Thanksgiving is full of many traditions, with one of the most common being the food. While some families sit at long tables and ask for food to be passed around, others spend it fighting over whose food is better.
When it comes to meals, not everyone eats the usual roast turkey, mashed potatoes and other side dishes. Many families have their own way of adding spice to the holiday.
“I eat puñuelos, they’re like little pies,” Diana Hernández (11) said. “We also eat tamales de mole and chicken.”
A traditional dessert is pie, with variations like pumpkin pie, apple pie and sweet potato pie. Some families have their own recipes for homemade desserts, possibly becoming a family tradition or a generational must-have at every Thanksgiving, amplifying the holiday. These recipes can bring family closer together.
“My mom’s pound cake — it’s like a lemony-type cake with icing,” Morgan Matthews (11) said. “ It’s so good. I love her cake. Everybody loves her cake.”
Like many other holidays, Thanksgiving celebrations often include games that involve the whole family. Whether they are chaotic, convoluted or simple, the goal for many is ultimately to create core memories with loved ones.
“After eating, we usually play Uno cause it’s so easy to play,” Matthews said. “Everybody knows it.”
Many families have traditions of participating in a turkey trot or watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The turkey trot is a race or run of any distance held on or near Thanksgiving Day. Many run turkey trots every year before eating Thanksgiving meals. Turkey trots can benefit the community as some help support local charities, following themes of community and generosity. Others might decide to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is full of music, floats and giant balloons.
“When we go to Chicago, we usually watch the parade up there,” Matthews said. “We don’t go, but we watch it on TV. We’ll just watch that as we’re eating food and then playing games and then in Washington, for Thanksgiving, we watched the parade up there, too.”