Thanksgiving is often a time of honoring the Native Americans who helped early settlers. Cooking with traditional American ingredients such as corn and squash is perfect for fall. This recipe for rice pudding is similar to pudding dishes made by Native Americans with cornmeal and grains

COLUMBIA, S.C. — As we set our tables this November, let's make a point to remember the American Indian heritage that greeted our North American ancestors. Here are five ways to honor American Indians at our tables.

Say an American Indian blessing before supper this month, thanking the great spirits who roamed this land long before us. Here is an adapted Iroquois prayer to get you started. Other prayers may be found at angelfire.com:<I>We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us.We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of her children.</I>

Decorate your table with fruits of the land — Indian corn, gourds and pumpkins, dried flowers and fresh herbs. All are plentiful at local markets.

Make a big batch of venison stew. Slow-cooking, one-pot dishes such as this were commonplace in early American Indian cooking, which made use of what was available. To waste the food one found was considered an affront to Mother Earth.<B>Venison stew </B>2-3 pounds venison roast2 (10½ -ounce) cans beef broth1½-2 pounds potatoes, cubed3 or 4 onions, quartered8 ounces baby carrotsSalt and pepper, to tasteWorcestershire sauce, to tasteCut roast into 1-inch cubes. Combine in a Dutch oven with broth. Simmer until meat is nearly tender.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add potatoes, onions and carrots to the pan and season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and bake for 1 hour or until vegetables are very tender.Makes 6 to 8 servings.From "Wild Fare & Wise Words: Recipes and Writing from the Great Outdoors," edited by Jim and Ann Casada; published by the S.C. Outdoor Press Association (2005)<I>Nutritional information per serving: Calories, 397.4; protein, 56.7 grams; carbohydrates, 25.4 grams; total fat, 6.4 grams; cholesterol, 191.1 milligrams; saturated fat, 2.1 grams; dietary fiber, 3.3 grams; sodium, 691.2 milligrams; sugar, 5.6 grams; vitamin A, 425.5 retinol equivalents; vitamin C, 26.5 milligrams; calcium, 43.5 milligrams; iron, 8.9 milligrams; alcohol, 0 grams</I>

Add a corn dish to your evening meal. Corn cakes, corn fritters and corn fritters and corn bread were essential ingredients in early Amerian Indian cooking.<b>Fried fresh corn cakes </b>½ pint fresh corn (scraped or grated from the cob)3 tablespoons flour½ teaspoon salt1 egg½ cup milkSift flour and salt; mix to a batter with egg and milk. Stir corn into batter and drop by spoonsful into frying pan containing hot oil. When one side is brown, turn and cook other side. Good with wild honey.Makes 4 servings.From Elsie Goins as published in The State (November 1999)Nutritional information per serving: Calories, 130.1; protein, 5.1 grams; carbohydrates, 21.3 grams; total fat, 2.9 grams; cholesterol, 55.3 milligrams; saturated fat, 0.83 gram; dietary fiber, 1.7 grams; sodium, 404.2 milligrams; sugar, 1.8 grams; vitamin A, 45.2 retinol equivalents; vitamin C, 0.7 milligram; calcium, 61.9 milligrams; iron, 1.1 milligrams; alcohol, 0 grams

Give your supper a sweet finish by serving a rustic rice pudding. The dish is reminiscent of “The Poor Man’s Rice Pudding” discussed in “The Carolina Rice Kitchen” by Karen Hess (USC Press, 1992).Hess writes that the poor man’s dish — familiar to Lowcountry cooks — was “essentially that of Indian pudding of New England, indicating that there must have been unrecorded receipts for somewhat similar spartan puddings made of other grains, oat grits in particular.”Indian pudding itself is a similar combination of corn meal, scalded milk, molasses and ginger. As Hess indicates, other grains may also have been used to make sweet puddings or porridges of this sort. See epicurious.com for an old-fashioned Indian pudding recipe.This rice pudding dish is a simple combination of milk, rice, sugar, salt, vanilla, butter and nutmeg. We added a bit of cinnamon, too. The pudding is perfect for a cold fall evening, but allow the dish ample time to simmer. This recipe requires more than two hours’ cooking time, but the reduction that takes place over that time gives the dish its satisfying texture and rich flavor.<b>Rice pudding </b>1 quart milk¼ cup granulated sugar¼ cup raw regular rice1 tablespoon butter¼ teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon nutmeg1 teaspoon vanilla½ cup raisins, optionalPreheat oven to 325 degrees. In a greased 1½-quart casserole dish, combine all ingredients except raisins.Bake uncovered, stirring often, for 2½ hours or until rice is done. If adding raisins, add after first hour. Serve warm or chilled.Makes 4 to 6 servings.From "Famous Recipes from Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House in Historic Savannah" (Wimmer Brothers Books, 1976)Nutritional information per serving: Calories, 159.6; protein, 5.9 grams; carbohydrates, 21.8 grams; total fat, 5.2 grams; cholesterol, 18.1 milligrams; saturated fat, 2.8 grams; dietary fiber, 0.1 gram; sodium, 187.4 milligrams; sugar, 16.3 grams; vitamin A, 73.3 retinol equivalents; vitamin C, 0.33 milligrams; calcium, 183.6 milligrams; iron, 0.5 milligram; alcohol, 0.24 gram