Thanksgiving Tips

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Nicknamed: TurkeyDay [Díadel Pavo] and called El Día de Acción de Gracias bySpanish-speaking Latinos in the U.S.), is an annual holiday celebratedin much of North America, generally observed as an expression of gratitude,usually to God.

The most common view of its origin is that it was to give thanksto God for the bounty of the autumn harvest. In the United States,the holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada,where the harvest generally ends earlier in the year, the holidayis celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is observed asColumbus Day or protested as Indigenous Peoples Day in the UnitedStates.

Last Updated - 13th November 2005

Traditional celebration

Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with a feast shared amongfriends and family. In both Canada and the United States, it is animportant family gathering, and people often travel long distancesto be with family members for the celebration. The Thanksgiving holidayis generally a "four-day weekend" in the United States,in which Americans are given the relevant Thursday and Friday off.Thanksgiving is usually celebrated almost entirely at home, unlikethe Fourth of July or Christmas, which are associated with a varietyof shared public experiences (fireworks, caroling, etc). In Canada,it is a three-day weekend as Thanksgiving is observed on the secondMonday of October every year.

Thanksgiving Dinner

The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United Statesand Canada is a large meal, typically in the late afternoon or evening,starring a large roasted turkey. Because turkey is the most commonmain dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquiallycalled Turkey Day in the USA. The USDA estimated that 269 millionturkeys were raised in the country in 2003, about one-sixth of whichwere destined for a Thanksgiving dinner plate.

Foods other than turkey are sometimes served as the main dish fora Thanksgiving dinner. Goose and duck, foods which were traditionalEuropean centerpieces of Christmas dinners before being displacedby turkeys, are now ironically sometimes served in place of the Thanksgivingturkey. On the West Coast of the United States, Dungeness crab iscommon as an alternate main dish, as crab season starts in early November.Turducken, a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken, isbecoming more popular, from its base in Louisiana. Deep-fried turkeyis rising in popularity as well, requiring special fryers to holdthe large bird, and reportedly leading to fires and bad burns. InMaryland sauerkraut is eaten. Vegetarians or vegans may try tofurkey,a tofu based dish with imitation turkey flavor.

Many other foods are served alongside the main dish — so manythat, because of the amount of food, the Thanksgiving meal is sometimesserved 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 mealin the United States, the meal often has something of ritual or traditionalquality.

Commonly served dishes include cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes,candied yams, green beans and stuffing. For dessert, various piesare 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. Southernersgenerally make theirs from cornbread, while in other parts of thecountry white bread is the base, to which oysters, apples, chestnuts,raisins, celery and/or other vegetables, sausage or the turkey's gibletsmay be added. These eating patterns are very similar in Canada.

Other dishes reflect the region or cultural background of those whohave come together for the meal. For example, Italian-Americans oftenhave lasagna on the table and Ashkenazi Jews may serve noodle kugel,a sweet pudding.

Healthy Holiday Eating Tips for Thanksgiving

An average Thanksgiving dinner has over 2000 calories! It can bea real challenge if you are watching your waistline. The followingare some eating tips so that you can still look good and be healthyafter the Thanksgiving dinner without having to deprive yourself.

Don't go to the Thanksgiving dinner hungry: we often eat fasterand more when we are hungry - therefore eat a wholesome breakfastand lunch on the day to avoid overeating at dinner time.
Thanksgiving dinner is not an all-you-can-eat buffet: Fill yourplate half with vegetables, one quarter with a lean meat and therest with a starch of your choice.
Eat slowly and stop when you are full.
Turkey - go skinless: choose your 4-oz turkey portion skinlessto slash away some fat and cholesterol. Save your appetite for theside dishes and desserts.
Side Dishes - watch your portion size: go for smaller portions.This way you can sample all the different foods. Moderation is alwaysthe key.
Make a conscious choice to limit high fat items: high fat fooditems can be found in fried and creamy dishes as well as cheese-filledcasseroles in a traditional Thanksgiving meal . For instance, mashedpotatoes are usually made with butter and milk; green bean casserolesare often prepared with cream of mushroom soup, cheese and milkand topped with fried onions; candied yams are loaded with cream,sugar and mashmellows. If you cannot control the ingredients thatgo in to a dish, simply limit yourself to a smaller helping size.Again moderation is the key.
Drink plenty of water: alcohol and coffee can dehydrate your body.Drink calorie-free water to help fill up your stomach and keep youhydrated.

Thanksgiving Turkey Tips

Get under your turkey's skin to give it an extra punch of flavor.Whip up a mixture of butter, chopped fresh herbs and shallots --use 1/2 cup of butter per 10 pounds of turkey - and carefully liftthe skin up and rub the mixture into the meat just beneath the skin.
To produce a turkey that's moist on the inside and crispy onthe outside, place the turkey in the oven at a higher than normalturkey-cooking temperature (around 450 degrees F or 230 degreesC). After 30 minutes, reduce the heat to the temperature that yourrecipe recommends and cook for the remaining time.
The secret ingredient is your time and lots of it. Buying, preparing,and roasting a turkey are time-consuming. With careful preparationand attention to timing, you will be rewarded with a beautiful andtasty main coarse.
Your first decision will be selecting between a frozen or freshturkey. A fresh bird is more expensive, but will save you time andprecious refrigerator space. Buy the bird the day before you wishto roast it, but remember to reserve your turkey with the butcher.What a catastrophe to find that the only turkey left for your intimatefour-person dinner is a 26-pound glacial beast!
A frozen turkey needs to be defrosted. The preferred method isto defrost it in the refrigerator. Allow one day per 5 pounds. A15-pound turkey will require three days to defrost thoroughly. Analternate method is to defrost the bird in a cold water bath. Allow30 minutes per pound. That 15-pound turkey will require only 7 1/2hours to defrost using this approach. It is also possible to usea combination of these methods.
Now you are ready to prepare the turkey for roasting. First removethe giblets. This is a fundamental step not only because you mightwant to use them to make the gravy, but also because it is disconcertingto find these paper-wrapped lumps when carving. Next, rinse thebird inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. If you are stuffingthe bird, do so now with a freshly prepared dressing. Stuff loosely,allowing about 1/2 to 3/4 cup per pound of bird. Brush the skinwith melted butter or oil. Tuck the drumsticks under the folds ofskin or tie together with string. Lastly, insert a meat thermometerinto the thickest part of the thigh. The thermometer should pointtowards the body, and should not touch the bone.
Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan, and into a preheated350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven. Use the following chart to estimatethe time required for baking.
Weight of Bird Roasting Time (Unstuffed) Roasting Time (Stuffed)
10 to 18 pounds 3 to 3-1/2 hours 3-3/4 to 4-1/2 hours
15 to 22 pounds 3-1/2 to 4 hours 4-1/2 to 5 hours
22 to 24 pounds 4 to 4-1/2 hours 5 to 5-1/2 hours
24 to 29 pounds 4-1/2 to 5 hours 5-1/2 to 6-1/4 hours
Bake until the skin is a light golden color, and then cover looselywith a foil tent. During the last 45 minutes of baking, remove thefoil tent to brown the skin. Basting is not necessary, but willpromote even browning.
The best test for doneness is the temperature of the meat, notthe color of the skin. The turkey is done when the thigh meat reachesan internal temperature of 180 degrees F, and when the breast meatreaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. If your turkeyhas been stuffed, it is important to check the temperature of thedressing. The stuffing should be 165 degrees F. When the turkeyis done, remove from the oven and allow to stand for 30 minutes.
Leftovers tend to pile up in the refrigerator when there's notenough of any one thing left to make a whole meal. Luckily, though,there are lots of versatile recipes that readily embrace the bitsand pieces from all those little storage containers and plasticbags that are lurking at the back of your refrigerator shelves.With a little of this and a little of that, you can make an entirelynew (and delicious!) meal.

Additional Thanksgiving Tips

Leave Cooking And Cleaning Behind. These days, many peopleopt to go out for Thanksgiving instead of cooking and cleaning athome. If you're an extremely busy person, this may also work foryou.
If you don't want to miss the feeling of being at home, perhapsyou might have the main course at a restaurant, and later have pieand coffee at home. In addition, lots of supermarkets and restaurantsoffer fully cooked Thanksgiving dinners. You simply pick everythingup and place it on your table ready to be served, and if you mustadd a personal touch, make one special dish of your own.
Prepare For Traveling. If you're traveling this Thanksgiving,be sure to make your packing list well ahead of time. Check itemsoff as you're putting them into your luggage. Bring this list withyou and use it to repack when you're ready to return home. It usuallybetter that you travel a few days before Thanksgiving and come backa few days after the Thanksgiving rush. Otherwise, you're goingto spend a lot of time in airports, on the road, in line, etc.
Turkey - First, determine how much room you have in yourfreezer and refrigerator and how many people you will be serving.Then, order your turkey. If you need more storage space, perhapsa neighbor or relative can help you out. Rather than defrostinga frozen turkey in water on Thanksgiving Day, defrost it a few daysahead in your refrigerator instead. This saves tons of time!
Guests - If you haven't already sent out invitations, youmay consider simply calling possible guests instead. You won't haveto spend a ton of time writing and mailing, and you usually getan RSVP immediately.
Inventory - Check your supply of chairs, tables, dishes,glasses, pots, pans, serving plates, and utensils. Arrange to buy,rent, or borrow anything you don't have.
Plan Your Meal - Plan your meal from appetizers to desserton a piece of paper. Make a list of all ingredients needed. Bringyour list when you go shopping and check items off as you put themin your cart.
Make any meals that you can well ahead of time and freeze them.On Thanksgiving Day, just defrost, heat, and serve. You will savetons of time, plus you'll be able to join in the festivities withoutbeing stuck in the kitchen.
You'll be happy you took care of a few things the night before.Set the table. Get the good silverware out of storage. Lay out yourwardrobe -- and your kids' wardrobes.!
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to be thankful for health, family,friends, and all that life has to offer. Some people choose to saygrace. Others prefer to simply have a moment of silence before dinnerand football. Still others like to make time to read a ThanksgivingStory or a poem. Make a list of the things you want to do to makethe day a special one and reference your list so you don't forgetthem.