"May we all be thankful for the warm family memories we have gathered over the years and may we all get our chance to make our wish on the turkey's wish bone" ~ Father York..
A little Thanksgiving Trivia...
Was Turkey served at the first
Thanksgiving?
There is no evidence that turkey was eaten at the first
Thanksgiving, a three-day meal shared between the pilgrims and Wampanoaug tribe in 1621. It is more likely that
they ate venison and a lot of seafood
Did Thanksgiving
become a holiday with the pilgrims? No-Thanksgiving
became a public holiday in 1863, when president Abraham Lincoln declared it so
Of the three
utensils we will use at Thanksgiving (fork, knife & spoon), which wasn't
available at the first Thanksgiving? The fork.
What did they use to eat their meal with? A knife, a spoon and their fingers.
The fork was not brought by the pilgrims. Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts
introduced it 10 years later, but it did not really catch on until the 18th
century.
In colonial
times, did all the Colonies celebrate Thanksgiving or was it just a New England
custom? All colonies celebrated Thanksgiving but at
different times depending of their harvest
The
idea of a “children’s table” at Thanksgiving stemmed from the original feast.
What did the
children
have to do before they could eat?
Children were made to set, serve and clear the tables for the adults.
The Pilgrims
invited the Indians to join them for their Thanksgiving feast. According to history, how many came? 90 Indians from the Wampanoaug tribe including their chief Massoit
Does Turkey
really make us sleepy? Not really. Trytophan
does make us tired and it is in turkey. But more of it can be found in
soybeans, parmesan and pork. So what is to blame for the post-meal coma? Well,
it could be the quantity of food over-consumed. The huge serving of dessert
could have an effect. Or it could be the amount of booze drunk midday
Do people
consume a lot of liquor during this holiday? YES! It has been claimed again and again that the night before
Thanksgiving is the biggest drinking night of the year -- beating out New Years
Eve and St. Patricks Day. Why? It is the number one evening where people return
home and reunite with their high school buddies. Or possibly the anxiety of
being surrounded by family drives some to drink
Did the Pilgrims
serve their own version of a green bean casserole? They didn't. Green been casserole came into being just 50 some years ago
and was created by Campbell's soup. It came about when the company was making
new recipes for its annual cookbook. Now, Campbells sells about $20 million
worth of cream of mushroom soup, most likely for people to make the casserole
How many
turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving in the United States? An estimated 46 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving
(the birds weigh, on average, 16 pounds). That is more than double the amount
eaten on Christmas (22 million) and Easter (19 million). In 2010, more than 244
million turkeys were raised and about 226 million of those were consumed in the
United States
