Feature Article
When is Thanksgiving Day?
A Thanksgiving dinner in Ontario, features turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and beverages.
The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, typically in the late afternoon or evening, starring a large roasted turkey. Because turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called Turkey Day in the USA. The USDA estimated that 269 million turkeys were raised in the country in 2003, about one-sixth of which were destined for a Thanksgiving dinner plate.
Foods other than turkey are sometimes served as the main dish for a Thanksgiving dinner. Goose and duck, foods which were traditional European centerpieces of Christmas dinners before being displaced by turkeys, are now ironically sometimes served in place of the Thanksgiving turkey. On the West Coast of the United States, Dungeness crab is common as an alternate main dish, as crab season starts in early November. Turducken, a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken, is becoming more popular, from its base in Louisiana. Deep-fried turkey is rising in popularity as well, requiring special fryers to hold the large bird, and reportedly leading to fires and bad burns. In Maryland sauerkraut is eaten. Sometimes a variant recipe for cooking turkey could be used. Such as a Chinese recipe for Goose could be used on the similarly sized American bird. Vegetarians or vegans may try tofurkey, a tofu based dish with imitation turkey flavor.
Many other foods are served alongside the main dish — so many that, because of the amount of food, the Thanksgiving meal is sometimes served midday or early afternoon to make time for all the eating, and preparation may begin at the crack of dawn or days before.
Traditional Thanksgiving foods are sometimes specific to the day, and although some of the foods might be seen at any semi-formal meal in the United States, the meal often has something of ritual or traditional quality.
Commonly served dishes include cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans and stuffing. For dessert, various pies are served, particularly pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie.
There are also regional differences as to the "stuffing" (or "dressing") traditionally served with the turkey. Southerners generally make theirs from cornbread, while in other parts of the country white bread is the base. One or several of the following may be added: oysters, apples, chestnuts, raisins, celery and/or other vegetables, sausage or the turkey's giblets. These eating patterns are very similar in Canada.
Other dishes reflect the region or cultural background of those who have
come together for the meal. For example, Italian-Americans often have lasagna
on the table and Ashkenazi Jews may serve noodle kugel, a sweet pudding. Irish-Americans
have been known sometimes to substitute the turkey with prime rib of beef.
Besides Tofurkey, those of the vegetarian or vegan persuasion have been known
to come up with alternative entree centerpieces such as a large vegetable
pie or a stuffed and baked pumpkin.
Nicknames
In certain parts of the USA, the name for Thanksgiving can be shortened or changed. These nicknames include:
* Turkey Day (after the traditional Thanksgiving dinner)
* T-Day (abbreviation of either "Thanksgiving" or "Turkey")
* Macy's Day (exclusive to New York City, a reference to the parade, above,
as in "Macy's Day Parade" instead of the proper "Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade")
In Canada, the United States' Thanksgiving is sometimes refered to as "Yanksgiving"
to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday (yank being a nickname for a resident
of the USA).
Popular culture
* As the holiday most associated with family gatherings in the U.S., Thanksgiving
is often humorously portrayed in movies and television as an occasion for
extended family members to bicker with one another.
* A number of U.S. television programs have featured Thanksgiving Day specials.
Friends, a program that aired on Thursday nights, was especially noted for
this. From 1989 to 1997, Mystery Science Theater 3000 aired an all-day "Turkey
Day Marathon" on Thanksgiving.
* In the U.S., the song "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie is
associated with Thanksgiving, as the precipitating events described in the
song occurred on Thanksgiving of 1965. "Alice's Restaurant" is played
by many radio stations across the country at least once on that day.
* Adam Sandler did a song on Saturday Night Live about Thanksgiving called
the Thanksgiving Song.
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