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Community Corner

Quick, Easy Turkey Day Recipes

Last minute suggestions for a Thanksgiving Day meal, featuring items the early settlers of Queens might have made.

The modern Thanksgiving celebration traces its roots back to 1621, to a plantation in Plymouth, which celebrated the year's fall harvest with a feast.

But most people don't realize that it wasn't until November 26, 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared a day of national 'thanksgiving.'

So Patch asked "what would the settlers of northeast Queens have eaten on that first official thanksgiving day, so long ago?"

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Here's a list of 5 last minute holiday recipes, featuring a few select treats that locals may have enjoyed, way back when.

Nothing screams autumn more than a little hot apple cider, except maybe a little hot apple cider slathered in seasonally spiced butter. And though there's no evidence to suggest that this drink was actually enjoyed by the Queens pilgrims of yore, its way too delicious to pass up. 

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It wasn't that long ago when the waters of were ripe with edible shellfish; just ask the baymen who called northeast Queens home. So to honor these early ancestors, here's an autumn oyster recipe you're going to want to make more often than just once a year.

Did you know it's more than likely that the early settlers of Queens, who were mostly farmers that kept pigs, would have probably served swine at their big holiday feast? But unlike a 20 pound turkey this dish will only take about 55 minutes to prepare and make.

A variation of the Norwegian Christmas Cabbage, which would have likely been popular with the Dutch settlers here on the island, this creative concoction makes a great side dish to accompany the apple glaze pork tenderloin or turkey.

We know—curry turkey for thanksgiving! But this could be the best thing you do with all that left over Turkey. So even though there's a good chance curry turkey salad wasn't served at the first thanksgiving, this recipe gets a pass. After all, trade between the Dutch settlers and Indonesian spice traders (who kept curry) was common place back then, and that's good enough for us.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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