It may seem a bit strange talking about the harvest table in February, but not so strange as it appears. The American tradition is at least as old as the first Thanksgiving and represents much more than celebrating after a boutiful crop has been harvested and safely put away for lean times (winter). One example is food prepared by women for workers during a communal harvest. In this case farmer's wives and daughters would cook all morning and take a warm meal out into the fields where their husbands and sons were working together to reap grain, hay, or some other large crop. Another example is the old fashioned barn (house, church, school, etc.) raising where the community would all pitch in to construct a building. Sometimes for private and sometimes for public use. Again the men would do the heavy labor and the women would provide a hot and plentiful meal. I consider my sewing room remodel to be in this last category. The men from church are volunteering their time and labor to make my basement room "livable" and "useful" once again. The very least I can do is feed them well. The first week they got enchaladas, beans, rice, and salad. They were full and asked me not to bother with a big meal the next time they came, so I didn't and they got hungery. I think their request for no lunch must have been just an attempt at politeness. So I heated up some chicken nuggets and served them with orange slices. They were grateful. When they came again, I fixed b.b.q. ribs, wild rice, and broccoii. This week they are going to get a hearty beef and vegetable stew with french bread. These men need and deserve no less than a good meal as a token of thanks for all the Christian love they are demonstrating to me. It is my version of the harvest table.
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