Thanksgiving! Wooohooo!

Today is a day off and we are supposed to be eating and drinking and giving thanks.

And then tomorrow is Black Friday and we are supposed to be shopping. (Except I won’t be doing that.)

Anyhoo, there are some real cracking recipes that my American friends are sharing with me, and this one is a gobsmacker! Oh my, I hope I get to taste some of this calorific goo!

Apple Mallow Yam Yum

Ingredients: Soyams, butter, apples, butter, brown sugar, butter, pecans, butter and mini-marshmallows…. yes, really!

And it looks like this 🙂

Oh my!

Heavens to Murgatroyd!

Anyway, today is all about loads of peeps gathering together with friends and families and giving thanks. Huzzah!

But that’s not all…..

There will be Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A little more than 60 years after the holiday’s formal recognition, another tradition was born: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Started in 1924, the department store’s first parade included actual animals from the Central Park Zoo……

A jolly old parade (with live animals…)

I am also told that there are few traditions more associated with Thanksgiving Day than watching football (I guess that’s what they were on about in the playground). It all started with the Detroit Lions, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website. In 1934, the newly created Lions, in an effort to appeal to fans in their inaugural season, played the world champion Chicago Bears. Although the Lions lost 19-16, the game had a strong turnout – 26,000 seats sold – and was broadcast nationally on NBC Radio. The Lions have remained a holiday fixture, playing a game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1945. So, now I know!

Wrap up warm boys!

And, of course, the presidential turkey pardon, which has become a Thanksgiving tradition – but its origins are a bit murky. According to a 2011 blog post on the White House website, President George H.W. Bush in 1989 was the first president to grant a pardon – the turkey in question was sent to, of all places, Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia – but other presidents have also been credited with offering reprieves. In one story, President Lincoln’s son, Tad, pleaded with his father to let the turkey destined for the family’s Christmas dinner to live. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy returned a turkey from National Turkey Federation. President Richard Nixon also turned away turkeys, sending them to a petting farm. I just know that the one my friend is cooking for us today was not the lucky turkey 😉

Lucky turkey!

And then there’s Black Friday tomorrow…well, it kind of reminds me of what Boxing Day has become in the UK. Sales and bargains 😦

USA Today wrote: How did a holiday rooted in English Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a harvest feast become a day defined by giant animal floats, football and shopping ’til you drop?

Whatever you are doing, but especially if you are with your families…THIS!

Hahaha!

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!