Appalachian women worked like men most days. They were the center of the family and of their homes. They tended to many chores, including chopping wood, cooking, spinning wool, and making all the family’s clothes. They tended the gardens and the livestock, they raised their children. In other words, the first Appalachian women were a strong, hearty, and joyful bunch of women. They took no time for themselves. They endured many hardships and adversity, but somehow they were successful in carving out a life in the wilderness of the beautiful but harsh Appalachian Mountains.
I think that all Spring and Summer, an early Appalachian woman might have thought as she tended to her chores, especially at harvest time, to pick and choose what to save for her special Thanksgiving feast. People had seasonal diets. In the spring and summer months, they ate many more fruits and vegetables than they did in the fall and winter.
In the Fall, a popular dish was Squirrel & Gravy. The Squirrel heads with brains intact were also eaten. They would cook them with the eyes, ears, and nose tips removed. In eating squirrel heads, you take the head in your fingers and hold it on the plate while you eat the facial muscles. Then you remove the lower jaw and eat the tongue. But the piece of resistance is the brain which is removed by cracking the top of the skull with the handle of a butter knife. Then you pick the bone fragments off and literally suck the brain out. It is rich, sweet, buttery tasting and cannot be equaled by most other foods. Squirrel brain has only one drawback. It is too small. Brains from nearly any edible animal are wonderfully tasty food. Whether it is a squirrel, cow, or hog, the brain is one of the best-tasting portions. I can remember my Papaw Gass eating Scrambled Brains.
If the weather was cold enough, it was also common to kill a hog during Thanksgiving week. Fresh pork, especially organ meats, is good, especially at a holiday dinner. They often sent the heart, lungs or “lights,” liver, kidneys, spleen, or “melt” to the house as soon as the hog was gutted, and that would be their supper. There might be a large pot of fresh pork and potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner.
They also flavored vegetables with small amounts of pork. The favorite for this use was smoked jowl, but salt pork was also often used. In the days when refrigeration was not always available, or electricity was unpredictable, salting was often the most effective way to preserve home-killed meats. Many had what were called “Smokehouses,” where they smoked and stored their meat for preservation.
They had their Leatherbritches, too: big pots of shucked beans. Other vegetables might include sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes, squash, beets, turnips, carrots, and a variety of greens such as kale, collards, mustard, and turnip greens. Fresh whole milk and home-churned butter. After the butter was removed from the churn, warm fresh butter milk had to be a treat!
Deserts were Jams and Jellies and Pies.
You know, I find it funny that in all this little writing, I have not mentioned turkey. Yes, they did have wild turkey at their feasts, but more likely, they enjoyed Venison stews, steaks, and roasts, chicken with maybe some dumplings, fish, beef, and more than likely pork.
And to end the celebration, they might have pulled out Pa’s personal crock of Corn Likker and spread the spirit in giving thanks to all — children as well.
I can almost feel the love and warmth the families shared during their time of giving thanks. I can’t say I smell the aroma from the food, though. And guess what? The women are still working and smiling and having a joyful time. You know what they say, “A woman’s work is never done.”
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We at Appalachian Free Press hope your Thanksgiving table is full of your favorite food and surrounded by your favorite people.
Happy Thanksgiving!
