Good, Old Christmas

As a History of Art major in college, I was fortunate to come across what has become one of my all time favorite books, Washington Irving's, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman. Older editions are filled with amazing illustrations and the writing is exquisite. The book is a collection of essays chronicling the differences of Old English and New World lore and legend, tradition and culture. The Christmas section includes Irving's descriptions of the mansion country homes he calls, "Old Piles," the protocol of the mistletoe branch, the yule log, the dinners in the Great Hall ... you can actually feel the chill, smell the fire in the great fireplace, and taste the mulled wine.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle are contained in the volume.

From Irving's recollections of Christmases Past ...

From The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman

Christmas

But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair of his good,
gray old head and beard left? Well, I will have that, seeing I cannot have
more
of him.

Hue and Cry After Christmas

A man might then behold at Christmas, in each hall, Good fires to curb the cold, and meat for great and small.The neighbors were friendly bidden, and all had welcome true, the poor from the gates were not chidden when this old cap was new.

Old Song

NOTHING in England exercises a more delightful spell over my imagination than the lingerings of the holiday customs and rural games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to draw in the May morning of life, when as yet I only knew the world through books, and believed it to be all that poets had painted it; and they bring with them the flavor of those honest days of yore, in which, perhaps with equal fallacy, I am apt to think the world was more homebred, social, and joyous than at present. I regret to say that they are daily growing more and more faint, being gradually worn away by time, but still more obliterated by modern fashion. They resemble those picturesque morsels of Gothic architecture which we see crumbling in various parts of the country, partly dilapidated by the waste of ages and partly lost in the additions and alterations of latter days. Poetry, however, clings with cherishing fondness about the rural game and holiday revel from which it has derived so many of its themes, as the ivy winds its rich foliage about the Gothic arch and mouldering tower, gratefully repaying their support by clasping together their tottering remains, and, as it were, embalming them in verdure.

Of all the old festivals, however, that of Christmas awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations. There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality and lifts the spirit to a state of hallowed and elevated enjoyment. The services of the Church about this season are extremely tender and inspiring. They dwell on the beautiful story of the origin of our faith and the pastoral scenes that accompanied its announcement. They gradually increase in fervor and pathos during the season of Advent, until they break forth in full jubilee on the morning that brought peace and good-will to men. I do not know a grander effect of music on the moral feelings than to hear the full choir and the pealing organ performing a Christmas anthem in a cathedral, and filling every part of the vast pile with triumphant harmony.

It is a beautiful arrangement, also, derived from days of yore, that this festival, which commemorates the announcement of the religion of peace and love, has been made the season for gathering together of family connections, and drawing closer again those bands of kindred hearts which the cares and pleasures and sorrows of the world are continually operating to cast loose; of calling back the children of a family who have launched forth in life and wandered widely asunder, once more to assemble about the paternal hearth, that rallying-place of the affections, there to grow young and loving again among the endearing mementos of childhood.

There is something in the very season of the year that gives a charm to the festivity of Christmas. At other times we derive a great portion of our pleasures from the mere beauties of Nature. Our feelings sally forth and dissipate themselves over the sunny landscape, and we “live abroad and everywhere.” The song of the bird, the murmur of the stream, the breathing fragrance of spring, the soft voluptuousness of summer, the golden pomp of autumn, earth with its mantle of refreshing green, and heaven with it deep delicious blue and its cloudy magnificence,—all fill us with mute but exquisite delight, and we revel in the luxury of mere sensation. But in the depth of winter, when Nature lies despoiled of every charm and wrapped in her shroud of sheeted snow, we turn for our gratifications to moral sources. The dreariness and desolation of the landscape, the short gloomy days and darksome nights, while they circumscribe our wanderings, shut in our feelings also from rambling abroad, and make us more keenly disposed for the pleasure of the social circle. Our thoughts are more concentrated; our friendly sympathies more aroused. We feel more sensibly the charm of each other’s society, and are brought more closely together by dependence on each other for enjoyment. Heart calleth unto heart, and we draw our pleasures from the deep wells of loving-kindness which lie in the quiet recesses of our bosoms, and which, when resorted to, furnish forth the pure element of domestic felicity.

The pitchy gloom without makes the heart dilate on entering the room filled with the glow and warmth of the evening fire. The ruddy blaze diffuses an artificial summer and sunshine through the room, and lights up each countenance in a kindlier welcome. Where does the honest face of hospitality expand into a broader and more cordial smile, where is the shy glance of love more sweetly eloquent, than by the winter fireside? and as the hollow blast of wintry wind rushes through the hall, claps the distant door, whistles about the casement, and rumbles down the chimney, what can be more grateful than that feeling of sober and sheltered security with which we look round upon the comfortable chamber and the scene of domestic hilarity?

The English, from the great prevalence of rural habit throughout every class of society, have always been found of those festivals and holidays, which agreeably interrupt the stillness of country life, and they were, in former days, particularly observant of the religious and social rites of Christmas. It is inspiring to read even the dry details which some antiquaries have given of the quaint humors, the burlesque pageants, the complete abandonment to mirth and good-fellowship with which this festival was celebrated. It seemed to throw open every door and unlock every heart. It brought the peasant and the peer together, and blended all ranks in one warm, generous flow of joy and kindness. The old halls of castles and manor-houses resounded with the harp and the Christmas carol, and their ample boards groaned under the weight of hospitality. Even the poorest cottage welcomed the festive season with green decorations of bay and holly—the cheerful fire glanced its rays through the lattice, inviting the passengers to raise the latch and join the gossip knot huddled round the hearth beguiling the long evening with legendary jokes and oft-told Christmas tales.

One of the least pleasing effects of modern refinement is the havoc it has made among the hearty old holiday customs. It has completely taken off the sharp touchings and spirited reliefs of these embellishments of life, and has worn down society into a more smooth and polished, but certainly a less characteristic, surface. Many of the games and ceremonials of Christmas have entirely disappeared, and, like the sherris sack of old Falstaff, are become matters of speculation and dispute among commentators. They flourished in times full of spirit and lustihood, when men enjoyed life roughly, but heartily and vigorously—times wild and picturesque, which have furnished poetry with its richest materials and the drama with its most attractive variety of characters and manners. The world has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation, and less of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader, but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic life. Society has acquired a more enlightened and elegant tone, but it has lost many of its strong local peculiarities, its homebred feelings, its honest fireside delights. The traditionary customs of golden-hearted antiquity, its feudal hospitalities, and lordly wassailings, have passed away with the baronial castles and stately manor-houses in which they were celebrated. They comported with the shadowy hall, the great oaken gallery, and the tapestried parlor, but are unfitted to the light showy saloons and gay drawing-rooms of the modern villa.
Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honors, Christmas is still a period of delightful excitement in England. It is gratifying to see that home-feeling completely aroused which holds so powerful a place in every English bosom. The preparations making on every side for the social board that is again to unite friends and kindred; the presents of good cheer passing and repassing, those tokens of regard and quickeners of kind feelings; the evergreens distributed about houses and churches, emblems of peace and gladness,—all these have the most pleasing effect in producing fond associations and kindling benevolent sympathies. Even the sound of the Waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mid-watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony. As I have been awakened by them in that still and solemn hour “when deep sleep falleth upon man,” I have listened with a hushed delight, and, connecting them with the sacred and joyous occasion, have almost fancied them into another celestial choir announcing peace and good-will to mankind.

How delightfully the imagination, when wrought upon by these moral influences, turns everything to melody and beauty! The very crowing of the cock, heard sometimes in the profound repose of the country, “telling the night-watches to his feathery dames,” was thought by the common people to announce the approach of this sacred festival.

"Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes

Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,

This bird of dawning singeth all night long;

And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad,

The nights are wholesome—then no planets strike,

No fairy takes, no witch hath power to charm,

So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.”

Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and stir of the affections which prevail at this period what bosom can remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling—the season for kindling not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.

The scene of early love again rises green to memory beyond the sterile waste of years; and the idea of home, fraught with the fragrance of home-dwelling joys, reanimates the drooping spirit, as the Arabian breeze will sometimes waft the freshness of the distant fields to the weary pilgrim of the desert.

Stranger and sojourner as I am in the land, though for me no social hearth may blaze, no hospitable roof throw open its doors, nor the warm grasp of friendship welcome me at the threshold, yet I feel the influence of the season beaming into my soul from the happy looks of those around me. Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven, and every countenance, bright with smiles and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror transmitting to others the rays of a supreme and ever-shining benevolence. He who can turn churlishly away from contemplating the felicity of his fellow-beings, and can sit down darkling and repining in his loneliness when all around is joyful, may have his moments of strong excitement and selfish gratification, but he wants the genial and social sympathies which constitute the charm of a merry Christmas.

What I'll be listening to tonight ...

A great song for a frosty, late-autumn evening, Fires at Midnight is one of my favorite Jethro Tull songs. Short and to-the-point, Ian sings of the peace that comes from a life lived simply.

I believe in fires at midnight

When the dogs have all been fed.

A golden toddy on the mantle

A broken gun beneath the bed.

Silken mist outside the window.

Frogs and newts slip in the dark

Too much hurry ruins the body.

I'll sit easy, fan the spark.

Kindled by the dying embers

Of another working day.

Go upstairs, take off your makeup

fold your clothes neatly away.

Me, I'll sit and write this love song

as I all too seldom do.

Build a little fire this midnight.

It's good to be back home with you.

Enjoy the evening.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Above is Lincoln's 1863 proclamation establishing the Thanksgiving holiday. All the best to you and your family.

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day October 3, 1863

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence [sic], have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

Abraham Lincoln

Psalms 105
1 Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his miracles.
3 Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice!
4 Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching.
5 Think of the wonderful works he has done, the miracles and the judgments he handed down,
6 O children of Abraham, God's servant, O descendants of Jacob, God's chosen one.
7 He is the LORD our God. His rule is seen throughout the land.
8 He always stands by his covenant -- the commitment he made to a thousand generations.

The History of Thanksgiving

The History Channel's site (history.com) has a great article on Thanksgiving that does a great job of dispelling myths, especially about food.

First Thanksgiving
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. This harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and Native Americans. Although this feast is considered by many to the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

Food preparation
Historians have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia. At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European settlers on record. Whether at Plymouth, Berkeley Plantation, or throughout the Americas, celebrations of thanks have held great meaning and importance over time. The legacy of thanks, and particularly of the feast, have survived the centuries as people throughout the United States gather family, friends, and enormous amounts of food for their yearly Thanksgiving meal.

What Was Actually on the Menu?
What foods topped the table at the first harvest feast? Historians aren't completely certain about the full bounty, but it's safe to say the pilgrims weren't gobbling up pumpkin pie or playing with their mashed potatoes. Following is a list of the foods that were available to the colonists at the time of the 1621 feast. However, the only two items that historians know for sure were on the menu are venison and wild fowl, which are mentioned in primary sources. The most detailed description of the "First Thanksgiving" comes from Edward Winslow from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1621:
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakersof our plenty.

Foods That May Have Been on the Menu
Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster

Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles

Meat: Venison, Seal

Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn

Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots

Fruit: Plums, Grapes

Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns

Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

What Was Not on the Menu

Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims's first feast table:
Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.

Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.

Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.

Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.

Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkinChicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.

1621 Harvest Feast
Seventeenth Century Table Manners:The pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers. They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food. Salt would have been on the table at the harvest feast, and people would have sprinkled it on their food. Pepper, however, was something that they used for cooking but wasn't available on the table.

In the seventeenth century, a person's social standing determined what he or she ate. The best food was placed next to the most important people. People didn't tend to sample everything that was on the table (as we do today), they just ate what was closest to them.

Serving in the seventeenth century was very different from serving today. People weren't served their meals individually. Foods were served onto the table and then people took the food from the table and ate it. All the servers had to do was move the food from the place where it was cooked onto the table.

Pilgrims didn't eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of foods were placed on the table at the same time and people ate in any order they chose. Sometimes there were two courses, but each of them would contain both meat dishes, puddings, and sweets.

Housewife prepares a meal in pilgrim village
More Meat, Less VegetablesOur modern Thanksgiving repast is centered around the turkey, but that certainly wasn't the case at the pilgrims's feasts. Their meals included many different meats. Vegetable dishes, one of the main components of our modern celebration, didn't really play a large part in the feast mentality of the seventeenth century. Depending on the time of year, many vegetables weren't available to the colonists.

The pilgrims probably didn't have pies or anything sweet at the harvest feast. They had brought some sugar with them on the Mayflower but by the time of the feast, the supply had dwindled. Also, they didn't have an oven so pies and cakes and breads were not possible at all. The food that was eaten at the harvest feast would have seemed fatty by 1990's standards, but it was probably more healthy for the pilgrims than it would be for people today. The colonists were more active and needed more protein. Heart attack was the least of their worries. They were more concerned about the plague and pox.

Surprisingly Spicy Cooking

People tend to think of English food at bland, but, in fact, the pilgrims used many spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and dried fruit, in sauces for meats. In the seventeenth century, cooks did not use proportions or talk about teaspoons and tablespoons. Instead, they just improvised. The best way to cook things in the seventeenth century was to roast them. Among the pilgrims, someone was assigned to sit for hours at a time and turn the spit to make sure the meat was evenly done.

Since the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians had no refrigeration in the seventeenth century, they tended to dry a lot of their foods to preserve them. They dried Indian corn, hams, fish, and herbs.

Pilgram family at dinner
Dinner for Breakfast: Pilgrim Meals:The biggest meal of the day for the colonists was eaten at noon and it was called noonmeat or dinner. The housewives would spend part of their morning cooking that meal. Supper was a smaller meal that they had at the end of the day. Breakfast tended to be leftovers from the previous day's noonmeat.

In a pilgrim household, the adults sat down to eat and the children and servants waited on them. The foods that the colonists and Wampanoag Indians ate were very similar, but their eating patterns were different. While the colonists had set eating patterns--breakfast, dinner, and supper--the Wampanoags tended to eat when they were hungry and to have pots cooking throughout the day.

Mayflower Myths
The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn't originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts.
- James W. Baker, Senior Historian at Plimoth Plantation

Myth: The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 and the pilgrims celebrated it every year thereafter.
Fact: The first feast wasn't repeated, so it wasn't the beginning of a tradition. In fact, the colonists didn't even call the day Thanksgiving. To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast--dancing, singing secular songs, playing games--wouldn't have been allowed. The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims minds.

Myth: The original Thanksgiving feast took place on the fourth Thursday of November.
Fact: The original feast in 1621 occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11. Unlike our modern holiday, it was three days long. The event was based on English harvest festivals, which traditionally occurred around the 29th of September. After that first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest.

During the American Revolution a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress. In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November, which he may have correlated it with the November 21, 1621, anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941).

Myth: The pilgrims wore only black and white clothing. They had buckles on their hats, garments, and shoes.
Fact: Buckles did not come into fashion until later in the seventeenth century and black and white were commonly worn only on Sunday and formal occasions. Women typically dressed in red, earthy green, brown, blue, violet, and gray, while men wore clothing in white, beige, black, earthy green, and brown.

Myth: The pilgrims brought furniture with them on the Mayflower.
Fact: The only furniture that the pilgrims brought on the Mayflower was chests and boxes. They constructed wooden furniture once they settled in Plymouth.

Myth: The Mayflower was headed for Virginia, but due to a navigational mistake it ended up in Cape Cod Massachusetts.
Fact: The Pilgrims were in fact planning to settle in Virginia, but not the modern-day state of Virginia. They were part of the Virginia Company, which had the rights to most of the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The pilgrims had intended to go to the Hudson River region in New York State, which would have been considered "Northern Virginia," but they landed in Cape Cod instead. Treacherous seas prevented them from venturing further south.

Source: Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth Plantation

Thanksgiving MUST-HAVES

Along with the necessities of family, a cool, crisp, preferably cloudy, November day, and a Lions win, there are a few food items that no Thanksgiving feast should be without ...

NUMBER ONE: My Mom's dressing (You should give thanks alone for having access to this!)

For a 20 pound turkey …

3 - regular plain white or 2 loaves of Italian bread,- do not use bread other than plain white.
5 – stalks of large celery – to taste – chopped into small bite size pieces
2 – medium onions – to taste – chopped into small pieces
Poultry seasoning – McCormick’s – depending on the bread, this may take a whole container (small container) – to taste
Salt – to taste
Pepper – to taste
1 – stick margarine
1 – large can Cottage Inn or Swanson Chicken Broth

Dry bread so that it is not soft and break/crumble into small pieces in very large bow – inch or so in size – sprinkle with poultry seasoning – mix well and set aside

Sauté veggies’till translucent with the margarine in sauce pan

Pour broth over veggies – mix and warm mixture – do not boil

Pour mixture over bread in large bowl GRADUALLY, using all the veggies, BUT not all the broth

The amount of broth used will depend on the dryness of the bread STUFFING SHOULD BE DAMP BUT NOT MUSH, should be loose but not loose shape when handling

TASTE – add more broth if needed to adjust mixture, ADD more poultry seasoning, salt , and pepper to taste and taste again.

Stuffing can be made ahead of time, but do not stuff the turkey until you are ready to put bird into the oven. LOOSLEY fill the bird cavity and the neck cavity - do not pack the stuffing in the bird - and cover bird cavity with a slice of bread and the neck cavity with the neck skin or bread.

IF, - you have left over stuffing after stuffing the bird or you want more stuffing, put the left over stuffing into a buttered baking dish and bake, or freeze for next time.


NUMBER TWO: Cornbread and oyster dressing (As Buffett says, "Can't have a turkey without oyster dressin'!")

Corn Bread with Oyster Dressing

Prepare the corn bread the day before you plan to serve this special dish.
Serving: 8

INGREDIENTS
Corn Bread:
• 2 strips bacon
• 1 2/3 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
Oyster Dressing:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup minced green onion
• 4 teaspoons chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 dozen fresh oysters, chopped, liquor reserved
• 5 cups day-old corn bread, cubed
• 2 tablespoons water or stock, as needed
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare the pan: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cook bacon until crisp in a 10-inch cast-iron or iron-clad skillet. Remove bacon strips and set aside to cool. Once cooled, crumble bacon and set aside. Place the skillet with the bacon fat in the oven while mixing the batter.

2. Prepare the corn bread: In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and vegetable oil. In a large bowl, stir together cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture and mix well. Lightly fold in the egg and crumbled bacon. Pour mixture into the hot skillet and bake until golden brown -- 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the skillet for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool overnight. Next day, cut corn bread into cubes.

3. Prepare oyster dressing: In a 4-quart pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, green onion, parsley, salt, ground black pepper, and ground red pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent -- about 5 minutes. Add chopped oysters and oyster liquor and simmer for 15 minutes. Add cubed corn bread and mix well. If mixture seems too dry, add water or stock to moisten as needed. Transfer mixture to a casserole dish lightly coated with vegetable-oil cooking spray. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking until brown -- about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

3. BRINED TURKEY (This is Wolgang Puck's recipe that I will be trying this year, but in the past I have used Professor Alton Brown's recipe, which is available at foodtv.com)

Brined Roast Turkey

Brine:
1 gallon water
1 6-pack Hornsby's traditonal dry Hard Apple Cider (My addition)
1/2 ounce ground cloves
1/2 ounce ground ginger
4 ounces cracked black peppercorns
12 bay leaves
12 sage leaves
1 pound kosher salt
24 ounces honey
24 ounces maple syrup

Compound butter "rub"
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
2 apples, quartered and cored
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 rosemary sprigs
3 sprigs sage
Olive oil, for drizzling

Make a "raft" of these vegetables for the turkey to sit on in the roasting pan
carrots
celery
onions

Add this mixture to the vegetables once they are in the roasting pan
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup Madeira wine

To make brine
In a large stockpot, bring the water, hard cider, cloves, ginger, black peppercorn, bay leaves and salt to a boil. Lower to a simmer and stir in the honey and maple syrup until well blended. Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold tap water. Reserve the neck and specialty meats for pan gravy. Set the turkey in the brine, making sure that the turkey is fully immersed in the brine. Place a weight on top of the turkey to make sure it is always covered with brine. Marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight, depending on the weight of the turkey, in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a shallow roasting pan, place the carrots, celery and onions. Remove turkey from brine.
Mix together the butter, garlic, chopped rosemary, and sage to make a compound butter. Using your hands, loosen to the skin from the breast by gently inserting your fingers between the skin and the flesh. Rub the compound butter underneath the skin. Insert the apples, onions, and whole rosemary and sage into the cavity of the turkey.

Place the turkey over the vegetables, breast-side up, in the roasting pan. Tuck the wings back and under the turkey. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. This will make a compact shape and will create a great presentation. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and rub it into the skin. Roast the turkey to at least 165 degrees F in the breast, about 2 1/2 hours. If the skin gets too dark during roasting, tent with foil.

Transfer turkey to a platter and allow to cool.

Oh yeah, don't forget the nibbles to keep you energized -- cold Bud, the biggest jar of creamed herring you can find, and Tricuits.

Enjoy the day.

The Mysterious Josquin Des Prez

I have spent many hours reading, studying grading papers, relaxing, doing work outdoors, and napping while listening to the compositions of Josquin Des Prez. I recently found a copy of The Tallis Scholars singing the collected works of Josquin. This collection is incomparable -- memorizing and truly moving.

Here's an interesting article from the Engine of Ingenuity website ...

JOSQUIN DESPREZ
by John Lienhard

Today, academic detectives look for the real Josquin. The University of Houston's College of Engineering presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.

For my money, the greatest composer who ever lived was the somewhat shadowy figure of Josquin Desprez. Josquin defined the new music of the Renaissance. You've probably heard his L'homme armé masses. You've surely heard his little choral piece El Grillo -- the one that makes such a fine imitation of a cricket.

When I was in graduate school, musicologists were waging holy wars with one another over Josquin's particulars. Today a few of those particulars are in pretty good order. We know Josquin was born in the northern part of France around 1440. That rough date comes from the 1459 records of a Milan cathedral which identify him as "Jodocho de frantia biscantori." "Jodocho de frantia" was an Italian version of his name. "Biscantori" meant a young adult singer.

The spelling of his name changes from place to place and time to time. Historians finally saw that Josquin himself told us how he wanted his name spelled in a five-voice motet, Illibata Dei. He arranged the text to spell his name out in an acrostic puzzle.

Much of what we know about Josquin's life is spelled out that way in his music. When the Flemish composer Johannes Ockeghem died, Josquin wrote a heart-rending lament on his death. He has singers reading the roll of great composers who learned from Ockeghem and Josquin's name heads the list. If he wasn't Ockeghem's actual student, he was certainly his spiritual inheritor.

The title of a Josquin mass, the Missa 'Hercules Dux Ferrarie', tells who his patron was, but this time Josquin did more. He matched the vowels of "Hercules Dux Ferrarie" to notes of the scale. The first e suggests the syllable re. The second vowel, u, suggests the syllable ut which was the medieval do, and so forth. He got re-do-re-do-re-fa-mi-re, and that binding thread runs through every movement of the mass -- Ky-ri-e e-le-(e)-i-son. The only reason we remember an obscure duke of Ferrara is that Josquin wove that odd memorial around his name.

Josquin died in 1521, just past 80. With his linguist's mind, his mathematician's mind -- his wide-ranging genius mind -- he redirected western music. At the end, he bequeathed his house and land to the Church of Notre Dame in Condé. He asked the church's singers to stop by his house during festival processions and sing his settings of the Pater Noster and Ave Maria.
From that touching gesture music historians conclude that Josquin had a choir at Condé that could handle six-part harmony. That's a small thing to make a point of, but it reminds us how hard it is to read the record of 500 years ago. Josquin wrote some of the loveliest music I know. And I'm grateful to historians for any small bits they can give me -- about the times and the person who produced such music.

From the Grove Concise History of Music ...
Probably the most important composer before the second half of the 16th century, Josquin is especially noted for the expressive nature of his music, a trait that broke with the medieval tradition of more abstract music.

His artistic abilities were compared to those of Michelangelo, and Martin Luther is quoted: "Josquin is master of the notes, which must express what he desires; other choral composers must do what the notes dictate."

Beer is for Breakfast! DRINK OR BE GONE!

A week from Thanksgiving -- raining, thinking of beer, apples, oyster dressing, and beginnings of our country. While listening to Deaf Shepherd and having a hard cider, I found this enjoyable article ... Prosit!

The Spirits of Our Forefathers
By Tom Jewett

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy."
Benjamin Franklin

"Wine is necessary for life."
Thomas Jefferson

"My manner of living is plain...a glass of wine and a bit of mutton."
George Washington

The above statements by three of the Founding Fathers reflect the prevailing attitude toward alcohol in the 18th century and throughout much of our country's early existence. Alcohol has played a major role in our nation's history, and its use is a part of our heritage. In colonial times, Americans probably drank more alcohol that in any other era. Spirits were an integral part of daily life throughout the colonies no matter the geographic or economic differences. It was reported that the average American drank eight ounces of alcohol a day. And it didn't matter what. Americans drank beer, and cider with breakfast; rum and wine with dinner; claret, ratafias, creams, punches, and other concoctions in the evening. (Robinson, 2001)

"Revolutionary War era persons drank a phenomenal amount. We have here an account of a gentleman's average consumption: 'Given cider and punch for lunch; rum and brandy before dinner; punch, Madeira, port and sherry at dinner; punch and liqueurs with the ladies; and wine, spirit and punch till bedtime, all in punchbowls big enough for a goose to swim in.'" (As cited in Washington and Kitman, 1970)

There are a number of reasons for all of this tippling. Our English heritage declared that water was bad for a person's health. Given the sanitary standards of the day this was probably true. Beer consumption especially, was seen as a healthy substitute for water. Beer was considered a food, which showed social status (only the most destitute drank water) and allowed for persons to put in a full days work. Franklin while working in a printing house in London was known as the "water American", because of his affinity to water, by his fellow printers who were "great guzzlers of beer...My companions at the press drank every day a pint before breakfast with his bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another when he had done his day's work." (As cited in Barr, 1999)

Americans of the period believed it was particularly healthier to drink lukewarm alcohol during hot weather rather than drink cold water. Signs were displayed at public wells warning individuals of the dangers of cold water during the summer. The rationale for this is that when a person sweated, heat was conducted from the inside of the body. Therefore, the stomach needed warmth, which could be provided by alcohol. (Barr, 1999)

The bias against water was so great that a recent immigrant from Italy, Phillip Massei, caused a stir at a large dinner party where he "asked for a glass of water. I perceived some confusion among the servants, and the water did not arrive. The host, next to who I sat, whispered in my ear, asking with a smile if I could not drink something else, because the unexpected request for a glass upset the entire household and they did not know what they were about." (As cited in Barr, 1999)

Beer usually replaced water as the daily drink. An early morning tankard of beer was typical in colonial America, even for children. This tradition, as stated earlier, came from England. The Pilgrims loaded more beer than water on the Mayflower. And, there is some evidence that they were put off at Plymouth, rather than Virginia, because the ship's crew wished to make sure they had enough beer to consume on the return voyage. (Royce, 1981)

The ingredients for beer did not grow well in New England. As a substitute, the Puritans made do with hard cider. The many apple orchards of the area were planted for its production. Men usually began the day with a quart or more at breakfast.

Beer and cider were not readily available on the frontier. Settlers west of the Allegheny Mountains converted their corn into whiskey as a substitute and to make their crop transportable. Life was hard on the frontier. The pioneers called their whiskey the "Good Creature of God", giving them the strength needed to dull the pain of the brutal manual labor of making a home in the wilderness. (Powell, 1999)

"...there is unquestionably too much spirituous liquors drank in the newly settled parts of America, but a very good reason can be assigned for it. The labor of clearing the land is rugged and severe, and the summer sweats are sometimes so great that it would be dangerous to drink cold water..."(As cited in Barr, 1999)

The first businesses established on the frontier were often simple taverns located along trails and roads to take care of the needs of travelers. Tradition of the time dictated that a drink be had at every halt in a journey. One story tells of two travelers on a seventy-mile trek by coach who drank a quart of liquor at each of the eight stops that were made.

Tavern owners enjoyed higher social status than did the clergy during the colonial era. Taverns were the center of civic life. Because of this they were often required to be located near the church or meeting house. Religious services and court sessions were often held in taverns. Judges interrupted court to drink, and clergy were obligated to drink at every house call and were often seen reeling home. (Powell, 1999)

All of this drinking did not go on without some comment. John Adams stated: "If the ancients drank as our people drink rum and cider, it is no wonder we hear of so many possessed with devils." (As cited in History of Alcohol in America) But, among the founding fathers Adams stood pretty much alone. Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson all imbibed and enjoyed brewing or distilling their own alcoholic beverages.

Jefferson was one of the most knowledgeable wine connoisseurs ever to hold national office. And, he was the wine advisor for Washington, Madison and Monroe. He felt that wine was "...indispensable for my health." He further advocated the virtues of wine stating "no nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober, where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the common beverage." (As cited in Insiders Guide to Virginia Wineries)

Jefferson believed that wine stimulated conversation. There must have been quite a bit of talking at Monticello because there are records that he and his guests consumed 1,203 bottles of wine in just over two year's time. (Garr, 1997) Jefferson, though, thought of himself as a man of moderation. "...you are not to conclude I am a drinker. My measure is a perfectly sober on of 3 or 4 glasses at dinner, and not a drop at any other time. But as to those 3 or 4 glasses I am very fond." (As cited in Garr, 1997)

Jefferson's interests in wine went far beyond just drinking. He was also involved in viticulture. He planted vineyards at Monticello and encourage others to take up the practice. Jefferson's attempts were not successful since the phylloxera louse, which was not discovered until the 1860s, attacked his grapes.

The sober picture we have of Washington is not correct if we are to believe anecdotes of his day. It was said that he could dance the night away with four bottles of wine under his belt. And, that his Revolutionary War personal expense account for alcohol from September 1775 to March 1776 amount to over six thousand dollars. (Washington & Kitman, 1970) He was a devout lover of beer; in particular a dark porter was always in ample supply at Mount Vernon. A typical Washington hosted dinner "included several wines, beer, cider." (Mount Vernon An Illustrated Handbook, 1974)

With all the drinking that went on during this era, one tends to agree with Adams' statement and wonder how we fought a war, won our independence, and established a government. Perhaps the Spirit of '76, which inspired our forefathers, was indeed spirits.

References
Barr, Andrew. Drink: A Social History of America. 1999, Carroll & Graff Publishers, Inc.
Garr, Robin. "Jefferson and Wine". 1997, www.winelovers page.com/wines/tjeff.
"History of Alcohol in America" (Cider). www.2020 site.org/drinks/cider.
Mount Vernon An Illustrated Handbook. 1974, Mount Vernon Ladies Association.
Powell, Stephen. "The Devils Drink: 1999, www.bluemoon.net/~spowell/cart.
Robinson, Matthew. : How To Toast Like Our Founding Fathers", 2001, Claremont Institute Publications, www.claremont.org/publications/Robinson 010118.cfm.
Royce, James E. Alcohol Problems: A Comprehensive Survey. 1981, New York Free Press.
"Thomas Jefferson: Food and Wine Connoisseur", The Insiders Guide to Virginia Wineries. www.blueridge/sb-wineries.
Washington, George and Kitman, Marvin. 1970, George Washington's Expense Account. 1970, Simon and Schuster.

THANKSGIVING FEAST: Cast Iron Skillet Prep and Care

The Care and Feeding of Cast Iron
By Brook and Barbara Elliot

The hallmark of any country kitchen is an old black skillet sitting atop the stove.
And there's good reason for that: Whether you're baking biscuits in a Dutch oven, flipping pancakes on a griddle over a woodstove or panfrying chops on a modern electric range, cast iron makes the best cookware.
Cast-iron cookware has been used steadily in America since the 1600s, though over the last half century or so it has been known primarily as an outdoor cookware, used mainly by campers, hunters and living historians. But with more and more people discovering its virtues, there has been a resurgence in the use of cast-iron cookware in the home.

When folks think of cast ironware, most tend to think of skillets and fry pans, but the fact is there is an iron pot or kettle designed for just about any cooking chore. You can bake in Dutch ovens, make stew in a kettle or even do up a stirfry in a cast-iron wok. Then there are griddles for making flapjacks, specialized pieces for making corn sticks and muffins, baking pans and large pieces designed specifically for putting up preserves. Cast iron also provides more even heat distribution than today's lightweight aluminum pans. It cooks evenly, cleans up easily and holds heat longer (thus requiring less fuel). Moreover, cast iron also has medicinal qualities. In fact, many medical authorities believe that there are health benefits to cooking in iron since food may absorb and pass onto us traces of the essential mineral.
But in order to live up to its potential, cast-iron cookware must be properly cured and that cure must be maintained. If done correctly, the iron will not rust, nor will food stick to it and burn.

Curing cast iron means filling the pores and voids in the metal with grease of some sort, which subsequently gets cooked in. This provides a smooth, nonstick surface on both the inside and outside of the piece. While the curing process is similar whether you start with new, or used cast iron, there are a few important differences. Let's look at new cookware first.

Choosing and Curing Ironware
There are only a handful of sources for new cast ironware. Two American companies -Wagner and Lodge - still produce it and the rest comes from Asia. Generally you're better off with the finer grained American-made goods. The imports, though cheaper, have a course grain that is hard to cure and that requires more attention once it's cured.

Also, if you have a choice, avoid designs with self-basting lids. These are either covered with metal nipples or have a series of holes on the inside. They are more difficult to care for, because steam condenses in the depressions and on the nipples and tends to draw out the cure. They're also much harder to dry, resulting in rust on the inside of the lid and a metallic taste in the food that comes from cooking in uncured iron.

Wooden handles - more common on imported ironware - are handsome and stay cool to the touch... theoretically. Keep in mind that they are not appropriate for use on an open fire, and the wooden handles actually do heat up, thanks largely to the aluminum bolts that generally pass through their middles. Also, because you have a soft metal screw going into a hard metal thread, the bolt eventually wears down, causing the handle to loosen.

All new iron has a protective coating on it, which must be removed. American companies use a special food-safe wax; imports are covered with a water-soluble shellac. In either case, scrub the item with a scouring pad, using soap and the hottest tap water you can stand. Once the coating is removed, you should never again let soap touch the iron.

Let's repeat that. Do not use soap on cured cast iron. The cure is based on grease, and soap's job is to remove grease. So if you wash your iron with soap, you'll destroy the very effect you are trying for.

Also, make sure to remove all of the protective coating. If not, you'll get a very strange smell as the coating cooks during the curing process and this funky aroma will often linger, permeating and corrupting the flavor of any food later cooked in the pot.
When the iron comes clean, immediately dry it and wipe a fairly heavy coating of shortening over all the metal, being sure to include the handle and any legs or other protuberances. Historically, lard was used for this purpose. But lard, like all animal fats, has a tendency to turn ran cid, so shortening is a better bet. Never use butter, margarine or any fat containing milk or salt to season cast iron.

Heat your oven to 400°F and bake your iron pieces for about an hour. Remove them, blot up any puddles of oil with a paper towel, then let the iron pieces cool. Do not be alarmed if at this point the cast iron feels sticky; it'll lose this once the cure is complete.

Cast iron makers will tell you that the cookware is now ready for cooking, though most recommend that you use it only for frying the first few times. We find that oiling and heating the iron at least one more time before use effects a hotter initial cure. In this case, grease the piece lightly, and the stickiness should disappear; if not, it will the first time you cook with it.

After you've completed the second coating, it's okay to cook in the iron, but be sure to follow the manufacturer's suggestion and use the piece for frying only. Your ironware will be slightly discolored at this stage, but these first few frying jobs will complete the cure, and turn the iron into the rich, black color that is the sign of a well-cured, well-used skillet or pot. Usually, this takes considerable time. However, there is a way to hasten the process.
To achieve a final cure quickly, build a high flamed fire outdoors. While any fuel will serve, it's best to avoid softwoods as they will deposit creosote on the iron, which is not good for you.

Grease the iron on all surfaces fairly heavily and set it in the flames. When a good coating of soot has been deposited on the bottom, turn the piece and brush the sooty surface with more shortening. Be sure to use a natural fiber brush for this because synthetics will melt. When the topside, now facing the flames, has accumulated a sufficient layer of soot, turn the piece again and grease the sooty surface. Two or three turnings should complete the job. Remove the iron from the fire and let it cool.
Now comes the messy part. Liberally grease paper towels and use them to wipe off the iron. Lots of loose soot will come off, so you'll need plenty of towels. Try not to reapply this loose surface soot to the ware. Keep wiping with greased paper towels, periodically shifting to a clean spot, until most of the heavy' soot is removed.
Your iron should new have a deep black finish, which normally only comes with months of use. What you've done is fill in all of the pores and voids in the iron, creating a smooth nonstick surface. The black finish will now help to absorb and hold beat evenly.

You can use the iron right away or clean it to remove any additional surface soot. We usually clean ours, so as not to transfer any soot to the kitchen stove. But should you choose to skip this step, the first cooking job will finish the cure, and no additional loose soot will appear unless you use the piece on an open fire.
Proper cleaning of cast iron is the secret to maintaining the cure. So let's repeat once more: Do not use soap on cured cast iron. Ever! All you need is hot water (the hotter the better) and a scrub brush.

Once again, use straight hot water from the tap or water you've heated in camp. If outdoors, pour a small amount (a cup or two is all it takes) in the iron and use the scrub brush to vigorously scour all surfaces. Rinse the surface with more hot water. Indoors, merely let the hot water flow over the iron as you scrub it with the brush. If you are concerned about sterilization, pour boiling water into and over the iron after you have brushed it. But frankly, we don't consider this necessary: If the iron has been cured properly, it will not harbor pathogens.

Immediately dry the iron, then coat it with a thin film of shortening. This replaces any you have lost through cooking and cleaning and further assures there will be no rusting.

Iron that's been used on an open fire will always have loose soot on the outside. Rather than dirtying the scrub brush, we use one of those plastic scouring pads instead. We keep a few reserved solely for this purpose, to avoid transferring soot to other cleaning products. And we first wipe the ironware with greasy paper towels to remove most of the loose soot.

Depending on what it's used for, cast iron often doesn't have to be cleaned at all. We have friends who reserve one skillet strictly for making corn bread. When the skillet comes out of the oven, they turn the bread onto a rack to cool. The skillet is merely given a wipe with a paper towel, and a new film of shortening is applied. Very often, you can use the same approach even for foods cooked on the top of the range. The idea is to make sure nothing but a thin film of grease is left behind.

Buy Used, but Beware
Used cast iron requires a different approach. Depending on where you acquire it, you are likely to find it coated with everything from paint to crusted-on old food to a thick coating of burned lard.

Much of this can simply be burned off by leaving the iron in a very hot fire. There's also the old-time solution of soaking the iron in a mild acid bath (using a very diluted mix of water and battery acid or lye). But given the inherent and very serious dangers of this method (both agents are extremely caustic), it's host left to professional paint strippers, who have the goggles, rubber aprons, respirators, high boots, long gloves - and medical insurance - to work with caustics safely and responsibly.
Less hazardous to the lungs, eyes, skin and environment is to wash the iron in hot soapy water to remove any loose crud, then treat the iron with one of the new benign paint strippers, followed by a putty knife, wire brush, steel wool and some elbow grease. After the iron is clean, merely follow the directions for a new iron. One caveat: Paint can be very messy, so if it's a factor, you may want to work outside.

Some old iron pieces will, after a soapy water wash, look like new. Others will have stains that won't come out no matter how hard you scrub. Don't worry about these; the cure will later hide them. Once the iron is clean, oil and cure as usual.

You're likely to find a greater selection of styles, sizes and designs in used ware than what is available new. You can find cast iron at flea markets and antique malls, garage sales and farm auctions. But be sure you know what you're buying before plunking your money down.

Cast iron has become hugely popular as a collectible, causing prices to skyrocket. You can easily pay several hundred dollars these days for just about anything that says "Grizwold" on it. Problem is, many pieces of no particular collector value, when found in malls and flea markets, carry inflated prices. A common, everyday corn stick mold, for example, sells new for about $15 just about anywhere. Yet, we've seen them in antique stalls for as much as $35.

Examine used iron very carefully. Much of it is warped or has cracks and pinholes from misuse. This doesn't much matter if an item is destined to be a wall hanger, but you won't want to cook in it. Be especially wary of any piece that has been painted. Unscrupulous dealers often "repair" holes and cracks with epoxy compounds, then use black paint to hide their handiwork. A good welding shop can repair these holes, but it's hardly worth the cost.

Cooking Tips
When cooking with cast iron, heat the piece slowly. Cast iron works best when there is an even heat source spanning the piece's bottom. Old-fashioned wood- and coal-burning stoves are ideal for this (see " Cooking With Wood " ), but very rarely does a modern gas or electric range provide this type of heat. The solution is to set your burner on very low and allow the cast iron to gradually warm up. You can then turn up the heat to medium or medium-high, as necessary. There is no reason ever to use the highest settings with cast iron, as it collects and conducts heat so readily.
Alternatively, you can evenly heat your ironware by popping it into an oven set on low. Once it's heated, simply transfer it to the range top and cook as usual.
Be particularly careful when cooking with an electric range, because the burners create hot spots that can warp cast iron or even cause it to crack. Be sure to preheat the iron very slowly when using an electric range and keep the settings to medium or even medium-low.

Preheating is not a problem when baking or oven roasting, since the iron will heat evenly in the oven. However, you may find that you do not have to cook the food quite as long as the recipe calls for, because of iron's heat-retaining property.
Finally, be sure to use the appropriate iron for the task at hand. A three-legged Dutch oven is not the right choice for an indoor stove. Nor should a large baking dish be used on top of the range, unless you can perfectly balance the heat from the two burners it sits across.

Pick the right iron, treat it to the proper cure, dig out your favorite recipes and soon you'll understand why grandma spent so much time in the kitchen.

JIM HARRISON: All-American Writer & Eater

Jim Harrison is a writer whose heart and soul are as close the the land as any literary figure ever was. I came across his writing by accident, later discovering he, like myself, is a native Michigander. As he has said, the topics of his prose and poetry focus on the only things worth writing about -- love, suffering, and death. The stories he weaves center around the lives of Northern Michigan "Carhartt Set" fishing, hunting, walking, cooking, and solo moonlit dances on picnic tables.

His most recent work, Returning to Earth, is discussed in this video. Many critics hve touted it as his best work yet. I disagree, although it is a well thought-out, brave look at a man coming to terms with his own eminent death. When approaching the great works of this master, bein with the following...

A suggest reading list ...
Just Before Dark -- a collection of essays about food, the sporting life, and literary matters
The Raw and The Cooked -- A compendium of Ursa Major's food writing
The Shape of the Journey -- Collected poetry
Dalva and The Road Home -- Classic Harrison novels, real and rustic

Don't leave this life without exposing yourself to his amazing work. I've been there. Harrison knows of what he speaks.