Turkey a-go-go at the Indian Museum

A Thanksgiving feast at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

 You can't bear the thought of getting yourself to umpteen million stores to buy the goods for Big Turkey Day?

Don't want to prepare a menu? Cook?

Forget it, forget the lists, the shopping and driving (the traffic!),  unloading, polishing, cleaning, table setting, and deciding who likes what for Thanksgiving Day. (Oh, and then there's clean-up and floral arrangements and ironing and, and ...)

 Chef Freddie J. Bitsoie invites you to the Thanksgiving feast at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

The lad can't wait to get a plate and pile it high with delicacies from Chef Bitsoie's Thanksgiving feast at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Call in your order to the National Museum of the American Indian which is serving a delicious feast for six to eight for only $190 (plus tax).   

Or, come to the museum on Thanksgiving Day and sit down at the restaurant which for years has enjoyed the best reputation for museum food anywhere in this town.

 A Thanksgiving feast at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Wild rice salad at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

 A Thanksgiving feast at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie


If you consider what you would spend for the Thanksgiving meal, the meal to go is a bargain, plus, it's homemade without that starchy, Styrofoam pre-made taste often found in grocery take-outs.

For every 25 meals purchased, the museum will donate a free meal to Martha's Table whose goal is to enable strong children, families, and communities through education, healthy eating, and family assists.

 The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

 The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Call in your order for good eatins' or order online by Monday, Nov. 25 to 202-633-7044 or https://smithsonian.catertrax.com. Pick up at the Museum's Mitsitam Cafe on Wednesday, Nov. 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Now, for the menu created by Chef Freddie J. Bitsoie, one of few Native American chefs with a national reputation.

Since I tasted all these delicacies last week, I can speak truthfully about their deliciousness:

Maple-glazed roasted turkey (which comes with a thermometer)

Cornbread

Gravy

Cranberry sauce 

Pumpkin and chocolate bread pudding with baked pumpkin bread, custard, and chocolate chips

and your choice of four of these sides:

Apricot, fig and pear dressing of cornbread, fruits, and spices

Buttery mashed russet potatoes

Agave braised butternut squash

Wild rice salad with carrots, pine nuts, scallions, cranberries, lemon and olive oil

Three Sisters Salad with corn, black beans, squash, parsley, lemon, and olive oil. 


(If your taste buds aren't exercised after reading this, you may need a tongue treadmill which I am sure is available on the Internet. Here's an article at NIH I found.)

Ordering the meal to go will give you time to attend the Blackfeet Nation Tribal Festival this coming Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and hear the talk by Curator Cecile R. Ganteaume on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. about  Pocahontas and "her early impact on European and American thought."  (She was more than just an Indian princess!  Come and learn.)

As if these weren't reasons enough to buy out, it will leave you energy to attend the Native American Heritage and Family Fun Day at the museum on Black Friday, Nov. 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

November is Native American Heritage Month and the museum honors the 6.6 million Native American and Alaska Native people living in the U.S. plus millions of other Indigenous people found in the Western Hemisphere.

What:  Thanksgiving at the National Museum of the American Indian

When: 10 a.m.. - 5:30 p.m. , open daily except Christmas Day


Where: Fourth Street and Independence, S.W. Washington, D.C 20560


Admission:  No charge

Closest Metro station: L'Enfant Plaza.  Exit at Maryland Avenue/Smithsonian Museums and, once outside, walk towards the U.S. Capitol.

For more information:  202-633-6644 or 888-618-0572

patricialesli@gmail.com