Thanksgiving: What’s on Your Plate?

Pumpkin cheesecake with toasted pumpkin seeds on top Photos by Isabelle Burnet

You know it’s November because the tree branches have become nearly bare, there is a definite chill in the air, and the most telling hint of all is that your taste buds are craving a moist, plump, slow-cooked turkey with all the trimmings, warm mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, delectable pies, and everything that has ‘Thanksgiving feast’ written on it.

Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday – a day centered around eating lots of calorie-enriched food (and spending the day with family and being thankful for what you have, of course). However, no two Thanksgiving dinners are alike. Although we tend to paint a picture of what the typical Thanksgiving meal entails, you’d be surprised to find out what unique family foods are on some of your neighbors’ plates.

The stars of the first Thanksgiving, held in 1621, were deer and duck. Although turkeys were plentiful, no mention of turkey appeared n the one written account of the first Thanksgiving. Seafood such as fish, eel, and even lobster were also served along with different varieties of wild birds. Veggies like corn, onions, and pumpkin were bountiful. Although cranberries may have been available, sugar (to make cranberry sauce) was not. Sweet potatoes or yams were uncommon, and white potatoes (for Grandma’s special mashed potatoes) were even less common. Forks were not to be found either (just spoons and knives)!

Some New Yorkers were kind enough to share with me what particular food makes their particular Thanksgiving unique – the dish that is considered their family Thanksgiving signature dish.

While the Pilgrims likely washed down their feast with just water, Kaitlyn Hamel says that her and her family makes their own cider from scratch for the special day. “We use a press that dates back 100 years,” she said. To give it that extra kick, they serve it mulled.

Alexa Ford is a vegetarian, so turkey is a big no-no for her family, but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy her own version of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. “We make a healthy yam and green apple casserole with slivered almonds, cinnamon, non-dairy butter, and brown sugar,” she said. “Also, we used to make a noodle pudding with ricotta cheese, raisins, cinnamon, noodles butter milk, and things like that.”

Another vegetarian, Shoshana Diller, tells me that Thanksgiving is no Thanksgiving without her homemade gravy. “One Thanksgiving novelty that I sorely miss is gravy,” she explained, referring to her dietary choice. “So a few years back, I decided to make my own. She calls her delicacy “raw mushroom gravy.” All it needs is shiitake mushrooms, raw almonds, garlic, water, olive oil, and fresh sage shaken up in the food processor. “I think any meat-loving person would like it, too,” she clarified. “The perfect topping to stuffing or mashed potatoes.”

Cranberry-Orange Relish - Photo by Isabelle Burnet

Isabelle Burnet chimes in with another sauce – her cranberry-orange Thanksgiving relish. The simplicity of the recipe is surely a treat. Peel an orange into quarters, add about one and a half cups of whole c ranberries, and one cup of sugar into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. “This relish is on the sweet side, and is very delicious,” she explained. “My mom has always made it on Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. The whole house smells like cranberries and oranges and reminds me of all the wonderful memories.” It can be added to turkey, over rice, or just plain on the side is just as tasty.

For someone with an Italian background, Megan Marino shared that “Macaroni is a must on Thanksgiving.” In addition to the cutting-edge main course, her family also has a rare side dish – a pineapple casserole. The combined tastes and textures of sweet, salty, and buttery, this fruity, yet cheesy dish is a traditional Thanksgiving meal in her household.

Another city gal, Cara Stoll, eats pumpkin and sweet potato muffins as well as Swedish meatballs each holiday. The meatballs consist of ketchup, chili sauce, grape jelly, ground meat, a little bit of bread crumbs and pepper, and Lipton onion soup mix. As for the pumpkin/sweet potato muffins, she uses a simple recipe of canned pumpkin and sweet potato, flour, eggs, cinnamon, and some nutmeg.

And for dessert? Amy Zucker’s got the stuff. “Wojapi!” she exclaimed. “It’s strawberry/raspberry/blueberry pudding.” Wojapi in the Zucker home consists of frozen berries warmed up and mashed together. There are many different varieties of wojapi, and sometimes it’s eaten as a side dish or topping for ice cream. Amy says serving it as a dessert is the best option.

Instead of the typical pumpkin and apple pie characteristically served on Thanksgiving, Cathleen Ficht has a shadow cake for her sweet treat. This type of unique vanilla cake is filled with alternating layers of vanilla butter cream, chocolate ganache and topped off with vanilla or chocolate icing. Traditional on Thanksgiving? Not really. Traditional for this Long Islander? Absolutely.

Most people have some kind of dish at their Thanksgiving banquet that differentiates their dinner from the next person’s. If we were simply copycat culprits of the Pilgrims, we’d be shooting our own venison to scarf down sans knives or forks.

What makes your Thanksgiving unique? What’s on your plate?