First Feast

Spent most of the day up Payson Canyon. BEAUTIFUL! If I had to pick a spot right now to build a house and spend the rest of my life, it would be at the mouth of Payson Canyon. All the leaves were in the height of their glory, and it was a gorgeous sunny October day. Days like today are the reason I love fall so much.

But why was I up Payson Canyon? For the First Feast, of course! Our school group does a First Thanksgiving reenactment every year, where we bring authentic (ish) food that they had at the First Thanksgiving. We have it outside, so as to be more realistic. (That's why we do it in October, so we still want to be outside.) 

Everyone was given the option of dressing up (or not) as either and Indian or a pilgrim. Some people had really awesome costumes. Others, like us, improvised. This morning I gave my kids a quick This-Is-What-Thanksgiving-Is lesson and had them color Indian headbands, and then glued craft feathers on them. Then we strung pasta necklaces. But it did the trick, and the kids had a great time with them. And they actually wore their "costumes" the entire time we were there. I was impressed.

Ivan and Lincoln and their Indian gear.

After the delicious food. They had different activities set up for the kids. They got to try their hand and writing with a quill and ink, grind corn in a mortar and pestle, listened to Indian ghost stories around the campfire, and (the boys' absolute favorite) shoot bows and arrows.

Oh! I almost forgot. The authentic dish that I brought was called Sweet Potato Spoon Bread. It turned out fabulous. I am going to have to do this for the real Thanksgiving. It was sooooo good. It tastes a little like pumpkin pie.

Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
SERVES 8 TO 10

3 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup honey
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream

1. Heat oven to 400°. Bake sweet potatoes until soft when pierced with a knife, 40 to 60 minutes. Let cool. Peel, and discard skins.

2. Reduce heat to 350°. In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine cornmeal, milk, butter, brown sugar, spices, salt, and 1 cup water. Cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

3. Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Place cornmeal mixture, sweet potatoes, flour, honey, eggs, and cream in a food processor. Process until smooth; pour into dish. Bake until golden brown, about 45-60 minutes, until a fork comes out clean. Serve.