Did the Pilgrims & Indians have mac and cheese?

[DarthKTrava]

My sister does both macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. Along with the traditional turkey and ham.

 

[DarthKTrava]

You mean my mom is traditional & we didn't know it??????????????????????

We never had mac & cheese growing up with Thanksgiving. However, somehow all my kids & my niece/nephew ALL love "Grandma's Mac & Cheese" -- we don't even know when it started but for every single holiday now she is required to bring her Mac & Cheese. The funniest thing is it's nothing special, no secret recipe or anything (it's not from a box though)...just Grandma's touch I guess. Therefore, we will be having Mac & Cheese along with Mashed Potatoes.

I thought we were the odd group having mac & cheese on our Thanksgiving menu.

My vote is the mashed potatoes are the traditional one (have you ever seen a TV ad with mac & cheese in the spread? OR if you are buying a pre-made version, the side is mashed potatoes NOT mac & cheese!)

Now, who knows what they had at the original feast, probably stuff completely different than what we have. I'm pretty sure they didn't have jellied cranberry sauce from a can.

One thing we're REQUIRED to take to any family meal is deviled eggs. They will eat every last one of Mom's deviled eggs. She recently (ok, a couple years ago) taught me how to make them....

It's just like my one surviving great aunt takes her famous green beans and corn....

 

[ozarkmom]

The mac and cheese is not a southern thing. I live in Arkansas and my mom is from Virginia. I've never eaten anywhere on thanksgiving that mashed potatoes wasn't served. Now at my mother in laws where everyone brings something mac and cheese might make an appearance.

 

[Becky2005]

She recently (ok, a couple years ago) taught me how to make them....

It's just like my one surviving great aunt takes her famous green beans and corn....

That's what is so funny. My mom told me how she makes it but I can use the exact same ingredients, etc... but it must be mentally because the kids will do a "it's close but it's not quite the same as Grandma's". Even Grandma doesn't have a clue why they all just seemed to latch onto to her mac & cheese. Maybe it's her special bowl? Do you all have that too at your meals? Certain foods just are always made in certain dishes, so it becomes almost a part of the tradition too?

 

[DarthKTrava]

That's what is so funny. My mom told me how she makes it but I can use the exact same ingredients, etc... but it must be mentally because the kids will do a "it's close but it's not quite the same as Grandma's". Even Grandma doesn't have a clue why they all just seemed to latch onto to her mac & cheese. Maybe it's her special bowl? Do you all have that too at your meals? Certain foods just are always made in certain dishes, so it becomes almost a part of the tradition too?

It's more of a dash of this and a pinch of that recipe anyways.... depending on how many eggs and how much mayo and mustard.... and salt and pepper.... And a couple of times I've added cayenne pepper for that extra "kick".

I hear that all the time about a friend and his mother's mashed potatoes and how his sis's potatoes tasted different, even using the same "recipe".... And they were surprised that I don't add milk to mashed potatoes....

No idea about the "special bowl for that particular dish"..... The deviled eggs go in their own special container made just for them....

 

[Golf4food]

And my question is can people not see how UNBELIEVABLY ironic the concept of thanksgiving is.

Care to elaborate?

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

We're having a Thanksgiving feast at work tomorrow and mac n cheese is high on the menu as well as well as collard greens and sweet potato pie.

I work with a mix of urban and Southern women so mac n cheese is a KEY ingredient to the thanksgiving day.

But if you think about if we literally ate what was available in the first Thanksgiving it would not be all that appetizing.. venison, seal, and lobster..

http://www.history.com/content/thanksgiving/the-first-thanksgiving

I don't know....other than the seal (which I'd be willing to try), the rest sounds good.

 

[goofy's friends]

Wow! just went to Thanksgiving meal at my kids' school. They had Mac and Cheese and I thought that was soooo odd. Never heard of that at a Thanksgiving meal before and kids and I laughed about it. Came home and saw this thread!! Too funny!!

I'll take mashed potatoes over mac n cheese, please!

 

[melly]

Care to elaborate?

are you kidding? Do you even know the meaning behind it?

 

[DarthKTrava]

Care to elaborate?

Yes. Melly, please elaborate...

 

[paintnolish]

And then a thread about mac n cheese turned ugly...

 

[melly]

Yes. Melly, please elaborate...

Fine then.

An indiginous population welcomes you into their land, feeds you and tells you how to grow certain foods. Do you give thanks by....

a) Butchering them, nicking their land but eating a turkey every year thereafter to give thanks

or

b) not butchering them in the first place.

Hope that helps.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'll take mashed potatoes over mac n cheese, please!

I'm having a vision of a big bowl of mac n cheese, topped with a large dollop of mashed potatoes and a 1/2 cup of gravy.

When carbs attack!!!

 

[Halbleib1]

We were arguing at work today whether mashed potatoes are a "traditional" Thanksgiving food! I said of course they are, but a few people demanded it was NOT traditional and they'd never had it on Thanksgiving. I asked what they have and they said macaroni and cheese.

I have never heard of having macaroni and cheese for Thanksgiving. Now I don't know if they had potatoes at the first Thanksgiving, but I can say with confidence they did NOT have macaroni and cheese!

Ok so my question is, which is more traditional mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese?

According to wikipedia mac and cheese is a southern thanksgiving tradition. Different parts of the country have different traditions. What most of us eat today was not served on the first thanksgiving. Over the years the menu has changed. For example at the first thanksgiving they did not have turkey.

In my family we serve:

Turkey, Potatoes ,Gravy, Bread Stuffing ,Corn, Squash and Biscuits. Sometimes we also serve fruit salad.
Dessert is always pie. Pumpkin and either cherry or apple as well.

We have on occassion had lasagna.

 

[S. C.]

Did the Pilgrims & Indians have mac and cheese?

I can't remember it's been a long time.