I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of our American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a truly wonderful day.
Although it’s not Thanksgiving here, today I will be giving thanks for all the wonderful people I have met or corresponded with through running The Anne Boleyn Files. Thank you, I appreciate you all.
Have a wonderful day wherever you are and whatever you are doing and if you are celebrating Thanksgiving then please share, in the comments section below, what food you are eating and what special family traditions you have.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Curious about the history of Thanksgiving? See my article over at the Elizabeth Files – Thanksgiving.
Hi Claire and thank you for the Thanksgiving greeting. Regrettably, my family won’t be having dinner together today. I had to work last night and will have to leave for work again in a few hours (although the 2 coworkers on my shift that are also working are contributing — along with me — to our own little dinner at the office). My baby sister and her family are in another part of the state but will be coming here this weekend (my brother in law is now home from Kuwait). My brother will be watching football I’m sure and my other sister will be preparing herself for what we call Black Friday over here (she’s in retail). Since I normally take Christmas off for my annual vacation, I try to work Thanksgiving to give others on my shift a chance to take off if they like. So I really ought to be in bed 🙂 … it’s pouring down rain and actually hit 70 Fahrenheit today! BUT if we were together today, there would be the traditional turkey, dressing, candied sweet potatoes and/or sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole, cooked greens (probably collard greens, kale and mustard greens), green beans, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie. A semi-Southern Thanksgiving in a state considered the gateway to the South. 🙂
But let me take a moment to say how thankful I am to have found this group. You all have been wonderful and I hope one day to meet some of you.
So while I listen to the rain and wind against my window, it’s past time for me to try to get some sleep. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving from California! it’s been chilly here so it really feels like Thanksgiving (it’s about 60 and was in the 30s overnight). Friends will be arriving shortly to celebrate a traditional feast except we’re having Cornish Hens rather than turkey, it’s my parent’s 63rd wedding anniversary today and they preferred the hens! We too will have the candied sweet potatoes with maple syrup (Dad’s from Vermont!), dressing, cranberries (made those up yesterday) and a variety of veggies, friends are bringing pies (special request mincemeat pie for dad).)
i too am happy to found this website, it’s so great to sort out the truth of things when you get so many distortions from movies and books.
Here in Canada, we celebrated back in Ocotber… Something I’m Thankful for since today has been chilly..-5C( approx 23F)And they are talking snow forFriday..
Here in Greece we don’t celebrate this holiday, but I’d like to thank you, Claire, for bringing out the truth about Anne Boleyn and for creating this amazing website!
I didn’t realize until I saw a program about Thanksgiving that a lady wanted it to be a holiday during the Civil War as a way to bring people together. Lincoln then got a lot of mail from other women who read the magazine with the article in it and it became a national holiday. I am always thankful for this site and all the great contributors to it,
Thank you! My Thanksgiving was truly wonderful–had the whole family here plus two! I think that was about 16 folks. We had the traditional dinner: roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (with this yummy crust of pecans and brown sugar) brocolli with cheese, cranberry sauce and relish, homemade rolls, squash casserole, jello salad, and for dessert—pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, caramel cake and my dad’s fruit cake–am I still stuffed??? You bet! And now, on to Christmas–I should probably eat nothing between now and then.
So, Thanksgiving… I must clarify for all unaware that the holiday of Thanksgiving has evolved quite a lot since its inception. Originally, Thanksgiving was a day to give thanks for the safety of a new homeland, the bounty of sustenance, and freedom from religious persecution. However…, it really wasn’t all that long before The Puritans began burning women for witchcraft and naturally; the slaves that were brought along on the Mayflower began to realize that “Thanksgiving” meant something quite different to them.
I believe that for most modern Americans, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for all of life’s blessings and not just for being thankful to be an American… This country has wavered significantly from its original proclamations.
The feast originated from the first foods that Squanto (one of the Native Americans who befriended the Pilgrims) taught the Newcomers how to plant. We still traditionally eat the most popular foods from the fall harvest: squashes (Native American for raw or uncooked) and pumpkins 🙂
I cooked Thanksgiving dinner this year and I was very happy to allow my future mother-in-law (who has cooked this meal for the last 25 years) to have a break. I began 2 days before with baking my original recipe for Pumpkin Pies. I made “4” of them so that we can enjoy for weeks to come 🙂 The day before consisted of “the sides”: My original recipe for whipped Sweet Potatoes, freshly whipped cream for the pie, and chopping onion and celery for the dressing.
Thanksgiving Day menu at Tiff’s house:
*Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes (compliments of my mom-in-law)
*Whipped Sweet Potatoes
*Spinach Salad (baby spinach, cooked & crumbled bacon, mandarin oranges, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and sliced hard-boiled eggs) < This is served with an amazing dressing that contains oil, minced garlic, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, & sugar <<< Delicious!
*Dressing (or stuffing for part of the turkey) < moistened & seasoned bread crumbs w/sauteed onion & celery
*One 15 pound Turkey
*Turkey Gravy
*Rolls
*Rhutabaga squash w/butter & salt and pepper
*Cranberry sauce (My daughter & I prefer the gel variety 😉
*Pumpkin Pie
*Apple Pie (compliments of my mom-in-law)
Because almost all of my family is deceased, Thanksgiving Day has also become a sort-of "Day of the Dead" celebration. I always include a favorite dish and/or a recipe that my mom or aunt would have made or requested. ~I always feel relatives "hanging around" on that day as well. I could actually smell the God-awful cologne of my Uncle Joe in my kitchen at 8am… Good Lord! hahahaha!!!
In all, there were 5 people (including myself) at our table on Thanksgiving: my fiance & his mom and dad, my daughter, and I. We do have a few cats as well who were tremendously thankful for the extra turkey tidbits they were indulged with that day 🙂
I was thankful for the company, the means to provide such a bounteous feast, and the warm & cozy roof over my head 🙂 Thanksgiving is truly my favorite holiday of the year and I believe that everyone worldwide should have such a day marked on the calendar 😉