By: Claire, Ailee, and Karely
Hey Y’all! This week, the PICA crew is going to share with you some of our personal favorite Thanksgiving recipes and why they are special for us. We feel it important to express that we do not support the traditional message of Thanksgiving as it is a colonial holiday that does not recognize accurately the past or current ways that the US treated indigenous peoples living here. We are on stolen land. Rather, you can recreate your own meaning for Thanksgiving, as a holiday meant to bring people together, express gratitude and share in the warmth of family and friends. This Thanksgiving is a bit different than usual, but we all know that already. Some of us don’t get to be with the people we love this year, but rather than focus on things we cannot change, let's celebrate things we can control like making tasty food!
Claire: Compost Coordinator
My family never really did traditional Thanksgiving. We all agree turkey isn’t as good as chicken and with more than half of my family now vegetarian, we had to come up with new dishes to make. We often travel on Thursday because people are still working or in school on Wednesday, so we make and eat our big meal on Friday. My Aunt lives in 29 Palms which is the town next to Joshua Tree. My family and I would pile into our car with packed lunches and a playlist of podcasts, and drive down on Thursday.
We arrive in a house with no heating and cots for beds thoroughly exhausted. That night we always make homemade pizza in the clay oven outside and then watch the stars. The next day we go for a hike in the Joshua Tree National Park and then get cooking. I’m sure most people can relate that there is always something that goes wrong on cooking day. We always can laugh about it afterwards but in the moment things can get pretty crazy. One year our oven caught on fire, one year the roof collapsed and one year my aunt's dog Touli knocked the main dish onto the floor right before we were supposed to eat. But nothing makes us happier than getting to be together. I never thought I would look forward to seeing my cousins, they were always so annoying when we were younger but now I anxiously await the next time I get to see them.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because my family comes together under less than ideal circumstances to make great food together and enjoy the beauty of the desert. The drive down, though long, is beautiful and the weekend there is emotionally recharging. We won’t get to do most of our usual plans this year, but we plan to make our traditional thanksgiving dish, Paella, and facetime with my Aunt and cousins. And since I am living in Santa Cruz currently, we have decided that I should only social distance visit for our big meal, not stay at home for the weekend. It made me sad to see how much our plans have changed, but they are still filled with love and good food. I hope you all, no matter your thanksgiving plans, get to feel the same.
Our Paella Recipe:
If you want the best Paella, use Bomba Rice and a traditional Paella pan. Also, cook your Paella over an open flame, we usually just put the pan on a charcoal grill but you can use a fire pit too.
Paella is a pretty forgiving dish, so you can use any vegetables you like. We usually use onion, bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant and carrots
What you need:
Paella Pan (we use 12 inch)
Olive oil
Saffron threads (1 tsp)
Thyme (5 fresh sprigs)
Smoked paprika (1 tsp)
Pepper and salt
Cilantro
Lime (3)
Garlic (5 cloves)
4 cups of Vegetable broth
A similar amount of: onion (diced), carrots (diced), bell peppers, zucchini (cubed) and eggplant (cubed). I suggest 1 onion and then a corresponding amount of the other veggies.
1 ½ cups bomba rice
Steps
Heat the veggie stock over medium heat and add in the saffron threads. Stir and once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and keep the lid on.
Heat up your Paella pan over the flame. Add in your olive oil and once it begins to sizzle, add in your diced onions, carrots, bell pepper (we cut ours into thin slices), zucchini and eggplant. Add some salt and pepper. Saute until slightly brown and softened.
Add your paprika. Add your garlic and stir for one minute. (pro tip: garlic can lose its flavor if it's cooked for too long without any liquid, so always add your garlic only a minute before adding your liquid to your dish.)
Now add in your rice and a couple more tablespoons of oil. Coat the rice and stir for one more minute.
Now, slowly add your broth in, stirring the rice as you pour. This is your last stir. Add in your thyme sprigs.
Simmer for 20-25 mins. Make sure to rotate the pan on the grill to get an even cook. Taste the rice as needed to gauge how much longer it should cook for. The cook time will depend on the intensity of the flame.
Paella will sometimes for a socarrat, a golden brown crust on the bottom of the pan. You may start to hear a snap, crackle sound at the bottom of your pan which means it is forming. Sometimes it may not, it depends on a variety of factors. If you smell burning, takit it off the flame immediately.
Taste your rice on the top without stirring and if it is cooked almost all the way through, take it off the heat. You want your paella to be slightly al dente because you will let it sit and it will continue to cook off the heat.
Once you are ready, remove your Paella. Cover with foil and let sit for 5 mins.
Take the foil off, add your cilantro, salt if needed and lime wedges to the top and serve!
Karely: Programs Coordinator
Hello everyone! As Claire mentioned, my family has also never done a traditional Thanksgiving. Turkey has never been a favorite in our family, and we don’t tend to eat the traditional Thanksgiving meals that are prepared during this holiday. Our Thanksgiving day usually consists of gathering with our family and sharing our favorite meals, particularly tamales, atole, and pumpkin empanadas (my favorite)! I particularly like thanksgiving because it reminds me how close we are getting to the Christmas season. While this year will be different due to social distancing, I wanted to share how to make these yummy pumpkin empanadas that you can still make and share with friends and family :) So let’s get started!
What you will need:
4 cups of all purpose flour
¾ cups sugar
2 ½ tsp all pumpkin spice
2 ½ tsp instant yeast
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
1 egg at room temperature (if you do not eat eggs, you can substitute this with egg alternatives)
1 ¼ cup warm water (should be at 120-130 degrees)
½ tsp salt
For your pumpkin filling:
15oz 100% pure pumpkin
¾ cup brown sugar
½ tbsp Mexican vanilla blend
Steps
Melt your shortening in the microwave for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, whisk your egg (or egg alternative).
Prep your dry ingredients. Add your flour, sugar, pumpkin spice and yeast. Combine all these ingredients.
Once your dry ingredients are mixed, add your egg (or egg alternative), and shortening. Mix together, and begin adding water gradually while also mixing together.
Once you have added all your water, begin kneading. You should knead until your dough no longer sticks to your hands. Be patient in this process! Preheat your oven at 350 degrees during this time.
Once your dough is no longer sticking to your hands and is ready, add your salt. Then knead for another 5 minutes.
Place your dough in a bowl and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
Now we can begin our filling! In a saucepan add your pure pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and mexican vanilla blend. Mix and cook for 5 minutes. Make sure to constantly stir because it will burn. Place aside once finished.
Prep your tray by adding vegetable shortening at the bottom so your empanadas don’t stick.
Grab your dough, and create golf sized balls until you have no more dough. For each ball, roll it out, not too thin or too thick! Place one tablespoon of your pumpkin filling at the center and close your empanada in half. Fold and press the outer edge of the dough inward to create the edge of the empanada. Place your empanada on your tray and repeat this process with the rest of your dough.
Cook your empanadas for 15 minutes.
Take out of the oven, and enjoy!
This recipe was inspired by Claudia Regalado, check out her Youtube Channel, where she focuses on Mexican Inspired Dishes. I particularly used her How to Make Pumpkin Empanadas for this recipe. Disclaimer: Many of her recipes contain meat and dairy, if you are vegetarian and vegan, these recipes can be modified to fit your needs. Nonetheless, these Mexican recipes are great!
Ailee: Garden Coordinator
Hey everybody, happy holidays !! Interestingly enough, my family celebrates thanksgiving in the traditional and stereotypical way! Which includes a potluck of my family members bringing their favorite dishes, and then hanging out with everyone for the evening.
But of course with social distancing this year, I celebrated with my immediate family and grandparents, as compared to celebrating with my extended family. This year we took advantage of our small space to bond through board games, and I took the liberty to explain the infuriating origins of Thanksgiving. I thought this would provide the perfect opportunity, since the circumstances for indigenous people then are just as relevant now! My folxs weren’t too happy to hear about it, and as a matter of fact they told me to be quiet because I was being too negative LOL ! But here’s some truth to the origins of this now “gracious” holiday:
We all know the common narrative of the Pilgrims having a wholesome meal with the Native American Indians, followed by making a peace treaty to be on each other’s lands. What a beautiful happily ever after.
However, the basis of truth are followed by these events instead :
1614 : A group of english settlers return to england with a group of Patuxet indigenous people to be sold for slavery
Almost all of their population die from smallpox
Only one member survived, their name is Squanto. He learned english and showed the settlers how to grow corn and fish
He also negotiated a peace treaty between the pilgrims and the Wampanoags tribe. They had one nice dinner together (prob wasn't that nice, ya know language barriers).
Then years later, the Puritans settled into the Americas and dominated a lot of land, thinking it was public and took more indigenous people as slaves.
The treaty became void
And so the Pequot Nation decided to also refuse the peace treaty and they fought back. These wars lasted for about a decade, and became known as the bloodiest indigenous wars to be.
Mainly because it was a massacre on the Pequot nation.
1863 : Abraham Lincoln declares it a national holiday, as a unifying force for the aftermath of the Civil Wars lmao.
Sources for info :
A current Pit River Tribe member’s perspective on thanksgiving
Wednesday Adam’s excerpt of thanksgiving, how it should’ve gone
There are so many different sources about the accuracy of thanksgiving, I would recommend to look into it for yourself
I also wanted to add some significant inequalities Indigenous folxs continue to face today, and how they are taking the brunt of COVID-19.
Some stats for context :
The Navajo Nation is 27k sq mi of area, which is a comparable size to West Virginia (24k sq mi)
Obviously different population sizes with West Virginia of 1.7 M people and the Navajo Nation of 200,000 people (but this was last counted in 2010).
So some comparables :
WV is living on 163 grocery stores VS Navajo Nation living on 13
WV has 63 hospitals VS Navajo Nation living on 6 hospitals
ALL IN ALL : Native Americans in many states have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and data gaps continue to leave an incomplete picture
This is because Indigenous communities living on reservations face significant hardship from having :
Highest rates of food insecurity and food deserts
Highest rates of diabetes, heart disease, asthma and obesity
Quality health care has been chronically underfunded and under resourced
IT ALL SEEMS FUCKED : and it is because it is intentional from the nation to be. However, here is a twitter thread of tribes and organizations taking donations. Anything counts :
It is so necessary for us to understand the origins of our holidays, and how such propaganda continues to be upheld by this pompous head-ass of a country. Anywho, on a positive note, I did look forward to making our traditional meals we make every year for this holiday. As a vegetarian, I absolutely love this broccoli salad we make and would love to share it with y’all :-)
You will need :
2 bags (12 oz or 8 cups) of broccoli florets
½ cup chopped, and then toasted pecans
1 can (11 oz) Mandarian oranges (drained optional)
1 cup golden raisins or craisins
½ cup of chopped green onions
4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons of soy sauce
¼ cup sugar (or 2 packages of splenda)
½ cup of mayo
(optional protein) 12 pieces bacon or 6 vegan sausages, cooked and diced
Note : This makes 10 servings ~(o-o)~
Steps >:-)
In a small mixing bowl whisk together mayo, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Then have it chill for like 15-30 mins in the fridge.
Get 4 cups of water to a rolling boil. Put the broccoli florets in a colander, and then pour the boiling water slowly over them. Then let them cool off, and break apart the larger florets so they are all similar size.
While the broccoli cools off, you can cut your pecans, green onions, and protein! Then roast the pecans and protein.
Lastly, combine the broccoli with craisins, oranges, pecans, green onions, and protein. Give them a good toss with each other, and then pour in your sauce from step 1 !
Viola! Here is the final snapshot of the master salad. I totally forgot to take a photo from thanksgiving, but this is a google photo that looks pretty similar :-)
