Thanksgiving celebrations with a unique touch

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in the US, Canada, and other countries, having similar festival holidays in Germany and Japan. On Thanksgiving Day, people who celebrate this holiday give thanks for the blessing of the past year’s harvest. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the US and around the same time of the year in other countries. And as a reference for shopping lovers, it’s the day right before Black Friday.   

The classics of the Thanksgiving dinner are turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and of course, we cannot forget about dessert. What better way to end a wonderful and fulfilling meal than with pie? The most traditional pies on the Thanksgiving dinner table are apple (our favorite), pumpkin, pecan, and sweet potato pie. We don’t know about you, but we are already hungry!  

For this holiday, like any other holiday and celebration around the world, Thanksgiving isn’t complete without that uniqueness each family has added to it. For this blog, we invited contributors from our teams in the US to share fun facts about how they celebrate Thanksgiving with their loved ones. Let’s see what our colleagues from the US have to tell us: 

 

  

Carmen – World Famous Thanksgiving Leftover 

One curious thing about our Thanksgiving actually occurs the following day. Usually, my siblings and I will joyfully place all of the leftovers (mashed potatoes, shreds of turkey, corn, peas, carrots, stuffing, and gravy) into one massive pot. Everything is mixed, mushed, and heated until we come up with a really nice hash. From there, we place a few scoops of this festive concoction onto a biscuit or a piece of cornbread. This edible tower is then slathered with even more gravy and homemade cranberry sauce. It’s genuinely one of my favorite holiday dishes that I look forward to each and every year. 

 

Matt – Thanksgiving for two  

My wife and I have been doing our own Thanksgiving, just the two of us, since 2014. We usually have our meal later in the evening, and then watch A Very Brady Christmas while we eat. From there we spend that night and the next day, Black Friday, watching movies together, relaxing, and eating leftovers. A new tradition involves my family back in my hometown, where we have a meal the Saturday before Thanksgiving that everyone can attend, with my parents, siblings, their spouses, and their kids. 

 

Sophia – Thanksgiving with a Greek twist  

My husband and I are both originally from Greece, so our Thanksgiving isn’t like the typical American Thanksgiving. While we do have the traditional foods (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, etc.), we also have lamb, Greek salad, spanakopita (spinach pie with phyllo), and pastitsio (Greek lasagna)- just to name a few! The adults sip on ouzo as another way to celebrate and if anyone drops a plate or something we all yell “Opa!” 

 

Johnathan – The Turkey Bowl Game  

One of my favorite traditions that I have on Thanksgiving is playing in the ‘Turkey Bowl’. Every year we get a group of about 50-60 people and play in a Flag Football tournament. It’s a great way to bring friends and family once a year to spend time together and start the holiday with a fun competitive activity. 

 

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