Happy Thanksgiving

If you’re looking for stories about Thanksgiving ravaging the environment, look no further — at least, not here. Try Google. On the assumption it is more likely you are celebrating these days as a time to share food and thanks with family, friends and community, EarthDesk offers some Thanksgiving recommendations:

Remember Those Who Provide.  Most of the potatoes, squash, green beans, apple pies and cider we consume originated in farms outside our communities. Those working the fields deserve our thanks.  More at Beyond Pesticides.

Bee-Thankful. The foods that make Thanksgiving dinner so special are made possible through the work of bees. Enjoy this appreciation of our pollinating friends presented by Environment America

More Animals to be Thankful for.  Continuing on the non-human theme, add dung beetles, flies, salamanders and squirrels to your Thanksgiving list. Learn why at National Geographic.

Volunteer at a Food Bank. While food is on your mind this holiday, consider helping out at your local food bank. It is easy to find one, just click this Google search. If you are in the vicinity of EarthDesk’s home here in the Hudson Valley try the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.

Easy and Excellent Cranberry-Orange Sauce Recipe. Wash and pick-over 12 oz of fresh cranberries. Add to a heavy pot with 1 jar of St. Dalfour fruit-sweetened orange marmalade and an ounce or so of water. Turn the heat to medium and cover. Check often. When the first cranberries start to pop open, turn down the heat to simmer and stir. Keep covered while simmering and stir regularly to keep from scorching. When most of the cranberries have popped, remove from the heat and allow the cranberry-orange sauce to sit in the covered pot until room temperature. Enjoy.

The Great Thanksgiving Listen. Use Thanksgiving to create an oral history with an elder. Interviews become part of the StoryCorps Archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Learn how at Story Corps.