What are your family's Thanksgiving traditions?
912945
go out and eat watch football and drink till the cows come home and guess what we don't have any cows
389664
Thanksgiving, at it's most basic, is a harvest festival to thank GOD[1] and neighbors for providing enough food to last through the winter. Today, it is more of a celebration of abundance: whether of food, friends, or other 'blessings'.\n\nYou can have Thanksgiving at someone's house by cooking a large meal there on the fourth Thursday in November (US) and inviting friends and family to share in it. Different families have traditional meals, though a typical modern dinner might include Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, a vegetable dish, a jello dish, and Pumpkin Pie.\n\n\n[1] Since Thanksgiving (as such) was a Colonial American celebration, this would be the Christian God as followed by the majority of the settlers at the time. As Thanksgiving is analogous to harvest festivals occuring in many other religions, this designation is not necessarily exclusive
875692
The common idea is that Thanksgiving originated with the Pilgrims. Most Americans have this idea that when the Pilgrims landed in America and settled themselves they wanted to give thanks and appreciation for making it through the long journey. Also, they ended up sharing their feast with the Native Americans. Or did they? \n\nThe fact is that the first Thanksgiving was shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians in 1621. The celebration was more of a harvest festival with sports, games, food, dancing, singing, and revelry. When it comes to the food they ate the menu wasnt much like todays. Instead, it consisted of venison, fowl, and other foods prepared by the pilgrims. \n\nInterestingly enough the first Thanksgiving as we know it did not create a yearly tradition among the pilgrims. Partly because the following year was a poor one and because many new settlers had arrived, Thanksgiving became a celebration that was only observed occasionally over the following centuries. However, thanks to the Revolutionary War all of America celebrated Thanksgiving together in 1777. But, that still didnt get the tradition going like it is today. It wasnt until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving that the tradition really became part of Americas culture. The only other change was when Franklin Roosevelt changed the date to the fourth Thursday in 1939. \n\nOf course, you may have learned a different Thanksgiving story in school or you may be one who believes Thanksgiving as a celebration shared by the Indians and the Pilgrims took part in their celebration. There is no shortage of ideas about how Thanksgiving originated. However, the above account is one that is traditionally accepted by Americans and the one that most people tend to believe.
704040
My goodness!  All those people and you're on bed rest?!?!?!\nLet everyone else bring the food, you can do potluck.\nI do have a story.  My nephew's wife was responsible one year for cooking the turkey.  She got up very early in the morning and put it on, fixed other things, then decided she would lay down for a while.  Well, of course she fell asleep, and when she woke up it was almost dinnertime.  The turkey had cooked to leather.  Luckily she is a quick thinker.  She borrowed leftover dark meat from a friend who had done her turkey the day before.  And she went to a restaurant in town and bought a cooked turkey breast.  She cut it up and stuck it on a platter together and came on to dinner at my sister's house.  Told them she had decided to carve it at home.  My mother bragged on how good and tender it was.  She didn't tell my sister (her mother-in-law) about it for years!\nSeriously, let the family help you.  They will understand.  So put your turkey in the oven (don't go to sleep and forget it, though!)\nLet the hubby straighten the house.  Let the others cook and bring a dish.  Then let them all clean up.  While they're at it, they can do the decorating while you supervise from the sofa!\nGood luck to you, and Happy Thanksgiving.
810505
We have two meals: one for my family and then I prepare one for my husband's family. My families is usually at 2 or 4pm on Thanksgiving day or the Sunday after. Then I have mine the opposite day at around 6 pm. And you?
1075120
Thanksgiving-- only because Christmas follows-- you have thanksgiving with the family-- then you get to wrap the presents and get ready for Christmas-- more time with the family! (I'm big on family now bc i never had it when i was little)
901852
Yes,Grandfather leads the prayer..then we go around the tables (large family)\ntelling what we are thankful for during the past year..Corny & the kids hate it but its a tradition we refuse to quit..=)
968673
Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day when family gather with friends and strangers.  We celebrate what we are thankful for and mostly for the freedom that our forefathers fought so hard for. It is a tradition in my family that after the blessing on the food, everyone gets to say 1 thing they are thankful for and they can't repeat a response that another has already made.  We start with the youngest and move to the oldest. It builds awareness in our family of what we are grateful for.
925690
Well I'm the designated Cook since my father died.....so I always stay at home and cook the traditional Feast....I tell my friends and family it's open door at my house on holidays....Everyone is welcome!.....I cook up our family's traditional feast and usually add a new different something Iv been wanting to try out as well.....I usually start cooking/baking Pies/cookies(jello salads.. & prep work) on wed....and theT- bird on Thursday...it's a ton of work specially since I do it all myself now that Dad has passed( we always did it together ever since I was young girl,just us two)....but everyone really apreaciates it!  so it's worth it !! whatever you do, Rember, Thanksgiving really isn't about the food...though try to tell that to the men...lol....it's really about family and good friends getting together and enjoying each others company....and being Thankful for each other..... \nHave a Great day!\nBlessed Be!
738720
Thanksgiving for me is a 2-3 day marathon of cooking and baking for my friends and family(my door is open to everyone on Thanksgiving ,I tell every one to bring their Appite) It is a time for rembering those long ago Thanksgivings when me and my father would kick Mom out of the kitchen and cook up a feast, just the two of us.....now that he has passed on I carry on our tradition by making Feast for all who come to my door\nIt's a time of rembering with great fondness my grandfather who loved this time of year, with all the leaves showing their color...it's a reminder to take an extra moment to be Thankful (and be aware) of the beauty of Nature around us.\nIt's a time to enjoy and re-connect /catch up with  with family and friends, some who we haven't seen in a while.\n....and the left overs Wow...sometimes I have a lot!...I make up dinner plates and freeze some of them for quick microwave dinners  and I give some  to neighbors (or co-workers) who may not have anyone... and were too shy to come over to my house.....and of course all who come get something to take home even if it's only a pie or some baked goods.
950453
A turkey\nBox of mashed potatoes\nBox of stuffing\n2 packets of gravy\ncan of corn\ncan of cranberry sauce\ncan of yams\nmini marshmellows\npumpkin pie & can of whipped cream\ninstant coffee\nhot coder packets\nI always include a cream or fruit pie also, because I do NOT like pumpkin pie & some others don't either...\nI also include the fixins for a green bean casserole & a green salad...  I try to include what "I" would like to feed my family on Thanksgiving & enough to feed a good sized family or at least enough for a couple of days leftovers.  I also throw in a foil roasting pan & box of foil & a gallon of milk.\n\nGood for you for doing this..... GOD BLESS!!!!
854045
My family all gather at my grand ma's house in Virginia for thanksgiving. some fly in, others drive.  For some it will be a distance of 4 hours. My grandparents have passed on, but we keep the old home in the family, and use it for special gatherings like this. \n   Its an old farm house, large, and sturdy like they use to build them. 5 bedrooms 4 baths, lots of land. Its believed to be one of the last of a plantation home, but it was quickly changed to a large farm house. not many records of it ever being that.
654743
What about your family (parents, relatives, etc.)?\nFriends?
937539
Really sad isn't it.  I remember when I was a kid, and going to gramas house, and everyone sitting down around a huge table every sunday and eating dinner.  Now none of my family even get together for thanksgiving anymore.
968759
In Mexico, no. Thanksgiving is strictly an American holiday, though its roots go back to ancient harvest festivals celebrated around the world.\n\nMexican-Americans, as is the case with other American ethnic groups, quite often celebrate Thanksgiving. \n\nAs to the question of whether Mexican-Americans consume so-called "traditional" Thanksgiving foods, to be quite honest, everybody's Thanksgiving table is different. There is no right or wrong item to be found on everybody's table. The actual menu isn't important. \n\nI imagine some Mexican-American families do the turkey and dressing thing, while others have a more ethnic menu, according to their own tastes. And regardless of whether the whole turkey and dressing protocol is followed, there are surely always some family recipes that make it to the feast.
735847
wake up about 9, get ready, go to grandmas, watch parade/\nvisit with my cousins while my grandma and aunts cook\npray, then eat about noon.  everyone is done by one ish and then the men sit in the living room to watch football and the woman clean and visit in the kitchen, us grandkids go downstairs and play this game we made up called potato days (we do it every thanksgiving even though my cousins are all around 15 or 16) haha just thinking about it makes me smile : )  we all go home, ushually take a nap or something, then everyone goes over to our house for visiting and wine for the adults in the evening.  its a very nice time.
914844
I, my husband and  kids visit my parents home on Thanksgiving Day.  We also, visit his parents on Thanksgiving Day. We make it a priority to be with our loved ones at this time of year because we don't always see each other throughout the year as we live in different towns and have jobs, etc.  So, we catch up on Thanksgiving Day.  We reminisce of days gone by. There is always good food and memories to last until we meet again.  Happy Thanksgiving.