It began with the invitation that couldn’t be refused: “Would you and your friends like to come to Paris for Thanksgiving?” Hot diggity dog, yes, please!

There would be five in our traveling group — my childhood friend Dicky, his wife, Beth, their daughter, Alice, my son, and myself. We all sprang for the extra legroom in coach class. To me this was to be a historical family trip. Dicky’s grandparents and my grandparents had lived in Paris and were the best of friends. Dicky’s mother and my mother had also lived in Paris and were best friends throughout their lives. Dicky is one of my best friends, and now here we were, taking our children to Paris, a fourth-generation pilgrimage. We went equipped with video cameras and the addresses of our ancestors. We never used the former, nor sought out the latter. But, boy, did we eat!

The terrorism alert from Homeland Security for Americans traveling abroad over Thanksgiving was somewhere between high and severe, so traveling with the most precious of cargos, our children, may have seemed foolhardy, but this was Paris.

We arrived on Wednesday morning in a jet-lagged stupor. After stumbling around the perimetere of the Pompidou Center, we took our chances for lunch at a tiny bistro called Le Chat Zen. It was pretty good. We got omelettes and lentils with sausage. We returned to our friend’s house for an afternoon of serious napping before we ventured out for one of the best meals we were to enjoy on the whole trip.

Chez George is one of the oldest and best bistros and was beloved by Julia Child. Framed mirrors all around, brass railings, lacy curtains, uniformed waiters, and tables so tightly strung together they have to be pulled out for patrons to slip through to sit against the wall. I began my meal with one of my favorite salads, celery remoulade — simply julienned celery root bound in a mustardy, creamy vinaigrette. The most memorable dish of the evening (and the whole trip) was a smoked herring salad ordered by our host. I’ve had many variations of herring (creamed, pickled, you name it) and care for none of them. But this was a mellow, warm, and slightly oily assemblage of a few fillets with potatoes, onions, and carrots. As at many bistros and brasseries, the servers simply put a huge dish down in front of you and you serve yourself as much as you like. Beware this generosity when the chocolate mousse comes around! We continued the meal with beef filets in brandy sauce, sole meuniere, frisée salad, and more. A glorious tarte tatin (upside-down apple tart) completed the meal before we trekked the mile or so home.

On Thursday morning I pitched in by stringing beans for our evening feast for 16 people. But not before gorging on a special pastry called praluline, basically a brioche studded with hot pink candied almonds and hazelnuts. After wandering the streets for hours we had lunch at Le Bouledogue, another tiny, charming cafe-brasserie in the neighborhood. Named for a family of bulldogs that lived on the premises, Le Bouledogue now has one last dog standing, or more like snoozing and snuffling, with the occasional indignant bark at his owner. This is another delightful aspect of Parisian restaurants, dogs are welcome inside, health department concerns be damned. Here we ate salmon tartare, steak tartare, poached leeks, cod on a bed of buttery smashed potatoes, and another version of that ethereal smoked herring salad. 

The cheap and cheerful Beaujolais Nouveau had just come out, so for about $4 we were able to enjoy a few glasses of hat. Which brings me to the prices. Without a doubt, every single meal was cheaper than a cheap meal where we live. I mean, even cheaper than a burger at LT Burger or ribs from Townline BBQ or a sandwich from Mary’s Marvelous. Granted, we weren’t dining at any fancy restaurants, but the reverse sticker shock was heartening.

After an afternoon of more walking (we averaged six to eight miles a day, thank goodness, because I consumed every frite in sight), we required a little snack of street crepes, prepared on a huge cast-iron disc and customized with fillings like Nutella, strawberry jam, or just some good French butter.

Our Thanksgiving meal was another memorable feast prepared by Tom in a kitchen so small you couldn’t even fit two people in it. A turkey ballotine had been stuffed with bread and paté de campagne, the string beans were adorned with sautéed chanterelle mushrooms, Brussels sprouts were dotted with lardons, and a mysterious and silky puree turned out to be a combination of carrots, potatoes, celery root, and creme fraiche. For dessert Tom had made pumpkin pie and his partner, Mike, had gotten some merveilleux crunchy meringues filled with whipped cream and topped with chocolate shavings.

Early Friday morning we fortified ourselves with small baguettes filled with ham, cheese, and butter before we explored a once-a-year flea market-brocante looking for bits and bobs to take home. I found a sterling silver cocktail shaker for a mere $25, not discovering a crack in the lid until I got home. That’s cool; it still works. An aged hippie who knew Jim Morrison during his brief time living in Paris sold me some brass flatware. Lunch was another classic spot, Chez Janou, where we had a risotto made with farro and sea scallops, fish soup, octopus salad with roasted peppers, head-on shrimp with a basil-flecked rice, and an intriguing salad of tomatoes, green beans, a poached egg, and roasted chestnuts.

For dinner at Brasserie Balzar we indulged in foie gras, choucroute garnie, roast chicken, crabmeat with avocado and grapefruit salad, bone marrow, and onion soup.

Saturday was our last day and you may be wondering, “No museums? D’Orsay? Louvre? Picasso?” Well, we walked around all of them but couldn’t bear the long waiting lines. And besides, museum time would have cut into our grazing activities. To me, every pastry shop and fish store and even grocery stores were worthy of oohing and aaahing and photo taking. We lunched at Le Procope, one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, where we enjoyed oysters, smoked salmon with blinis, creamy spinach raviolis, chicken, and sole.

For our last supper we opted for a brand-new Vietnamese restaurant in the Marais called Hanoi. We were ready for crunchy vegetables, highly spiced food, and less cream. We had spring and summer rolls, mushroom dumplings, chicken with lemongrass and chiles, and pho. 

The only mementos and gifts I came home with are all food related: small jars of Amora mustard for my brothers, flaky cookies and chive crackers for friends, a few small tins of duck and goose foie gras for whomever.

We killed time at the airport by gorging on our last croissants at Fauchon. I slipped the butter pats into my bag so I’d have a little breakfast-treat memory upon our return. 

The first thing I did when I got home was trot over to Harbor Market in Sag Harbor to visit Paul Del Favero. He gets a delivery from Russ and Daughters every week and I asked him to include some smoked herring in the next shipment. I promised that if my experimentation with a recipe for that exquisite salad is a success I would share it with him.

Four full days in Paris was enough. Our children enjoyed and appreciated every aspect of it, especially the food and scenery. Every now and then we would toast our good fortune, give thanks, and remind ourselves of this historical trip, the fourth generation of dear family friends returning to the stomping grounds of our expat ancestors.

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Why in the world would you attempt a spectacular, complicated dessert when you’ve already got so much to do during this holiday season? Because it is an accomplishment, it shows how much you care about your friends and family, and sometimes it’s just cool to create a whopper of a showstopper!

The buche de Noel or Yule log, is a traditional French Christmas cake shaped and decorated to look like a log. It begins with a simple genoise or sponge cake (this can be chocolate, plain, mocha, chestnut, whatever you wish) spread with buttercream or whipped cream and rolled. The ends can be trimmed off and used as additional branch stumps on the log, which is covered with more buttercream and decorated. The simplest decorating can be accomplished by raking the tines of a fork over the log to give it a bark-like texture. You can also sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar to look like snow, plop a few random meringue mushrooms (homemade or store-bought) on top, and use some crushed pistachios to resemble moss.

Croquembouche is another fancy and ancient French dessert that is traditionally served at weddings, baptisms, and first communions, but I have gotten it into my head that it is a marvelous and fun New Year’s Eve dessert. It consists of little profiteroles filled with pastry cream or whipped cream (again, you can flavor this with Grand Marnier, coffee, or chocolate, but I am loyal to vanilla). They are then  stacked and glued together with caramel, usually in a pyramid or other towering form. Mine usually just look like a bunch of molecules and atoms meeting for the first time. Think more gangster house in Arkhangelsk, Russia, than the Shard in London. Bottom line: If you like eclairs, you will love croquembouche; if you like cake, you will love buche de Noel.

Croquembouche translates literally to “crunch in mouth,” because of the hardened caramel coating. This dessert enjoyed its heyday in the 1800s thanks to Antoine Careme, a pastry chef who had also studied architecture. His original shape was a Turkish fez, which then evolved into towering, unwieldy pyramids and cones. Versions of this dessert go back as far as the 1500s, and some were in in the shapes of Gothic towers, Persian pavilions, and Turkish mosques. By the beginning of the 20th century, the favorite croquembouche form was conical.

It is not clear exactly when the Yule log as a dessert came about, but it was possibly around 1615. The symbolism of the log goes back to the Iron Age, before the medieval era. Celtic Brits and Gaelic Europeans would celebrate the winter solstice at December’s end. The days were about to get longer, so a log decorated with holly, pinecones, and ivy would be burned in the hearth. Sometimes the log would be anointed with wine and salt before burning, and it was believed that saving the ashes would protect your house from lightning.

It would take up too much room to give full recipes for both of these dessert’s components so I am only going to give recipes for the pate a choux dough of the croquembouche, pastry cream, caramel, and the genoise or sponge cake for the buche de Noel. You can make your own buttercream, fill it with whipped cream, or cheat and buy the Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker canned frosting. What the heck!

So if you’ve got the time and the inclination, be a showoff this holiday season, flex your culinary muscles, and build a spectacular showstopper of a dessert for your loved ones. After all, Christmas comes but once a year. 

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Restaurant Week

Long Island Restaurant Week, when more than 165 eateries across the island will offer prix fixe meals for $27.95, begins on Sunday and runs through Nov. 6.  The special, which on Nov. 5, a Saturday, will only be available before 7 p.m., will include three courses. Among the local restaurants participating are East by Northeast in Montauk, Jean-Georges at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, the 1770 House and the Living Room in East Hampton, and Le Charlot and Union Cantina in Southampton. A complete list of participants can be found at longislandrestaurantweek.com.

Day of the Dead Fare

Dia de los Muertos will be celebrated at La Fondita, the Mexican take-out shop in Amagansett, tomorrow through Sunday with some specials on the menu — pork, chicken, or chile and cheese tamales, chiles en nogada (poblano peppers stuffed with meat or cheese), churros (fried cinnamon-y pastries), and champurrado, a warm chocolate beverage. La Fondita is open Wednesdays through Sundays beginning at 11:30 a.m. 

Event at Almond

The next Artists and Writers Night at Almond in Bridgehampton will take place on Wednesday and feature Alice Hope, an artist whose work has been shown at the Ricco Maresca Gallery and at the Armory Show, which commissioned her in 2013 to create two public works. She also created a large-scale work called “Under the Radar” at Camp Hero State Park in Montauk for the Parrish Art Museum.

A three-course family-style dinner will be served. The cost is $45, which includes a glass of wine or craft beer and a gratuity; tax is extra. Reservations are required.

Baron’s Cove Bites

Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor will mark Halloween weekend with a live music lineup every night from tomorrow through Monday, and specials on nibbles including clams casino, oysters on the half shell, pretzel bites with dipping sauce or melted beer cheddar, sliders, smoked white bean dip with bread and crudités, fries, and a cheese plate. There will be drink specials as well. Happy hour at Baron’s Cove is from 4 to 7 p.m. Fridays through Mondays. 

I first learned about Long Island cheese pumpkins about 23 years ago. I was working as a pastry chef somewhere out here, and it was that time of year, the time of year that I would have to crank out many, many pumpkin pies. So I started working on my supply list: industrial quantities of Libby’s canned pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, lotsa eggs. And then the head chef presented me with a crate full of pretty, pale, squat pumpkins, a variety I had never seen before. He had to seek them out at one of the very few farms on the East End that still grew this interesting specimen.

“Will it really make a difference?” I wondered. After all, canned pumpkin, any pumpkin, is fairly bland and innocuous until you add all the spices and bake it into a flaky crust. 

Yes, it made a difference!

This particular variety of Cucurbita moschata is one of the oldest cultivated in America, and is especially well suited for growing on Long Island. In the 1800s, local cookbooks and farmers’ almanacs often cited the cheese pumpkin, or “pie squash,” as being the best for “making the most delicious of Yankee notions — pumpkin pie,” according to an issue of “Michigan Farmer” from 1855.

One of the reasons this pumpkin almost became extinct was its shape. Farmers desired a pumpkin that was round and agreeable to rolling politely off a conveyor belt, so such varieties as Dickinson and Kentucky Field became more popular. The squat shape and deeply ribbed surface of the cheese pumpkin also made it harder to peel. Ken Ettlinger, a local seed saver and natural science educator, began to notice in the 1970s that this pumpkin, along with other heirloom varieties, was starting to disappear. With help and support from the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and others, he was able to revive this variety enough for a few seed companies like Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Seed Savers Exchange to begin carrying them.

Why is it called “cheese” pumpkin? Apparently because it resembles a big wheel of cheese. But inside, the flesh is denser, sweeter, and less stringy and watery than the “pepo,” the bright orange Halloween pumpkin we are used to seeing everywhere. The flesh itself has more nutrients and beta carotene, and is similar to butternut squash, a close relative. You can eat the whole thing, seeds, skin, and flesh. Just be sure to scrub well if you intend to eat with the skin on, because all fruits and vegetables that grow on the ground are likely to come in contact with birds and deer and bunnies doing their business out in the field.

Some recipes suggest boiling cubes of the pumpkin or microwaving it. I would recommend roasting before continuing with a recipe. If you’ve ever tasted the difference between a boiled beet and a roasted beet, you will understand. Roasting keeps in all the sugars and gives more depth of flavor. If you have a microwave, which I do not, then this method sounds like a good and faster alternative.

Another distinguishing characteristic of the cheese pumpkin is that it holds its shape if you want to incorporate it in cubes into stews or soups (that are not pureed).

Besides pies, you can add this pumpkin to risottos, make raviolis with fresh lasagna sheets or wonton wrappers, and top with sage-infused brown butter sauce. Puree it into a thick soup with ginger and coconut milk. Roast the seeds with some harissa, brown sugar, and a bit of oil.

There is now a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Project, which pledges to “grow, revitalize, and preserve the culinary use of this heirloom squash.” Among its many ambassadors are the North Fork Table and Inn, the Amagansett Food Institute, the Milk Pail in Water Mill, and several Edible School gardens on both the North and South Forks.

The Long Island cheese pumpkin is now, thankfully, easier to find that it was many years ago when I first met this homely, yet somehow attractive blob of a squash. I strongly urge you to seek one out, either for your holiday pies or a warming fall soup, stew, risotto, you name it. I am going to try it stuffed and roasted a la Dorie Greenspan’s recipe from a friend in Lyons. For recipe inspiration, just think butternut squash; anything you can do with a butternut squash, you can do with a cheese pumpkin. Here are some ideas to get you started.

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Montauk does not shut down after Labor Day, or even Columbus Day, contrary to the belief of some. The Clam and Chowder House at Salivar’s has decided to stay open for November, and maybe even December, depending on business. 

Beginning Friday, Nov. 11, it will serve lunch and dinner Fridays through Sundays. Sushi will be off the menu, but there will be lunch and dinner specials daily.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

It’s not too early . . . the Montauk Yacht Club will be one option for a Thanksgiving buffet, at $39.95 for adults and $15.95 for children. Kids under age 6 can eat for free. The yacht club will also have special room rates for the Thanksgiving holiday.

At the 1770 House in East Hampton, Thanksgiving will bring a three-course prix fixe holiday meal served from 2 to 8 p.m. for $95 per person. Two courses for children 12 and under will cost $40. Beverages, tax, and gratuities are not included. 

The menu will include starters such as roasted wild mushroom soup, salad with local beets, fennel, and apple, or Brussels sprouts and roasted cauliflower, spicy Montauk fluke tartare, and Peconic Bay scallops. Turkey will be the main course, with sides, although there will also be fish, meat, and vegetarian choices. 

For those having guests, Breadzilla in Wainscott is taking orders not only for Thanksgiving feast items — from turkey and wood-roasted meats and side dishes to pies and tarts — but also for breakfast cakes, muffins, and scones, and egg dishes including Spanish tortillas and quiche.

Dinner and a Movie

Rowdy Hall in East Hampton has reintroduced its dinner-and-a-movie special. Sunday through Wednesday, a beef or turkey burger can be ordered along with a voucher for the East Hampton Cinema, for $22. A beer, glass of wine, or dessert can be added for an extra $6 or $7. On Thursdays, the special choices are expanded to include fish and chips, meatloaf, or mussels, along with burgers. Vegetarian lasagna or chili is always an option. 

Page Prix Fixe

A fall prix fixe at Page restaurant in Sag Harbor includes two courses for $29 and three courses for $35. It is offered all night on Sundays and Mondays, Tuesdays through Thursdays until 7:30 p.m., and Fridays and Saturday nights until 6:30. 

Making Beach Plum Jelly

Reservations are being taken for a workshop on making beach plum jelly next Thursday night at 6 at the Rogers Mansion in Southampton. Co-sponsored by the Southampton Historical Museum and the Rogers Memorial Library, the session will be led by Elizabeth Yastrzemski, a baker and floral and garden designer. 

Each participant will go home with two jars of jelly. Refreshments will be served. Those interested can register by calling the museum. The cost is $35, or $25 for museum members.

The poet Walt Whitman was a frequent visitor to Greenport because his sister Mary Elizabeth Van Nostrand lived there. He described it as a “handsome situation” that was “unsurpassed for health.” He must have been eating a lot of oysters!

Greenport is a one-square-mile village within the town of Southold. As of the latest census (2013), the population was a little over 2,000. It was originally known as Greenhill because it was a marshy area with a hill where the Greenport Yacht and Shipbuilding Company now stands. The hill was leveled and the earth used to fill in the marshy spots. In recognition of the fact that it really was a working seaport, the name was changed to Greenport in 1831.

Throughout its history, Greenport has been known for shipbuilding, oystering, whaling, commercial and recreational fishing, and, lest we forget, plenty of bootlegging and rumrunning. It was the first village in Suffolk County to establish its own electric power plant, and the Long Island Rail Road arrived in 1844. All of these milestones were cause for celebration, and the citizens of Greenport loved a good party. Still do.

Fast forward to the present day, and what is Greenport Village? It’s a little bit Williamsburg, Va., and a little bit Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Where else can you find a year-round carousel near a blacksmith shop and a camera obscura, one of only five in the country? A few blocks away you will find the Industry Standard Bar serving roasted bone marrow with “strong herbs,” pork belly bahn mi, Korean fried chicken rice bowl, over 20 beers on tap, and a $5 burger. A few more blocks away is American Beech, located in Stirling Square, in a 19th-century horse stable. It is a charming restaurant and bar with guest rooms. Here you will find Crescent duck wings with tamarind glaze, seared scallops with yellow squash puree, and buttermilk fried chicken.

Stirling Square has a few more treasures worth exploring. Check out Basso Ciccheti e Specialita, a tiny wine bar serving cured meats carved on a flywheel slicer along with cheeses, breads, and olives. You can even enjoy your glass of wine outside by the fire pit in colder months. Across the courtyard, near the ancient beech tree, is 1943 Pizza Bar, opened by the fellas who bring you mobile pizza parties in their 1943 International truck known as Rolling in Dough. Made to order in their wood-burning oven, these pizzas are the best I have ever had outside of BAR in New Haven or Al Forno in Providence. They even have BAR’s famously delicious, but weird sounding, mashed potato pizza. I opted for a special of the day, braised radicchio with speck. And wait, there’s more! Right nearby, and run by the same folks, is the subterranean speakeasy Brix and Rye, a dark-gray room where classic cocktails like Sazeracs, Trader Vic’s Mai Tais, and gin gimlets are a mighty fine aperitif before you tuck into that pizza.

As an aficionado of Greenport Village and all it has to offer, I will share my route and routine for when I visit. As soon as I get off the ferry I make a beeline for Beall and Bell, one of the more unique and affordable antique shops in a big ol’ building on Main Street. Most of their stuff is mid-century, and most of their customers are designers who scoop up the goodies and charge their clients oodles more for their unusual finds. Across the street is the Times, a funkier vintage store with old board games, toys, Playboy magazines, clothing, and an impressive vinyl collection. 

By now I am getting thirsty and hungry. If you are going to do what I do, have a designated driver! Hop in the car and head over Kontokosta Winery, just a few miles down North Road. They forbid limousines and buses, therefore there are no obnoxious bridezillas or Real Housewives-of-Wherever in sight. The 17-acre vineyard and winery are perched on a bluff overlooking Long Island Sound, and the award-winning “green” tasting facility is as beautiful as the cabernet franc is delicious. 

Then I head back into town to the North Fork’s only bookstore, Burton’s. I love this place because it is huge, the carpeting is sad, and the cookbook and local lore sections are worth browsing for hours.

In the 1920s the actor William Gillette lived in a houseboat in Greenport Harbor. His houseboy (shouldn’t that be “boatboy?”) would take Gillette’s cat for walks around the village in a baby carriage. At one point, on Front Street, there was a glamorous restaurant called Steve’s Vienna Restaurant where Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were regulars. The first submarines and torpedo boats were built and tried out nearby until the operation was moved to Groton, Conn.

During World War II, celebrities including Kate Smith and Lily Pons would christen minesweepers in the harbor. When a famous lady wasn’t available, high school girls were recruited to break champagne bottles over the bows of the new ships.

The prosperous (and smelly) days of massive oystering and catching of menhaden are over, but Greenport remains a charming, low-key, yet festive and funky village. Claudio’s has been sold so it is not known if it will remain as a favorite chowder and beer-swilling spot on the water. There are a few downtrodden-looking buildings like the Arcade Department Store but there’s also Bruce’s Cheese Shop, sushi and Latin restaurants, the fun and tasty Lucharitos Taqueria and Tequila bar, and the marvelous Frisky Oyster and Noah’s. You can get down and dirty at the Whiskey Wind bar or spend a comfortable night at the Harborfront Inn. A good sampling of the culinary treats the village has to offer can be had during the fifth annual Greenport Shellabration (www.shel labration.li) on Dec. 3 and 4, a restaurant walk featuring $5 small plates and $3 pours of local wine and beer from noon to 4 both days.

In summer there are tall ships to admire, in winter there’s an ice skating rink right next to the indoor carousel, both walking distance from the North Ferry. You will see few upscale boutiques and very few real estate offices dotting the main roads. Hallelujah!

So if you’re in the mood for a change of scenery, a sip of local wine, some delicious food, and a glance at some lovely Victorian architecture, take the short ferry rides to Greenport, the little village that remains “a handsome situation.”

What’s on foodies’ minds this week? It’s likely that big holiday centered on a feast that’s coming up next Thursday. 

What? Thanksgiving already, you ask? Yes, and here’s one more option in case you haven’t made plans.

Highway Restaurant and Bar in East Hampton can provide all the side dishes and desserts needed: veggies, salads, soups, and pies — everything but the bird, leaving the home cook free to focus on just that one thing. The menu, with choices ranging from roasted root vegetables to sage and onion stuffing, shaved Brussels sprout salad, butternut squash soup, cranberry and orange sauce, gravy, and apple and pumpkin pies, can be found at the restaurant’s website.

Orders must be placed online, by phone, or in person by Monday, with pickup of the dishes, all made in-house at the restaurant, on Wednesday. 

The Scarpetta Beach restaurant at Gurney’s in Montauk will be serving a four-course Thanksgiving prix fixe next Thursday from noon to 8 p.m. A children’s menu will be offered, as will activities for children between noon and 4 p.m., allowing parents to sit back and enjoy a holiday respite.

Also in Montauk, the Montauk Yacht Club will have a traditional Thanksgiving Day buffet. Beyond turkey and all the fixings, there will be seafood, pasta, and carving stations. The complete menu is at montaukyachtclub.com. The cost for adults is $39.95; children are $15.95, and kids under age 6 may eat for free. 

Sunday at Babette’s

Fresh juice-infused cocktails, along with wine and beer, are available at Babette’s restaurant in East Hampton, which is offering a $21.95 prix fixe dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

The first Thanksgiving of 1621 was simply referred to as a harvest celebration. An Englishman named Edward Winslow described it in a letter to a “loving, and old friend”:

“I never in my life remember a more seasonable year, than we have here enjoyed — for fish and fowl we have a great abundance, fresh cod in the summer — our bay full of lobsters, all the springtime the earth sendeth forth naturally good salad herbs: Here are grapes, white and red, very sweet and strong also.” 

He goes on to describe the success of his fellow setllers’ 20 acres of Indian corn and six acres of barley and peas, which the Wampanoag Indians had taught them to fertilize with herring.

On that day, for approximately 150 people, the men hunted waterfowl, most likely duck, geese, swans, passenger pigeons, and wild turkey. The chief, or “sachem” Massasoit (incorrectly referred to by the English as the king) brought five deer, which sustained everyone for a three-day feast. There was also likely plenty of eel, shellfish, lobster, clams, and mussels, which were smoked. The smaller birds were spit-roasted and the bigger ones probably boiled. There may have also been Jerusalem artichokes, chestnuts, Indian turnips, water lily, and sweet flag. Sweet flag is a wetland grass similar to rush or cattails, but it can cause lethargy and hallucinations, so that might have made it a swell party.

The Wampanoag (People of the Dawn) tribe was already growing the “three sisters” — corn, beans, and squash — and harvested chestnuts, walnuts, and beechnuts from the forest. Winslow found them to be “very trusty and ripe-witted.” He said that one could walk as peaceably and safely through the woods of Plymouth as the highways of England.

The Wampanoag Indians lived under a matrilineal and matrifocal system. The women controlled and farmed the land, the land was inherited by the daughter, and married couples lived with the daughter’s mother. The women would choose the chiefs or sachems and the men would deal with other tribes. The men would hunt and fish, but the women were still responsible for about 75 percent of their food.

How did the first harvest celebration of 1621 become Thanksgiving, with marshmallow smothered sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and creamed onions? A Boston clergyman named Alexander Young reprinted Winslow’s letter in his “Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers” and arbitrarily dubbed the feast the first Thanksgiving. 

Potatoes and sweet potatoes were not to arrive from South America and the Caribbean until many years later. The discovery of boiling cranberries with sugar to make a sauce “that’s good with meat” came about 50 years later.

Sarah Josepha Hale is the one who deserves credit for making Thanksgiving a yearly event. She was the editor of a popular women’s magazine called “Godey’s Lady’s Book,” which instructed women on how to run a household, kind of an early Martha Stewart. She started petitioning presidents in 1827, and by the time Abraham Lincoln and our country were in the midst of the Civil War, he declared it a national holiday in the hopes of uniting the country. Hale had also published almost a dozen cookbooks with such recipes as roast turkey with sage dressing, mashed potatoes, and creamed onions, so when housewives heard the clarion call, they were ready to cook.

A lot of us serve the same things over and over at Thanksgiving, probably because that’s what we grew up with. I am not ashamed to say I still love mashed sweet potato casserole with mini marshmallows on top, and I tend to scrape most of those sugary, burnt bits onto my plate, leaving the vegetable matter behind. But sometimes it’s fun to mix it up, make something different, or just come up with a variation on a classic. 

Last year I brought Ina Garten’s twice-baked sweet potatoes with Taleggio cheese to a friend’s house, and it didn’t go over very well. I think it was the funky, assertive odor of the Taleggio. Perhaps I strayed too far from everyone’s beloved classics. This year I am going with Bobby Flay’s sweet potatoes with chipotle casserole, something I make year round that is staggeringly delicious. I am also going to make leeks baked in cream, something that pairs well with any fowl. I also found a recipe for mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and Gruyere cheese that sounds lighter than most cream and butter-laden versions. 

For dessert I plan to experiment with ice cream to go with pie. I am going to puree about half a cup of fresh cranberries with orange zest and fold it into slightly defrosted vanilla ice cream and refreeze it. It will be a pretty pink, slightly tart, and citrusy. I hope. 

I will not be home for Thanksgiving, but I will be with family and dear friends. We will reflect on the history of our young country, give thanks for what we have, and, uh, please pass the sweet flag.

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Service Station

100 Montauk Highway

East Hampton

631-267-5603

Lunch and dinner daily Once upon a time there was a restaurant in East Hampton called Nichol’s. It was tiny and cozy and chock full of Anglophilia and served good pub grub. The drinks were cheap and large, wine served in goblets, beer by the bucket. It was popular with those who appreciate good value. It changed hands a few times. For a while it was Winston’s, with the same decor but with a few Jamaican accents added to the menu and decor. Winston’s was good, but now it is the Service Station and it is better.

The warren of small rooms has been opened up and lightened. The floors and trim are dark, the walls off-white, and there are a few hints that this location was, in fact, once a service station, such as the old-fashioned bell hose outside that gives a little “ding ding” when you walk or drive over it.

There is a nice outdoor patio next to the parking lot for those who don’t mind dining 20 feet from the zoom-zooming traffic of Route 27. The inside is still cozy but now feels bigger. There is an attractive copper bar in the back with two big flat screen TVs.

We began our meal with very reasonable, very good cocktails, along with Caesar salad, calamari, beef satay, and spinach artichoke dip. Now, I consider myself quite a connoisseur of Caesar salad. I make it at home all the time and feel very strongly about the balance of flavors. It must be lemony and garlicky and have at least a whisper of anchovies. A somewhat creamy consistency is good, homemade croutons a must, and it needs just the right amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. The Service Station version was most excellent — tart, flavorful, well-balanced dressing on a whole wedge of crisp romaine with house-made croutons. We all agreed it was just right. 

The calamari was also very good and a good-size portion. One of the best parts about it was the addition of string beans, lemon slices, and strips of peppadew peppers that had also been fried with the calamari. It was served with a slightly spicy sriracha aioli. But the aspect that really caught our (okay, just my) attention was the spectacular batter on the squid and its little vegetable buddies on the plate. Extra crunchy and savory, it was so good it convinced us to order more fried stuff, as in chicken. More on that later. 

The beef satay was also delicious: six skewers with tender, marinated grilled meat and a zesty peanut sauce. It was almost as tender as filet, but I’m guessing it was hanger or skirt steak. The spinach artichoke dip (compliments of the management because one of our guests is a friend) was served in a warm ramekin with creamed spinach on the bottom and marinated, chopped artichokes and red onion on top. The fried flour tortillas served alongside were a good accompaniment.

For entrees we tried the fish tacos, seared scallops, Lee Roy’s Southern-fried chicken sandwich, and a special of that evening of chicken thighs with polenta. 

The two codfish tacos were on grilled flour tortillas with a creamy slaw, pico de gallo, and a tart avocado sauce. They were very good. 

The scallop dish was pretty good but a bit messy, as was the chicken thigh dish. Both were completely covered with a layer of arugula. The scallops were tender and cooked properly, but my guest found them to be a bit sweet. The corn orzo served underneath was pretty good, but the big leaves of curly kale didn’t add anything. The Southern-fried chicken sandwich was a winner. It was served on a brioche bun with a tomato slice, red onion, lettuce, more great slaw, and a hidden treat of pancetta bacon. Once again, the batter on the chicken was superb. The sandwich also came with a little basket of excellent skin-on French fries. 

The chicken thigh special was tasty, but as I mentioned before, the huge layer of arugula covering the whole dish made it hard to navigate slicing the meat. But the flavors were good — creamy, somewhat cheesy polenta with boned, very crisp thighs, and a slightly sweet glaze.

Service on the night of our visit was excellent, and the place filled up quickly. Our waiter, Dominique, was helpful and knowledgeable, and one of the owners visited our table several times. It was a happy, professional, and welcoming environment. 

Prices are reasonable. Starters and salads are $10 to $17, main dishes are $17 to $26, sides are $6 to $8, kids’ menu items are $10, and desserts are $9 and $10.

For dessert we ordered the brownie sundae and strawberry rhubarb pie. The cookies and brownies are made in house. The brownie sundae had a very good fudgy brownie with chocolate chips, along with a premium dark chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream. I’m not sure where the strawberry rhubarb pie came from, but it was tart and fresh with a good flaky crust. The slice was enough for two people.

The Service Station offers very, very good comfort foods at reasonable prices and is a family-friendly place. What kid wouldn’t love getting “breakfast for dinner”?!

I was never a fan of fare at Nichol’s, and I admit I will miss Winston’s jerk chicken, but the Service Station is just what we need out here: open every day, year round. Fill ’er up? Yes, please.

Oktoberfest

On Saturday at Baron’s Cove restaurant in Sag Harbor, Matty Boudreau, the chef, will serve up a menu in honor of Oktoberfest from 1 to 5 p.m. Bratwurst, sausages, grilled corn, German-style pretzels, apple cider, seasonal brews, and more will be offered. 

Clam Pies

After the “Bonacker Clam-Shucking and Grinding Extravaganza” held last weekend at the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum, volunteers have been baking traditional clam pies that will be sold at the museum, at North Main and Cedar Streets in East Hampton, on Saturday, beginning at noon. They will cost $30, and the proceeds will benefit the museum’s exhibits and programs.

Prix Fixe at Babette’s

Babette’s restaurant on Newtown Lane in East Hampton is serving its menu of health-conscious fare this fall at breakfast, lunch, and dinnertime, Fridays through Sundays, and for breakfast and lunch on Mondays and Thursdays.  A Sunday-night prix fixe, offered from 5 to 9 p.m., is $19.95 and features a choice of turkey meatballs, barbecue tofu, steamed edamame, and crisp goat cheese dumplings, among other items, for starters, followed by entrees such as chicken mole enchiladas, vegetable pad thai, roast chicken, salads, and Atlantic cod. Dessert is included as well. 

At the Living Room

The Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn has begun “meatball Mondays,” when the Swedish inn’s signature meatball dish will be offered for $28. On Fridays, pot pies are on special for $19, and on Sundays, burgers, with beer, are $25 in the lounge.

Pizzas, Prix Fixe

Prix fixe dinners at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton include a $30 option with salad, a pasta entree, and two scoops of gelato or sorbet; a $35 choice with salad or penne to start followed by roast chicken and tartufo for dessert, and the “chef’s choice” for $40, which features the appetizer, entree, and dessert of the day. The specials are offered Sunday through Friday, but not on holidays, and are not available for takeout.

The restaurant also has a Sunday through Thursday pizza menu, with all different toppings from its wood-fired oven, from $10 to $19. During happy hour on Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and on Sundays from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., a glass of wine selected by the sommelier is $8, a bottled beer of the house choice is $6, and selected cocktails will be half price. Bar bites for $10 include pizza margherita, a salumi plate, and a cheese plate. Sliders, bruschetta, a hummus plate, and more are also on the happy hour menu for under $10.

Fall Fest Fare

A fall festival at the Amagansett Farmers Market on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. will include an opportunity for foodies to sample offerings from the food truck sponsored by Shelter Island’s Vine Street Café, seasonal sweets from the Mill House Inn, and Joe & Liza’s pumpkin ice cream.

Cafe Max to Close

After 25 years in business, Cafe Max, the mainstay restaurant on the Montauk Highway in East Hampton, will close its doors for good on Thanksgiving weekend. The owners and staff have said they hope to see their longtime loyal customers before that takes place.