to be jealous that Americans get Thanksgiving AND Christmas?

[FeuDeRussie]

Thanksgiving sounds really good. Like Christmas, but no presents to worry about (AFAIK?), just FOOD!

Are there any Americans around who can tell me what Thanksgiving is like? Do you prefer it to Christmas?

Well, I made it, and its really really good. I didn't use as much sugar as the recipe said, as I was tasting the puree as I mixed and it would have been too much. But its really good, like a spicy set custard tart.

Ohh this thread is making me consider doing my own Thanksgiving on Sunday... but just looked online and no fresh turkeys yet :S

Pumpkin pie when made properly would never, ever be stringy or watery. Perish the very thought! I think that US pumpkins are not the same as UK pumpkins. A well-made pumpkin pie is the food of the gods. Don't knock it till you've tried it. :)

Being thankful for what we have followed by people getting trampled to buy more stuff ;) This year Walmart employees are picketting on the Black Friday due to their horrendous work conditions, I wonder if that will affect things.

While the media and settler side talk about the history less, those on the other side of the table remember those who can't here.

"The people who do it well gather at someone's house and have a lovely feast of farm-fresh goodies (including a farm-grown turkey). They talk and listen to music while the cousins and/or friends run around outside in the forest/countryside. There's an air of warmth, gratitude and love. A sense that this is a tradition that has been handed down generation to generation. There is a real sense of connection to the earth, to the previous generations, etc."

I guess my Boston dwelling family did it badly then, you know without our own turkey to slaughter and such. I guess all those great memories I have of my Aunt's kitchen on Thanksgiving Day are just wrong. Obviously if you don't live on a farm, you eat Thanksgiving in front of the TV whilst smoking roll ups and drinking lager from a can...

You, my dear, are like a woman I know. She's a pretentious twat.

Have eaten my turkey and pumpkin pie. Mmmmmmmm good. Love it.

I loved getting together with my mum's family as a child. No hand-raised turkeys, but it was the countryside (in Rhode Island), a large old house, and probably pretty stereotypical. We'd then spend the next day freezing our butts off out at a tree farm looking for one to set up for my grandparents before heading home to DC.

I also loved the adult incarnations of Thanksgiving, where my friends and I would do potluck because we didn't have the annual leave, or didn't have the money to get back to far-flung family for the day.

It's actually what I quite like about Thanksgiving- there's always room for more people! Christmas feels very family-orientated, whereas Thanksgiving is very inclusive. There's an unwritten law that you must extend an invite to someone once you know they've no plans for Thanksgiving. fact. :)

And for the food record: we had the hot spinach dip with toasted baguette slices for supper this evening, and then pumpkin pie. I'm not doing the turkey etc until Saturday.

I'm quite full actually. :)

God I'm starving reading this thread!

Hah! And how, GreenEggsAndNichts. I've got nine guests, not one of which is related to me. My family's halfway across the country. Thanksgiving is very much a 'no man left behind' holiday.

I love boxing day!!!

I don't get dressed on boxing day and no doubt will be thrashing DS at one of the wii games I've bought him

In the States, Thanksgiving meals and traditions can vary from region to region and from family to family. The only thing consistent feature across the country is turkey. In fact, many Hispanic Americans call Thanksgiving Day (in Spanish) The Day of the Turkey!

I agree with the poster who said that Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season. After Thanksgiving, it's one Christmas party after another for the next 4 weeks. Families who do the Kris-Kringle or Secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas usually pick names at the Thanksgiving Day celebration - so it's handy for that too. If no Secret Santa, it's also just a good time to find out what type of gift loved-ones might want for Christmas.

Being from NOLA, we do our own creole/cajun version of the Thanksgiving Day meal - which people in other parts of the country might find sacrilegious: Fried Turkey, Root-Beer Glazed ham, Collard Greens, Baked Macaroni, Corn Bisque, Gumbo, Stuffed Merliton, Oyster and Crabmeat Dressing, Sweet (like-cake) Cornbread, Dinner Rolls, Sweet Potato Pie, Pecan Pie, Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce and spiked Eggnog. Gravy is not a big element - as the mush of the macaroni, dressing, and greens is more than enough! At the end of the meal, there is always enough food for each family unit to take home a pile for leftovers. Nothing better than Thanksgiving Day leftovers.

Yup, my SILS and BILS and I on DH's side always pick our secret Santa names on Thanksgiving! :)

Mmm...spinach dip! I'm not making it for Thanksgiving but I do for lots of gatherings...I have a recipe called "melted salad" that's to die for.

Turkey's in the oven. Peeled potatoes ready for roasting (I may live here in the US but Bleeeuurgh to mash!!).

I love Thanksgiving! We may be just be expats now, but I've fully embraced it as a tradition as in a few years, we will be Americans. My children are most likely to marry Americans and I want them to sometimes come home here for the holidays too. Plus, you can't knock a holiday that's sole purpose is to be thankful for what you've got!

I love mash...I slow cook mine in the crockpot with chicken broth and garlic. It's amazing! I do love roast potatoes as well but Thanksgiving just calls for mash!

Good to see this thread. Reminded me of a visit I made back in 1995 to see a friend (made via the internet) and having a Thanksgiving meal with him and his family in Beverly Hills (he was a film producer... just spoke to him on the phone, and there will be 14 at the table today, so it was a brief call).

Hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving has a great time.

Cheerful Yank, recipe please! My Ds loves mash. I should try that one!

NG, I know, I can't move for film producers round my table tonight!!

It's this recipe, Cat. :) I adjust the seasonings sometimes, but I am a salt fiend.

We Americans certainly do not eat Thanksgiving turkey "dry". Of course we have gravy! We also do not eat only mashed potatoes: we do sometimes have roast potatoes, and we also have sweet potatoes, which can be roasted or baked (my family never "candied" them, but this is a cultural and regional issue: Thanksgiving dishes vary according to region).

Also, no, it is not true that "most" Americans eat beef or ham on Christmas. Plenty of people have turkey or goose. My family's Christmas included various types of seafood because the countries from which my great-grandparents came ate those things.

Remember, every American (except Native Americans) family is from somewhere else: our families came from other countries, and many American families retain some of the holiday traditions of the countries from which previous generations of their families came. Some American families serve traditional Anglo Christmas foods, but someone whose great grandparents came from Russia or Mexico or Italy is very likely to have some slightly different customs or twist to the Christmas dinner.

I am full of Turkey (yes, with gravy) and Pumpkin pie.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving, I remember my first in the US total fail, I basically did a chrimbo dinner and e-mailed my American friends about "pumpkin pie" was it served with or after the main? after it, it is not like cranberry sauce, bread sauce, Yorkshire pudding, it is def a pudding...tastes foul! I made from scratch and whilst not a great cook I am okay...never again!
I hated the whole smell and feeling of christmas without christmas, and the post fuzz day of black Friday leaves me cold, Boxing day rocks, time to relax. not a consumer frenzy although I do know the sales in the UK now start then, but it isn't the same pressure.
my 2 thumbs up to Thanks Giving are that Christmas doesn't start til Black Friday, unlike the last month of pressure in the UK on it.
on the down side American Christmas is also Shit, I remember 1 when we lived there in our "little Britain" and a neighbour appeared at 4pm, after bring her kids back from the cinema and shopping, could not get rid of her and eventually invited her for dinner because it was clear she wasn't leaving another shit christmas! some Americans don't get the British passive aggressive :) to be fair most Americans get it and sarcasm they just don't expect it every minute of every day.

Omg. Went to friends for dinner. Her mum is a total unable to acknowledge that her baby is grown type so took over most of the cooking including bringing 7 desserts.

We went to my SIL's she had cooked a lot! I totally over ate, Turkey all the trimmings, cheesecake and more. Theres half a pumpkin pie and lots of fresh cream still in my fridge and SIL sent me home with enough left overs to feed us dinner again Friday night, so we'll repeat the meal all over again. I love leftovers.

Leftovers are the very best thing about Thanksgiving, which is why I always happily offer to cook and host a huge turkey dinner (even if we're the only Americans we know in town) The leftovers are all MINE, MINE, MINE!! Nothing better than a turkey sandwich, complete with cranberry and stuffing on the day(s) after.

And there's nothing better than a slice of hot pecan pie with a scoop of melty vanilla ice cream on the side...

Am drooling in anticipation of our Thanksgiving "observed" party tomorrow night!

Americans love their leftovers, true. I find the British aversion to them quite odd. maybe you all didn't cook them properly to begin with?