One of the biggest times of the year for just about anyone with something to sell is the holidays. Companies on the Internet are no different. There are tons of sites with the history of Thanksgiving, recipes, craft ideas and tons of other stuff. Some sites are better than others. I’ve included a few here that I like.
For a good history of the holiday, check out the History Channel’s website. They quote Edward Winslow’s “A Journal of the Pilgrams 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 partakers of our plenty.”
They also provide links for possible food items on the table at the first Thanksgiving. Some items include venison (deer), lobster, clams, goose, plums, grapes, walnuts, acorns, parsnips and many other items. Chances are no ham, the turkey would’ve been wild, no pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes either.
For those not so interested in the past, but in the here and now, Martha Stewart’s website provides four Thanksgiving menus for the coming day. She has the “Classic Thanksgiving, Colonial American Thanksgiving, a Southern Fried Turkey Dinner and Thanksgiving Barbecue. She also includes other ideas for making crafts for Thanksgiving and other holidays coming up.
For a site dedicated mostly to the holiday and the people who started it as well as current traditions, try the Plimoth Plantation. This place does reenactments and allows people to see a slice of Pilgrim life. They’ve also got articles on native traditions and other topics surrounding this holiday.
For more recipes (and the requisite search angle), the website AllRecipes.com has a search engine to find the best recipes. Heading to their website will get you over 1500 recipes for all kinds of things relating to the glorious holiday of Thanksgiving.
Hopefully, these sites will get you started. There’s a lot of great information out there for all kinds of Thanksgiving ideas. Make sure you search for your favorites.
One more thing, all the staff here at Murdok and Murdok would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. There are so many things in our world to be thankful for and we’re thankful for all of you. So please be careful, enjoy the holiday and we’ll see you when you get back, same WebPro time, same WebPro channel.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.