The history of Thanksgiving is much deeper than you think. Plus,
a Thanksgiving jam recipe.Thanksgiving is a myth , or at least
it is as taught to school children. I don't mean to be a spoil-
sport. Thanksgiving is still my favorite holiday, in part
because it sanctifies gluttony. More meaningfully, it also is
the rare holiday that is framed by beliefs I hold dear: about
nature's abundance, the vitality of kinship across the
generations, and the universal brotherhood of the table.But the
fond story about Pilgrims in brass-buckle shoes being saved from
starvation in 1621 by kindly buckskin-clad Indians bearing gifts
of wild game and corn is a legend, according to a fascinating
article by food historian Andrew F. Smith that appeared in the
fall, 2003, issue of the academic journal Gastronomica . The
Thanksgiving meal is as laden with symbolism as sustenance; it's
just that the true meaning isn't exactly what we learned in
grade school.After the grave Puritans arrived on the Mayflower
and established Plimoth Plan