Looking Back: Over the River and Through the Woods

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
     First published as a poem entitled “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day,” Lydia Maria Child wrote the lyrics to this popular song in 1844. It represented her own childhood memories of going to visit her grandfather’s house on Thanksgiving Day.
     Today we sing “to grandmother’s house we go.” I have my own theory about that. We go to grandmother because she makes all of the excellent food that has become our Thanksgiving tradition over the years!
 
 
Over the river and through the woods,
To grandmother's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,
Through (the) white and drifted snow!
Over the river and through the woods,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the woods,
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

     So this column is supposed to be about Grain Valley History, but isn’t going “over the river” a wonderful memory of all our histories? While growing up in Grain Valley may only have been crossing over Sni-A-Bar Creek, it still meant going to grandmother’s house, or Aunt Opal’s house (substitute your own destination) for a feast. 
     Food is history. Grain Valley was named for the plentiful grain that could be grown in our valley. Through the history of the world, food was a huge part of our lives; feast and festivals! Food is part of our gathering from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve and beyond. So be prepared to read about food for the next few weeks in this column.
     I will begin with the appetizer. Today a veggie plate is carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, well you get the picture. Back in the day, did your relish tray include green and black olives? We also had Bread ‘n Butter pickles, home canned, of course. My mother always made pimento cheese to spread on the celery sticks. And there was the weird stuff that came in little jars like pickled vegetables and pearl onions. Another mainstay among our Thanksgiving appetizers were those cute little jars of Kraft cheese served with Ritz crackers. The jars could be washed up and used later as juice glasses!
     Next week I’ll talk about main dishes and I may even throw in a recipe or two! 

Image credit: Grain Valley Historical Society