15 (11): Thanksgiving
Day (121902)
added: 2003 Thanksgiving
See photos ( Photo Gallery > National Holidays > Thanksgiving Day )
This
Day originated as a celebration of both the harvest and the new religious
freedoms for the Pilgrims from England. The US 1) observes
Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Many workers have the day after
Thanksgiving off also. This holiday is usually used for a family gathering. Many
sources have already reported this national holiday 2). Note: I often
hear these keywords such as the Pilgrims, the Mayflower (1620), and Wampanoag
Indians who helped the Pilgrims to settle in the new place 2).
The
time from Thanksgiving Day through Christmas Day and continuing through New
Year’s Day is called the "Holiday Season or "The Holidays."
This time is used to see families, old friends, to exchange gifts, to eat food,
to put on some weight, etc.
Here
are two Qs, some manners, some inside Thanksgiving stories:
Q1: What is a typical
meal for this Day?
See a photo example <
A Typical Dish
>
Turkey
(white and dark meat 3))
gravy sauce for turkey
cranberry sauce for turkey
zucchini (a variety of squash)
mashed potatoes
dressing
pumpkin and/or apple pies
drinks: pop (soda), wine, and champagne
Q2:
Why do they eat turkey?
We think turkeys are easy to raise. Here are a few amazing facts on turkeys:
Americans eat 45 million turkeys on Thanksgiving Day alone. As of November 19,
2001, Minnesota was ranked No. 1 in the nation for turkey production. Minnesota
raised about 43.5 million turkeys in 2001. The average price of
turkey was 34 cents per pound in 2000. Sources < http://www.channel4000.com/holidays/stories/holidays-108509920011119-131121.html
>
Usually,
there is much more food at the table than is needed. There are almost always
leftovers from the Thanksgiving meal. The Turkey may be about 2 pounds for every
adult. So with a group of ten people, a 20-pound turkey may be cooked. Turkey is
a cheaper meat relative to other meats such as fish or beef as mentioned before.
It takes many hours to prepare turkey in the oven. A growing trend is deep
frying turkeys outside in special large fryers. Although this may sound
fattening and greasy, little oil penetrates the meat, and the turkey is cooked
many times faster than in an oven.
Manners:
* A
prayer may be said at the beginning of the meal.
* Turkey is cut into smaller pieces and then given to everyone. Traditionally it
is often considered an honor to be chosen to carve the turkey.
* Usually each dish is served in one dish or bowl, and this dish is circulated
around the table.
* You are encouraged to take as many servings as you want. Comments: It is
common to "over eat" at this meal. J
* It is common to play games and/or visit with relatives and friends after the
meal. There are usually football games on television on Thanksgiving.
___________________________________________________________
1) Only the US and Canada celebrate Thanksgiving Day while European countries
don’t.
2) < http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/pilgrims.htm
> < http://www.usis.usemb.se/Holidays/celebrate/thanksgi.html
>< http://kidsdomain.com/holiday/thanks/hlinks.html
>
3) Why is the color different? First, white meat is from breast areas while dark
one from leg areas. People say that breast area meat is made of muscles while
legs area meat, fat. It looks like the white color comes from muscles while the
dark one from fat.
More sites relating to Thanksgiving.
(a) Wishbones < http://www.csicop.org/superstition/library/wishbone.html
>
(b) The Mayflower passenger’s list: < http://members.aol.com/calebj/passenger.html
>
(c) Thanksgiving
(recipe) < http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/
>
(d) The First Thanksgiving < http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/first.html-ssi
>
(e) More sites <
http://www.exploreamerica.info/whatsnew_Stuff112702_Thanksgiving_Sites.htm >
*****************************************************************
addition
(Thanksgiving, 2003):
Thanksgiving special examples:
Macy's Parade <
www.macysparade.com
> ; Thanksgiving Classics <
www.nfl.com/features/thanksgiving
>
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