Every year on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans gather with their families to eat mass amounts of food, watch football games and give thanks for all they have. This day is known to us as Thanksgiving. The day after this is commonly known as Black Friday which consist of people standing in line at the crack of dawn waiting for stores to open to get the best Christmas deals.
The actual definition of Thanksgiving is the day when people in the United States and Canada give thanks for the blessing of the harvest and for the preceding year. For many families this is a time of year to reconnect with distant relatives and enjoy their time together.
The traditional Thanksgiving dinner consists of main dishes including turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and root vegetables based on the New England fall harvest. However, on the Chesapeake Bay, the locals’ favorite, crab, often is put out as a holiday appetizer or put into a dressing. In Minnesota, the Thanksgiving turkey might be stuffed with wild rice. In Washington state, locally grown hazel nuts are a common ingredient in stuffing and desserts. In Indiana, persimmon pudding is considered a delicious Thanksgiving dessert, and in Key West, key lime pie could almost replace the traditional pumpkin pie. Some families even have a habit of cooking a special dish for their Thanksgiving family dinner.
When most people think of where Thanksgiving came from, their mind begins to think of Pilgrims coming over from England and having a grand feast to make peace with the Indians that already occupied the land. Thanksgiving is now mostly the same as back then. Although some people wouldn’t agree, we still cook giant feasts for our family, we still make peace with the people whom we have had trouble with in the past, and we still give thanks for all that we have no matter what it may be.