January - Apple Pie Healing
The Bitter Cold of New England
February - Chocolate Brownies
Valentine’s Day
March - Maple Syrup Cheese Cake
Massachusetts Maple Syrup Factory
April - Boston Cream Pie
Boston and Boston Bags
May - Giant Decoration Cake
The Star of the Graduation Party
June- Bake Sale
Labor, Reward and Fun!
July - Strawberry Shortcake
Independence Day
August - Cranberry Bread
Farmer's Market
September - Muffins
Memories of a College Student
October - Punpkin Pie
Halloween
November - Indian Pudding
Thanksgiving
December - Fruit Cake
Christmas
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New England is the area in which English pilgrims first made land back in the 17th century. They traveled the oceans in search of the land of freedom and this colonization is celebrated with the coming of the biting cold each November. Actually, many pilgrims didn't make it through the cold of their first winter.
Their saviors were the American Indians who had always been living on the land. They taught the newly arrived pilgrims how to bare the cold, to live and eat off the land. November's ‘Thanksgiving' is one of America's biggest festivals. Even 200 years later people still gather around tables in remembrance.
The main staple the Indians taught the pilgrims was corn. Popcorn made from the corn taken off dried husks actually came from the Indians. Cornmeal made from grinding up corn and which is used in various cooking styles is another.
Indian Pudding is one dessert that is often eaten during Thanksgiving. A pudding is similar to what in Japan is called a “purin(pudding)” but made from a sweet mixture of eggs and milk to which various ingredients are then added depending on the pudding.
Naturally, cornmeal is an ingredient of Indian Pudding. First milk is heated in a pot with the cornmeal. Think of it as a corn version of soba dough. To this add molasses, egg, sugar and spice. Traditionally milk is sprinkled over the top before baking. The pudding tastes absolutely delicious when topped with vanilla ice-cream upon being taken out of the oven. The result is something quite different from those fruit and cream-topped ones you would see in a cake store.
The simpleness of the Indian Pudding overlaps with the image of female pilgrims with their strong beliefs. That character is still alive and strong in the American women of today.
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