Need An Addition To Your Thanksgiving Menu?

 

Only two days before Thanksgiving and still looking for something to accompany the bird?

May I suggest a traditional Maryland holiday dish that has been a part of many special dinners dating from my highchair days. It's Skipjack Oyster Dressing. The official Maryland recipe we've used over the last twenty years has been a hit even among most doubters but, oysters being what they are, you'll always have some holdouts. They'll never know what they're missing. 

One of our guests asked about the term, "skipjack." Skipjacks, the state boat of Maryland, are shallow-draft, sailing vessels developed on the Chesapeake Bay for harvesting oysters. They are the last working boats under sail in the United States, according to the Maryland State Archives. There's also a brief entry about them on Wikipedia, including a list of active boats. I first saw them in the early '50s. At that time, there were about 100 working the Chesapeake. Today around twenty remain in use for commercial fishing. 

Hope you enjoy a taste from the Bay. If your menu is set or you need some time to think about it there's always Christmas dinner.