Happy Thanksgiving Weekend.
Here is Maurice Vellekoop’s commission from The Boston Globe for an article titled, “Thanksgiving, or how to eat American politics,†by Rachel Laudan, author of “Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World Historyâ€. Her piece traces the evolution of the ‘traditional’ turkey dinner as a kind of populist reaction against stuffy, aristocratic, European modes of dining. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book (pictured bottom left) democratically proposed inviting children to join adults in a simple, nutritious meal that was a reaction against the fancy sauces and elaborate molded desserts beloved of monarchs across the Atlantic. It was she who persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday 150 years ago.
November 29, 2013