Hogsgiving is a holiday where people made a celebration of preparing for winter. Throughout the holiday people are making the final preparations for winter, food-wise: slaughtering pigs and salting the meat, making use of the remaining plant life for food, and some things that are just for the holiday. The holiday brings cheer to the labor necessary to prepare and rewards all with a large feast at the end of it all.
Food
Since the point of Hogsgiving is preparing for winter most of the food that is served is stuff that cannot last through the winter. This results in the meat of animals that would not make it through the cold and the excess plant life that has lasted this long and would soon die from the cold. The holiday is mainly meat focused, as most plants raised during the warmer months are saved as food to eat through the winter.
The meat of the holiday comes from two sources: the cows that would not make it through the winter and the excess pork that was not salted down. This meat and the many ways to prepare it are what mainly fill the tables of Hogsgiving. The most common way to make the beef is, Fall-Leaf Roasted (a description of which can be found on Friday with a food table for Hogsgiving). The meat of the pig is made in a number of ways: bacon for the breakfast, ham for sandwiches for lunch, and ribs and others for dinner. A highly sought-after pork is that of a the Thunderback Boar, which is hunted as part of tradition of Hogsgiving.
The plant-based foods of Hogsgiving are made from gathered berries and other foods. The people will go around picking the last berries, apples, and other fruits that will be produced by the plants until it gets warm again. The people will than take this large amalgamation of fruits to make food, such as appleberry pie and the wine for that year (look at traditions below for more about the wine). The fruits not used to make something will be served by themself at dinner or as snacks.
Traditions
Hogsgiving has an assortment of traditions that the people of the world take part in. From the making of Hogsgiving Wine to the hunting of the Thunderback Boar, everyone has something that they can take part in during the holiday.
Thunderback Hunting: The hunt of the Tunderback started as the people of the world trying to get rid of a creature that stole their food near the and through winter, but after killing one and tasting it people came to like the meat. This results in the fighters of a village to spend their Hogsgiving trying to hunt it down before feast. The hunt starts with checking the traps that they had laid out the day before. If nothing can be found in those the group will have to track down the boar. It is not guaranteed for the group to bring back a boar, but it sure is a treat when they do.
Berry Gathering: The young spend their Hogsgiving searching the woods near the village for any remaining fruit on the plants of the forest. They grab anything and everything. The kids have made a competition out of who can bring back most and best quality food from the forest. The food gathered by the kids is used to make food for the feast and some is used for the making of wine for next year.
Wine Making: It is a tradition for the people to use the fruits gathered by the children to make a wine for the next Hogsgiving. This wine will be drunk at the next Hogsgiving where people can think about last year and look forward to next year when they will drink the wine, they made this year. The making of the wine involves the entire family. The mother chooses what berries to include, the kids crush the berries, and the father bottles and stores the juices.
Village Feast: At the end of the long day of cooking and preparing for winter the entire town will gather together to eat. They fill the table with all the foods they made. Sharing the wine of the last year while the children drink the remaining juice from the wine making of this year. They all celebrate as a lot of work has been finished and they are ready to go into winter.
Conclusion
The made-up holiday of Hogsgiving can fit into most D&D worlds and gives you a holiday that can replace Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed my made-up holiday and its made-up traditions. Come back Friday for a table on some more specific foods of the holiday and a table on the effects of Thunderback Pork that I have hinted at some much being sought after. Have a good Thanksgiving tomorrow and I’ll see you Friday.
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