Things have been a little quiet here at the New England Anomaly, mostly because I’ve been trying to get caught up on school work. But I’m taking a few days off to get ready for a real New England holiday…Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is usually celebrated as a food holiday and the beginning of the Xmas season in the United States. Some people still treat it as a religious observance, though it generally lost most of that meaning over the years. I like Thanksgiving because I like to celebrate it as a harvest festival. I have many things to be thankful for, and this is the time of year to reflect on it.
The modern Thanksgiving may have strong connections to New England, what with the Pilgrims and all, but it was not invented in New England. There are a lot of myths that have been debunked. Nevertheless, the U.S. northeast has adopted it as its child, and we celebrate it accordingly. Many Thanksgiving traditions…especially food traditions…got their start in New England.
Of course, there is always a turkey, but we’ll sometimes serve fish along side it as well. And in our household, we usually serve succotash, root vegetables, a cranberry dish, and all manner of pies, with apple being the favorite over pumpkin. I am surprised that most people I know usually don’t serve succotash or even know much about it. It’s easy…it’s basically beans and corn! The fun part is that everybody makes it differently. As for me, I chose to use soybeans when I make it.
Here’s my recipe:
1 1/2 cups corn (canned or frozen)
1 1/2 cups of green soybeans (edamane out of the pod)
1/4 cup onion chopped fine
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon dried marjoram
salt & pepper to taste
Put corn, soybeans, and onion in pot, add water and butter, and turn burner on low to medium so the butter can melt without burning. Mix together so ingredients are coated with butter. Add spices. Serve warm.
Easy and yummy! For me, the measurements above are a rough estimate…I never measure anything. Just guess how much gets thrown in a pot. ha ha!
Of course, there’s more variations that can be done with this: instead of salt & pepper, add cajun spice mix, or a little curry powder. Some people may use oils or lard instead of butter. Sometimes I may finely chop a jalapeno and throw that in. What’s great about succotash is that it can be anything you want, as long as it the main ingredients are corn and beans.
So what do you do for Thanksgiving? Do you get together with family or go out with friends? Do you have a big crowd over for dinner or just a small gathering? Do you watch football or go to a particular house of worship? Or do you just sit around with guests and enjoy their company? Do you have a traditional dinner or have alternatives?
Whatever your Thanksgiving celebration is, enjoy it! We at the New England Anomaly wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!
