What do you do for Thanksgiving? Ultimo, I don't even know if the British have adopted this holiday. Do you have a thanksgiving type of celebration? We usually alternate between my family and my wifes family. This year we will be at my sisters. It's always a good time. Lots of food, too much really, and a nice relaxing day. Watching football, taking a nap, playing games or just chatting. It's a good family time.
Here's a brief history for you, Ultimo. It really kicks off the holiday season and has become a time to enjoy the company of friends and family. It's one of those warm, fuzzy holidays.
In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.
The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.
The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770's) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.
In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.
We used to go to my dad's, but the last couple of years, we have just fried a turkey at home and it has just been our little family. That is fine with me, we will start our own traditions!
We've had a major compromise. My husband's mother & sister come over to my parents' house. After all the food is consumed (& my mother has gone mental), my husband & I pack up our family & hightail it over to my best friend's house. That's really where we have our fun that day. My best friend's a hoot and such a great cook...man, I'm already hungry.
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