Michael Goforth: Keep alive the tradition of the Thanksgiving table

Michael Goforth: Keep alive the tradition of the Thanksgiving table

We all have your Thanksgiving traditions.

In my family, my grandmother always burned the dinner rolls. So, even after her death, someone would be in charge of burning the rolls.

One year, the green bean casserole exploded, sending beans as well as fried onion rings onto my head. I was not allowed to sit near the casserole as it cooked in the future.

There had to be rice and giblet gravy for my brother, oyster casserole for my mother, cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole for me.

Regardless of the menu, though, the Thanksgiving dinner is a time for friends and extended family to gather together. It is a time to eat and pray. A time to eat and talk. A time to eat and laugh. A time to eat and maybe sing. A time to eat and eat many more.

We eat much. But, we also eat slowly. Thanksgiving dinner and fast food are at opposite ends of the dining experience. And, that makes Thanksgiving special, if exclusively for once a year. We savor the conversation and the ties of friendship as much as we savor the turkey and dressing.

When I was growing up, fast food meant eating a tomato right off the vine. Or chasing a chicken after its head was cut off. From experience, I could tell you that could be very fast food.

There was nothing fast about breakfast, lunch or dinner. Then came TV dinners and family time around the table quickly began to change.

Today, fast food has become so much a part of our lives that we don't think here can be another way. But, two decades ago, a Slow Food movement began in Italy by Carlo Petrini when McDonald's opened near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The goal is to encourage locally produced food to profit the economy, environment and health, and to preserve the cultural aspects of food. There are now more than 100,000 members of the movement in 132 countries.

The Gold and Treasure Coast chapter of Slow Food was co-founded by T.A. Wyner of Fort Pierce, the manager of farmers markets in Port St. Lucie, Palm Beach Gardens and Abacoa.

Wyner told me that before the Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving Day, the Spanish in Florida had their own thanksgiving celebrations to mark important events. One of those events would have been the Feast Day of St. Lucia on Dec. 13. It was on that date in 1565 that the Spanish built a stockade in this area, which became well-known as St. Lucia, in honor of the day, and, later, St. Lucie County.

To mark the Spanish founding of the county, a celebration'll be held at the Fort Pierce Community Center on Dec. 12. As part of that celebration produced by Wyner, there will be historical presentations, including Scripps' own Joe Crankshaw portraying the late landscape artist A.E. "Bean" Backus, exhibits, and a feast e.g. the Spanish would have created for their thanksgiving celebration.

That feast will include roast pig. (The Spanish brought pigs with them on their ships.) Also, there will be a traditional Spanish stew of chicken, dried beans and Spanish sausage.

Future feasts are expected to include original Florida pumpkins, which are now being grown.

Whatever is at the center of your Thanksgiving feast --- turkey, pig or something else --- enjoy the time together as it has been enjoyed for generation after generation, with great food and good company.

And, in my family, maybe this year I'll be in charge of burning the dinner rolls. Traditions matter.