Roast Goose
Mock Venison
Stewed Pumpkin Sweet Stuffing
Frumenty
Ale
Thanksgiving is just too traditional to tamper with—in my home and,
I’m sure, in yours. No matter that our roast turkey, cranberry sauce,
sweet potatoes, and creamed onions are more Victorian than Pilgrim.
We’ve grown accustomed to them, and they rest as comfortably among
our memories as that Norman Rockwell painting of Grandma’s table. But
Harvest Home has no traditions whatsoever, and although a week-long
bacchanalia is beyond our means, a harvest supper isn’t. In an age when
we crave a deeper relationship with both our past and our earth, its
virtues are obvious. Harvest Home is as ecological as it is historical.
It celebrates both land and man and the fruits of their labor together.
This menu and its recipes are, therefore, very organic and very old,
and if we violate the letter of the Pilgrims’ first feast—few of us
seed our corn with fish—its spirit will still be there.