As you know, Thanksgiving is this week. And even if you didn't know it, chances are someone has told you about it. Or, even if they didn't tell you specifically about Thanksgiving, they told you about the main focus of the holiday. No, it's not being thankful for all of the good things in your life or any of that nonsense: it's food. Or, more specifically, gorging yourself on delicious, delicious food. I listen to NPR in the morning while I'm getting ready for work, and then some more while I'm on my way to work, and I heard no fewer than two stories about food this morning. The first story was about 'traditional' Thanksgiving deserts (most of which sounded disgusting, except for the skillet apple pie, which sounded amazing), and it was a pretty fun story. You can listen to that one here. The second was about how Thanksgiving is celebrated by immigrants to America. The person interviewed is the chef at a Greek restaurant in New York, and he talked about how his family would always eat Greek food at Thanksgiving, and how he has carried that tradition on with his own children and wife. His wife is Italian, and their Thanksgiving dinner is a mixture of Greek and Italian foods, and it sounds awesome. You can listen to that story here.
The idea of eating cultural food during Thanksgiving is somewhat foreign to me. For as long as I can remember Thanksgiving dinner has been the following: turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and other things that I can't think of at the moment, but those are the standouts in my mind. To me, those things are entwined with Thanksgiving. It's not Thanksgiving without those things, and whenever I have those things in another setting I always think of Thanksgiving (mostly the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin pie - if I thought of Thanksgiving every time I made myself a turkey sandwich, I would be thinking about Thanksgiving a lot of the time). The thought of throwing lamb and other things into the mix just seems odd. It also sort of makes me wish that my family did it, too.
What are you planning to eat this year? Regardless of what it is, happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the delicious, delicious food.
to avoid the traditional thanksgiving dinner with my boyfriend's family i invited my mother and sister to come visit. but unlike the year i somehow convinced your girlfriend to be my excuse, this year we're going out for vietnamese food.
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i'm going to my friend babs' house for supper. she's from south africa. her husband is from ireland. so, of course, we are having very traditional thanksgiving thanksgiving fare. i'm bringing the sweet potatoes.
ReplyDeletei've really enjoyed not having to run around to family events on the last four thanksgivings. no offense to you personally, joe.
Kat, I don't think I've ever had Vietnamese food. I'm so sheltered.
ReplyDeleteNo offense taken, Julie. It's a pain in the ass to have to juggle different families on Thanksgiving.
Kat, we need another Thanksgiving miracle SOON.
ReplyDelete(It doesn't have to be on Thanksgiving, even.)