red. Though there is no real evidence that turkey was served at the Pilgrim's first thanksgiving, in a book written by the Pilgrim's Governor Bradford he does make mention of wild turkeys. In a letter sent to England, another Pilgrim describes how the governor sent "four men out fowling" returning with turkeys, ducks and geese.