Thanksgiving is a holiday that families spent together

by | posted in: Holiday in America, Life in Los Angeles, Real life in America | 99
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Thanksgiving is like a Japanese New Year “Oshogatsu” 

Well, the Thanksgiving day was on Thursday, November 21st this year of 2018.

 

This “Thanksgiving” is just like a Japanese New Year called “Oshogatsu”

 

Everyone is talking about “Where are you going to celebrate the Thanksgiving this year?”

or “What are you going to cook this year?” before Thanksgiving.

 

In stores, all the Halloween decorations are switched to Thanksgiving after Halloween.

 

Each store decorates with Thanksgiving items.

 

We were invited by a couple who are close friends and living near our house this year.

 

We had a great time with them.

 

When did the American Thanksgiving become a holiday? 

There are some stories about this subject.

 

This is the Thanksgiving dinner party table which was held last year at husband’s cousin’s house.

 

The best theory is Puritans who emigrated from England in the 1620s carried their tradition

of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanks for Harvest.

 

Way back then, Thanksgiving was one of the religious days when they prayed and thanked God.

 

And was lead by the church.

 

Hundreds of years after that in 1863, President Lincoln decided to make Thanksgiving a celebration

of the military success of the Union Army and for the bounty of war that they had won.

 

Many years later in 1941, President Roosevelt and the Congress decided to make Thanksgiving

a celebration for the Days of the Harvest on the fourth Thursday of November of every year.

 

So nowadays, it is always celebrated as a secular (non-religious) holiday.

 

Why do Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving?  

Everybody knows that we eat turkey on Thanksgiving day.

 

I was curious about why Americans, who love to eat beef or chicken, will always eat

Turkey on this day.

 

So I searched on the Internet. 

 

Sliced the turkey in pieces to easy to eat.

 

As I wrote in the beginning, Thanksgiving was started by the emigrant Puritans as Days of Fasting.

 

Back then, they celebrated to thank God for the food which was cultivated and hunted.

 

In the beginning, they communicated with a Native Indian called Wampanoag.

 

Native Indians introduced deer meat to Puritans so they began to eat venison.

 

However, they could also catch wild turkeys because those animals were roaming about their villages

at that time.

 

So they could catch them easily.

 

Also, turkey is a very large bird so it can feed a table full of hungry family members after the three

days fasting.

 

Also, the turkeys didn’t serve a utilitarian purpose like a chicken laying eggs or cow making milk.

 

Unlike pork, the turkey wasn’t so common, so it seemed like a more suitable choice for a special

occasion. 

 

That’s why people cooked Turkey on Thanksgiving.  

 

For Americans, cranberry sauce is an indispensable condiment with roasted turkey.

 

Sugar was a rare luxury at the time of the first Thanksgiving.

 

The Puritans could easily take cranberries and it was familiar food for them. 

 

So they made a sweet sauce instead of sugar.

 

Mashed potatoes and pies did not make an appearance at the first Thanksgiving because

they lacked the butter and flour need to make pie crust and mashed potatoes as well.

 

Mushed potatoes and pies became a popular dish in the 1700s.

 

From my point of view, this Thanksgiving day has a background story.

 

It is very interesting for me.

 

 

Menu for Thanksgiving day

I didn’t know so much about the traditional food for Thanksgiving day.

 

Just Turkey and mashed potatoes. Haha

 

I learned about many kinds of food which we eat on Thanksgiving while I have been

celebrating this holiday.

 

The traditional menu is

・Roasted Turkey ( Most people fond of white meat.)

・Mashed potatoes

・Cranberry sauce

・Gravy sauce

・Green bean casserole

・Mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows

・Green salad

・Corn bread

 

The green bean casserole was first created in 1955 by the Campbell Soup Company.

 

Just mix boiled green beans, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup (concentrated),

and french fried onions.

 

It is easy to cook so this dish became popular food on Thanksgiving.

 

A dinner plate on last Thanksgiving.

 

And dessert menu is

・Apple pie

・Cherry pie

・Sweet potato pie

・Pumpkin pie

・Chocolate pie

・Peacan pie

 

Homemade pumpkin pie and pecan pie.

 

Everyone is busy preparing for Thanksgiving 

I was requested by friends to help. 

 

So, I cooked mashed potatoes for twelve people a day before Thanksgiving.

 

So I went to Wholefoods to buy some groceries.

 

The supermarket was very crowded.

 

I noticed that many people were going to pick up their turkeys which they reserved in advance.

 

People were waiting on the line to pick up Turkey. I found somone’s cart with a shopping list. Lol.

 

Many Turkeys for sale!

There was a cute Turkey decorated cake!

 

It was cute, but it seems very sweet.

 

After shopping, I boiled 14 potatoes.

 

Then I made mashed potatoes from my own recipe.

 

Mixed with butter, salt, and milk.

 

Boiled 14 potatoes with a big pot！

 

 

On the day of Thanksgiving 

We went to one of our friend’s house this year.

 

They also invited their sons, their girlfriends, and some other friends.

 

After we toasted with wine, one of their sons sliced the turkey and served on a big plate.

 

This Turkey so tasty. The texture was moist and soft!

 

Some other side dishes were placed on the counter, so we took food just like buffet style.

 

Buffet style.

 

I tend to take food so much mindlessly.

 

I ate too much!

 

 

My mashed potatoes were very popular. I was relieved! 

 

Of course, after the meal, we ate pies!

 

Everyone was saying,” Wow, this makes me gain weight! But today is a special day so the diet

will start tomorrow!”

 

They served Pecan pie, Apple pie, and Pumpkin pie.

 

From the left side, Pumpkin pie, Pecan pie, and Apple pie. The Pecan was so tasty.

 

After the great dinner, we played a game called “Pictionary”.

 

We divided into two groups, men and women.

 

Each team moves a piece on a game board formed by a sequence of squares, and with shaking a dice.

 

Then we moved the game piece to each square. 

 

Then we picked a colored card.

 

For example, yellow is a person or animal, a light blue is an object and so on.

 

Then, we took turns drawing a picture and then guessing the word within a minute.

 

With the two teams racing to guess first.

 

The first team to reach the end of the board wins.

 

This is the “Pictionary”

 

It was not easy.

 

Sometimes couldn’t understand what was he or she were drawing 

 

A minute was passing so quickly!

 

The Men’s team won this time 

 

We had an enjoyable and great time to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday at these friend’s house.

 

Well, I can’t wait next Thanksgiving!

 

 

Thank you for reading my blog today as well!

 

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