Thanksgiving Today

Thanksgiving Part 2

How do we celebrate Thanksgiving now in the United States?

As you may already know, food is a very important part of Thanksgiving. On that Thursday (remember, the fourth Thursday of November), we spend all day cooking one very big meal. Normally, Americans eat lunch at about noon (12 o'clock), but on Thanksgiving we generally eat at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon (between 14h and 15h). We eat a lot of food--so much food that we usually don't have dinner. 

What do we typically eat?

Turkey is the most important part of a Thanksgiving meal. Most people roast their turkey (cook it in the oven), but some people prefer their turkeys deep-fried in oil. 

Inside the turkey, you can see some brown cubes. These are pieces of dried bread that absorb the juices from the turkey. Because we "stuff" (fill) turkey with this bread, we call it stuffing. We add spices and vegetables to the stuffing for extra flavor.

Another typical Thanksgiving dish is the green bean casserole. A casserole is a type of "pot" you use to cook things in the oven. The green bean casserole is made by mixing green beans, a creamy mushroom soup, and fried onion pieces. Then, you cook everything in the oven. 

The yellow bowl is called a casserole

We also eat mashed potatoes with gravy, a type of meat sauce.

There is another type of potato that we eat on Thanksgiving: the sweet potato.

I love sweet potatoes

Like mashed potatoes, we also make a puree of mashed sweet potatoes. However, we add marshmallows on top and cook it in the oven. It is very sweet, but it isn't a dessert (how strange!).

In the United States, it isn't typical to eat bread with your food. But, on Thanksgiving, we normally have round pieces of bread called "rolls", sometimes with a little bit of butter. 

To drink, we usually have apple cider. Don't confuse this with the Spanish cider (or sidra). This cider hasn't got any alcohol, so kids can drink it. It is basically a type of carbonated (with "gas") apple juice.

And yes, you can see all of these foods on one plate during a Thanksgiving meal. So what do we do after eating so much [delicious] food? We have dessert, of course! No Thanksgiving feast is complete without pie. There are many different types of pie: apple, cherry, blueberry, pecan, chocolate, banana-cream, and my favorite--pumpkin. 

Thanksgiving at my House

Now I live in Spain, but when I lived in the United States I always celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. Even when I was far away from home and studying at University (6 hours from my parent's house), I always travelled home to be with my mom, dad, and sister. Here are some photos I took from my Thanksgiving 

My mom, carving the turkey

You can see the turkey in the background, the sweet potato casserole, the green bean casserole, asparagus, and a pot of gravy in the foreground.

On my plate: rolls, aspargus, turkey with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes and green bean casserole.

What else do we do on Thanksgiving?

There are also some other traditions on Thanksgiving. At 9:00 am (in the morning) in New York City there is a big parade called the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It has been celebrated since 1924! 

There are floats, marching bands, famous singers, and giant balloons!

On Thanksgiving, there is always a football game. No, not like the "football" in Europe. American football, where you throw an egg-shaped ball. Football is the most popular sport in the United States, and watching a game on Thanksgiving is traditional for many families.

American football

The next day...

The end of Thanksgiving also is the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the United States. Many shops in America have special sales very early in the morning on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so that people can go shopping for Christmas presents. Some people even wait outside of stores very early in the morning to buy things. We call this "holiday" Black Friday.

Being Thankful

Of course, the most important thing about Thanksgiving isn't the food, or the Christmas shopping; the most important thing is remembering all the wonderful things we are thankful for. That's why we call it Thanksgiving (and not Foodgiving nor Shoppinggiving). 

What does it mean to be "thankful"? It is when you appreciate something. Thanksgiving is a time to think of all the good things we have in our lives--things that make us happy. 

I am thankful for my family, who loves me even though I live very far away. I am thankful for my friends, who can always make me smile. I am thankful to be at a lovely school with such clever students and teachers. 

What are you thankful for?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!