Only a small amount of marital strife as we prepped on Thanksgiving Eve. My spouse is picky about pie. He had a Grandmother who was the best pie-baker this side of the Pacific. I suggested adding a bit of ginger to the squash pie. He protested at first, until I mentioned that ginger was an anti-inflammatory food which may help prevent Alzheimer's. I could literally see the neurons perk up and pay attention. And I was free to add all the ginger I wanted. The next day, Thanksgiving, while preparing all the other pro-inflammatory foods we would feast upon that day, I heard a story on NPR about real traditional Thanksgiving foods and they said that the Pilgrims used spices, including ginger.
We had a few more local food items this year than last. Each year I hope it is more. The squash that went into the squash pie was grown by my father-n-law, aka retired wood cutter, plower of snow, fix-it-guy turned squash farmer. He also grew the monster pumpkins that contributed to Pumpkin Frenzy last month. We had cranberry sauce made with cranberries grown by a local farmer from whom we also often get eggs, and produce in the summer. The turkey was raised by a couple who live about twenty minutes away and do just a little part-time farming. The oysters in the Baked Oysters Parmesan (not pictured) are from an oyster farm in a tidal river just south east of our own river valley. The potatoes, while not exactly local, were likely from our region. Oh ya, and the onion in the stuffing was grown by our friend Charlie.
