Happy #Thanksgiving!
She excused herself from the heat of the cane fires and walked to the tables where the women were laying out an array of pumpkin and pecan pies, shortbread oozing with sweet jam, all of it covered with light cloths to keep the insects off. Crocks of preserves and pickled tomatoes, cucumbers, and relishes shone in the sun. Her persimmon cakes were added to the pile. While once Julia might have wondered who could consume so much food at one sitting, she’d seen the Crackers sit down to their victuals and knew the food would be little more than a memory by the time the day was done...The uncooked cane juice in the barrels was pale green, and as it cooked and was stirred it thickened and ripened to a deep amber, becoming the syrup prized for sweetening everything from coffee to pecan pie to biscuits.
“It’s a lot of work to get a little sweetness in your life.”
Julia looked over her shoulder and favored her husband with an arch smile. “But worth the effort, don’t you think?” She looked back at the primitive mill. “It’s different, and yet not so different here at the cane grinding—the food, the music, all the people working together. I imagine there is a pattern to harvest festivals everywhere, whether it is Devonshire or Florida.”
Florida historians are quick to tell you that the first Thanksgiving in what's now the United States wasn't in Virginia or Massachusetts, but was in Florida. More than 50 years before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Spanish colonists in Florida feasted with Native Americans near St. Augustine in 1565 as the Spaniards held a Thanksgiving Mass to celebrate their arrival.
Regardless of when the first Thanksgiving was held, it's now a holiday that brings together Americans of all backgrounds, celebrating together with food, family and friends. Whether it's in the piney backwoods or the big city, people gather to give thanks and to feast. May this holiday bring you and yours a sense of contentment, thankfulness, and maybe an extra serving of pie.
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