Sunday, November 22, 2009

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated each year in the United States on the 4th Thursday in November. It is a federal holiday. Most offices are closed on Friday (day after Thanksgiving Day) also. Therefore many people will have a 4-day weekend.

It is supposed to be a religious observation to give thanks to God. The first thanksgiving was celebrated in the United States to thank God for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter. The early settlers of the Plymouth Colony (now Plymouth, Massachusetts) were called Pilgrims. It is said the first thanksgiving was celebrated for 3 days. That first thanksgiving was attended by 53 Pilgrims and 90 Indians. That is American Indians and not East Indians.

The traditional Thanksgiving feast menu includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Of course, lot of alcohol also consumed.

Traditionally, in our home, my wife cooks the following. Of course, I help her. This menu idea came from Google.

Starters: Tomato and Roasted Bell Pepper Soup with Sourdough Croutons

Salad: Apple, Dried Cherry and Walnut with Maple Dressing

Main Dishes: (Since we are vegetarians) A Vegetarian Dish, Maple Grazed Carrots, Peachy Sweet Potato Casserole, Mashed Potatoes.

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie

Of course there is always a football game (not soccer) in the TV. We invite a few relatives and friends and eat and drink our heart out.

Friday, the day after thanksgiving, is another story. It is called Black Friday because the retailers hope that their sales figures will move out of the red and into the black. It is the biggest and busiest shopping day in USA. It is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Most of the department stores open at 5 AM on that Friday and many people will be waiting outside in line all night to enter the store at 5 AM and grab the stuff. There are always huge discounts on all items in the store.

But this year it is going to be different. We are driving to Southern California to see Dinnyland (that is Disneyland) and Universal Studios for the umpteenth time. My family thinks if we do not go on a plane it is not a vacation. That is a different story to be told at a later date.

We are returning from Southern California on Sunday. Next week I have to attend to some urgent and important chores. Therefore, my next posting will be after 12 days.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

35 comments:

  1. The family really seems interesting! Enjoy the trip to Dinnyland.

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  2. Thanks for your comments Radha. Never a dull moment here. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  3. Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
    Have a safe trip to SoCal and back.

    Regards,
    That guy who drives 55MPH in the fast lane with his left blinker on for the entire trip.

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving to you too the slow driver in the fast lane.

    I have seen you before. You are the one who drives a 1990 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Royale “Brougham” sedan, in the horrid color combination of light blue with a dark blue vinyl roof and interior.

    Oh, by the way, I am the guy behind you in a car bigger than yours and tailgate you with my massive headlights shine right into your eyes.

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  5. Happy Thanksgiving.Enjoy this fun trip to Disney...Universal studios are a lot fun too!

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. We are looking forward to a nice trip.

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  7. oh your salad made me drool...Even I can see disney land umpteentimes..this is the only place I found so enjoyable.

    enjoy the trip and show us the snaps !

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  8. Thanks for your comments Renu. This year's Thanksgiving feast will be at Taco Bell in Anaheim.

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  9. my cousin lives in Anaheim.

    once we were there on thanksgiving, but i didnt go to shops early in the morning, my whole family went, but I stayed in bed:)..it was so cold at that time.

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  10. Thanks for your comments Renu. You did the right thing by staying in bed on Black Friday. We do the same thing. It is a cheating advertisement. They would say a $800 laptop will be for $200. Each store will have only 2 laptops at that price. There will be 5000 people storming into that store. It is not worth it. Once these 2 laptops are sold, then it will be out of stock. And, no rain check either.

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  11. The menu sounds yum :) have fun and Happy Thanksgiving :)

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  12. Happy Thanksgiving!
    Dinnyland..I'm jealous! Plane? I'm even more jealous..make that green with envy!!!!!

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  13. Thanksgiving to you and all at home. I'm just waiting for the Christmas holidays to begin for good food n good (shopping) times.... And have a wonderful trip to Dinnyland

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  14. hey SG, happy thanksgiving to you ans your family...enjoy the food, the match and of course disneyland :))

    next post after 12 days? that's a long period...will for sure wait for your next post...tc :)

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  15. Happy Thanksgiving and hope you have a great vacation.

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  16. Thanks for your comments Shruthi.

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  17. Thanks for your comments lostworld. We will think of you while in Dinnyland. Also, will bring back some pictures. One of these days you will be visiting there personally. I am sure.

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  18. Thanks for your comments Neha. Yes, the next post will be after 12 days only. I have to take care of some urgent issues and I will not have access to my laptop.

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  19. Happy Thanksgiving to you too Pins And Ashes. Thanks for your comments.

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  20. Happy Thanksgiving to you too Insignia. Having been here for some time, I am sure you have seen the Black Friday rush.

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  21. Yes SG, I have a funny experience too.
    Woke up at 3 in the morning to go to Frys. Thought we would be the first in line. But there were already more than 300 people waiting in that biting cold.

    A helicopter with media people was hovering over us capturing all the frenzy and I waited till 5 AM only to be standing at the same place 2 hours later. Came to know that they are letting in only 50 people at a time; I walked back to my hotel room and slept till noon.

    A couple of my friends didnt return yet; finally when they were back; they did manage to grab few goodies and loads of tales to tell.

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  22. Thanks for the description of your experience. It is funny now. But i am sure it would not have been fun when you were standing at 3 am in the cold weather.

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  23. Though I have read some details about 'thanksgiving' in books, you have given a detailed report! We are vegetarians too and loved the items you have mentioned here.

    Enjoy the holidays!

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  24. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. I am looking forward to this holiday travel.

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  25. Thanks Bhavesh. And, welcome to my blog. I hope you visit here as often as you can.

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  26. That was a quite nice information... Happy Thanksgiving!!

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  27. Nice post, nicer information, SG! Thanks for sharing! We have only seen people celebrating Thanksgiving in movies, but never knew why are they thanking GOD!
    Belated happy Thanksgiving and have a great trip!
    The salad sounds awesome :)

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  28. i think i've learned a lot from ur blog mr. sg.. thanks.. tht sure looks delicious.. u jus added fuel to the burning fire.. i wanna go home.. i've had enuf of these exams..

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  29. Thanks for your comments Swatantra. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  30. Thanks for your comments Bhavesh. And, welcome to my blog. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

    Bhavesh, please visit here as often as you can. Thanks.

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  31. Thanks for your comments Varsha. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  32. Thanks for your comments Vishnu. Home sick? I understand. Hope you go home soon (after your exams).

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  33. Thanks for this post informing us about Thanksgiving Day.

    It seems the Americans don't know how to identify Indians - that's how the discovery of America came about! It's always a confusion between American Indians, East Indians, West Indians etc.

    American Indians are also called native Americans.

    Happy Thanksgiving Day!

    Have a nice non-turkey veg feast.

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