Holiday dinners are well known for the staple meats like turkeys, hams or roast beefs, I find that abnormally too traditional for my taste. What I love about holiday dinners are the warm gatherings with my family, the sometimes tottering uncertainty of outside guests and enthusiasm for surprise dishes. My favorite holiday dinner has always been Thanksgiving. I have always attended these holiday dinners without a plus one, there would be an awkward exception Thanksgiving of 2004. Thanksgiving of 2004 I thought to myself “Why not bring an extra watering mouth to feed? Thanksgiving is supposed to be about assembly with outsiders. At least that is what the history book pictures displayed.”. So I invited James. I figured drop a few light weighted …show more content…
The buffet had been set and the tables were dressed for seating. My grandmother lovingly called us all in for a long winded prayer before feasting. My grandmother takes it upon herself to lead the prayer and wouldn’t you know she makes digs at James in the very beginning of her prayer. “First giving honor to God, Lord we want to thank you for this meal and for James accompanying our family for this Thanksgiving. I don’t know where his family is or why he isn’t eating with them this Thanksgiving but he is more than welcomed to eat with ours. We’re loving and great cooks. I’m also not sure why he brought that string bean casserole either, but it too is on the buffet.” Mouths dropped and silent laughter travelled about the house with half closed eyes watering with tears of laughter fits. My brothers had overheard the conversation between my cousin and myself and they were ready to unload their comedic weapons with ammo of awkward information. We barely made it through the dinner without a quick snap and uncomfortable question thrown at James the entire meal. No one touched James’ casserole, it was just collecting dust and cold passes on the buffet. Could we just cut to the end of this gathering so that I can drag this man back to his car and return him back from whence he came? My pleas went unanswered. I just ate on the moist roast beef that always gives me comfort at this gathering. I doused my mashed potatoes in the homemade gravy that carries the perfect flavoring, texture and thickness consistency that only my great aunt can achieve. I shoved my mouth with Grandma’s dressing filled with minced mushrooms, onions and turkey base juice. I piled my plate so that I wouldn’t have to participate in the awkwardness that was building up between James and my family. Thanksgiving of 2004 just was not a great idea for inviting James the interloper. As we were finally leaving the gathering my Grandmother says in sweetest,
This is a disgrace! To all the turkey’s at Thanksgiving! forty-five million turkey’s are cooked a year. Not only are those awful humans eating us, now they are entrapping us in disgusting cages and making us eat only corn and soybeans. That’s not even the worst part, they put something in our food called vitamins and minerals. I heard yesterday from keith, my turkey friend, that they talk about how they feed turkeys healthy things so that the people who buy the turkeys won’t get sick or something like that. They also say we taste different at different ages.
While this invitation produced anxiety for every person that attended this meal, the toll that it took on my nephew was rather difficult to watch. His father chose to attend the day before Thanksgiving; but a half-hour before the scheduled 2 p.m. time for dinner, he let his son know that his girlfriend and her children had decided to come as well. While the adults scrambled to add additional seating, my nephew excitedly stood outside on the porch anticipating his guests’ arrival. An hour later, this little boy dejectedly wondered whether his father had changed his mind. When his guests finally arrived, we all ate an awkward, cold dinner, and my ex-brother-in-law whisked them all (including my nephew) away to his family’s Thanksgiving meal, which meant that my disappointed nephew never got to share the chocolate pie that he had helped make.
Thanksgiving Compare and Contrast Food, Family, and Fun!! Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States, always celebrated on a Thursday in November. There are many different ways people celebrate Thanksgiving. You give thanks and celebrate what you are most thankful for. Thanksgiving is a national holiday that has many different traditions, activities, and foods in different families.
Thanksgiving Day is a day of family, food, and giving thanks for the blessings in life and yet some people believe Thanksgiving to be a prep day for Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. The focus of Thanksgiving shifted from family bonding to incessant shopping. This trend of taking away from the hours of Thanksgiving in order to shop is enraging. It steals away from family time for the shoppers and the employees. Employers threaten workers that if they do not work on that certain holiday, they will be fired. Black Friday should be kept to Friday instead of moving in on my family time. The whole culture of Black Friday has become repugnant and unnecessary.
Thanksgiving is a holiday in the United States, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year. Although the way holidays are celebrated over time, thanksgiving has always been a holiday feast. However, Thanksgiving is more than just eating food together with your family. For instance, some families do charity work for the poor people and create a Thanksgiving dinner for them, other family’s watch sport in addition to the food that they eat together. One part that is common at almost every Thanksgiving dinner is the type of food that is served. Families in the United States have celebrated Thanksgiving for hundreds of years, but the way it is celebrated has slightly changed from the first Thanksgiving. To be able to explain
... I had never even seen most of the food displayed, I eagerly and respectfully tried each dish. After everyone in the room sat down at the massive table, the Rabbi picked up a glass of wine and made a prayer over it. Then, Rabbi Kanelsky passed around pieces of Challah bread to the entire table. This lunch festival was yet another ceremony dedicated to one of the member’s deceased relative. At the conclusion, the Rabbi said another prayer out loud for the deceased and the relative expressed his gratitude to everyone.
During fall, the leaves fall, the temperature drops, and people sit around a table and say what they are thankful for. While we are consuming pounds of turkey and stuffing, the Pilgrims are to thank for the annual feast. Because the meaning of this holiday is to not stuff your face with endless amount of carbs, we should be reminded of how grateful we are for what we own. Thanksgiving was a very memorable time in U.S. history.
When the great holiday of Thanksgiving comes to mind, most people think of becoming total gluttons and gorging themselves with a seemingly unending amount of food. Others might think of the time spent with family and friends. The whole basis of the holiday is family togetherness, fellowship, and thankfulness for blessings received during the previous year.
“Come on in,” Uncle George yelled to my cousins, Terry and Savannah. On a cool November day, Thanksgiving to be exact, all of the women in my family were gathered in the kitchen preparing dinner. Aunt Debby was making yams and washing the collard greens before placing them in the pot to be cooked. Aunt May and Aunt Janet were working on the dressing and macaroni while all of the other women of the family are doing everything possible to make this festive holiday a success. “Turn the TV up and be quiet!” Uncle George was now grumpy! The McDonald’s Thanksgiving parade was broadcasting on the television and it is his favorite thing to watch the morning of Thanksgiving, but for the rest of the day the television would
I am warmed in the morning with the lingering spices from the kitchen as I begin to work up my appetite. I walk downstairs to the cornucopia baskets and thanksgiving wreaths that bring the lively autumn scene. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday time together with my family because it is the one time out of the year in which my entire family from all over the country comes together, to giving a feeling of unity. I walk into the kitchen to a smile from my mom as she reminds me to wash my hands. It is not time to eat yet, but just as every other year, she hands me the fresh green beans to help her prepare the last dish, the green been casserole. The dish often does not hold significance to many but depicts a symbol of unity as I reflect on the times with my family. For some, a casserole can date back to mark a period of struggle in American history, but the idea of a
Thanksgiving break a bust,I thought.The fall air swept through as my sister and I kept playing volleyball.My mom came bursting out,she was trying to catch her breath as I questioned,
The purpose of Thanksgiving in Canada is different from the Americans. But even though the reasons for giving thanks are different, many of the customs are the same. Canadian Thanksgiving was originally started to give thanks to God for a bountiful harvest. This was when there were lots of farmers that grew crops. Now we give thanks for everything we appreciate. Some farming families still give thanks for a good crop.
In my family, Christmas Eve is a time for food, gifts, and laughter. My family, in particular my mom and myself, spend hours in the kitchen on both Christmas Eve day, as well as the day before, preparing traditional French dishes. Typically, Christmas Eve is held at my mother’s house, which is packed to the rafters with the kids coming home for the holidays. My mother’s extended side of the family are normally invited, as well as my mother’s closest friends. Which of my mother’s friends are invited depends on how generous my mother is feeling (Crowther 2013:165). We observe a large Christmas Eve meal due to my maternal grandparents’ adamant Catholicism, in which practising Catholics take part in calendar-based feasts coinciding with significant religions events (ibid:155). We normally eat our Christmas Eve dinner at a rather early 4pm so the young kids can get to bed at a reasonable hour after opening presents.
The meal I am going to analyze took place last weekend. My children and I met up with 3 other parents and 4 other children adopted from Ethiopia that have kept in touch over the last 7 years that we have been in the same area. In the past we had gotten together quite regularly to talk and let all the kids play with their Ethiopian friends. Jennifer and I still make it a point to meet up fairly regularly, however, Lisa and her partner Erica moved to the Bay Area with their kids a few years ago and have not had a chance to get together with us since then. They happened to be in town for a wedding so we all met at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant to catch up and let the kids all reconnect.
Holidays are a celebration and an enjoyment of festivities. Although they are a commonality across the world, holidays differ between countries and cultures. But, what many do not realize is that holidays are ultimately ideology driven, that is that the group that celebrates these holidays follows a certain set of ideas and beliefs. Whether the ideology is religion based, or politically based, all holidays are centered around ideologies.