When my boys were young, and I was trying to teach them about the “true” meaning of Thanksgiving, I asked them, “Why did the Pilgrims come to America?”

Mark, then about 7, guessed, “To get turkeys.” Good guess I said. They DID get turkeys, but that’s not why they came here.

“To meet up with the Indians!” was his second guess. Another good guess, and they DID meet up with the Indians, but that’s not WHY they came.

Then Aaron (age about 5) gleaned his answer from Mark’s guesses: “To get FEATHERS!” I guess I should have waited a few more years.

The history of the first Thanksgiving is interesting. It happened a year after the Pilgrims landed in the New World. The winter had been harsh, but they gathered their first harvest in October of 1621. By that time, only around 50 colonists remained alive and well, but thankful for the bounty, and also thankful for the help they received from the Wampanoag Indians, they gathered together for a 3-day feast, celebration, and (probably) prayers of thanks. But historians agree that they probably didn’t eat turkey that first Thanksgiving. So why do we eat turkey on Thanksgiviing?

Turkeys are indigenous ONLY to North America. While the Pilgrims hunted wild turkey in 1621, there is no specific historical mention of turkey being included in their first “feast”. Years later, Alexander Hamilton would quip, “No citizen of the U.S. shall refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day.” So when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, turkey was already the meal of choice.

Back then, there were reasons for eating turkey rather than chicken or another fowl. A turkey is large enough to feed a table full of hungry people, and unlike chicken or cows, it didn’t serve much utilitarian purpose like laying eggs or making milk. Turkey was more festive than pork, which was readily available and frequently already eaten. (The publication of A Christmas Carol in 1843 may have helped too, when crotchety old Scrooge sends the Cratchit family a Christmas turkey, indicative of a special meal.)

Other meats we know the Pilgrims ate that first Thanksgiving are: venison, “small birds” (probably passenger pigeons, ducks and geese), eels, shellfish, lobster, and fish. Wait… passenger pigeons? YUCK!)

So the tradition of Thanksgiving continues almost 400 years later. I did an informal survey, asking approximately 100 people I know what they usually have for their Thanksgiving meal. Overwhelmingly, the answer was TURKEY. The next most popular meat was ham – with about 20 people. After that, the seven or so “other” answers ranged from “lasagna” to “steaks”. One person said her family waits until about 10:00 and has a huge, special breakfast, with waffles, sausage, eggs, fruit and homemade biscuits. They nibble and graze most of the day while they watch football and parades. (Cold sausage and eggs? Not my idea of a great snack.)

But if you’re in the majority – a turkey aficionado – let me give you some turkey facts:

A serving of turkey is about the size of a deck of cards, or about 3.5 ounces in weight. It contains about 100 calories (This is an estimate, because white meat contains less fat and fewer calories than dark meat.) Turkey is about 70% protein, and about 15/15% fat and carbs. When you buy the turkey, estimate one pound per person invited to dinner, or about 1.5 pounds per person if you want a lot of leftovers, or if you invite that one brother-in-law that wants to eat both drumsticks and then carry home the leftover breast for sandwiches.

Whatever you eat, and whomever you eat it with, I wish you a very scrumptious Thanksgiving, and remember why we call it “THANKS Giving”. Amen.