When thinking about Thanksgiving, you may think about family, friends, or celebrating the peace between the Puritan colonists and the Native Americans.  These are all crucial components in celebrating Thanksgiving, but food, of course, is a major aspect of this American holiday.  This holiday is perfect for creating a gathering of family and truly being thankful for what is truly important in life.

As was already mentioned, Thanksgiving dinner is something that is looked forward to and anticipated all year long.  When you wake up on that glorious Thanksgiving morning and turn on the traditional Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, it is quite apparent that you will be enveloped in delectable food later that day.  There is nothing like the classic foods prepared each Thanksgiving such as a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, casseroles, and pumpkin pie.  Adults and children alike pile their plates high with their favorite dish and come to love the food coma they fall into after completing the delicious meal.  There is somehow always enough room left in your stomach to enjoy a piece or two of pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner.

While there is simply nothing like Grandma’s homemade green bean casserole, it is always fun to try out new and unique variations of the beloved foods that are prepared around Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving recipes are abundant in that there are so many different Thanksgiving foods that people like to prepare.  There are numerous recipes for preparing the turkey such as simply baking it in the oven or even deep frying it.  It is great to find wonderful new recipes online or from friends that keep each Thanksgiving dinner getting better and better with each coming year.

Celebrating Thanksgiving means bringing out the beautiful and festive Thanksgiving decorations, creating Thanksgiving poems, Thanksgiving cards or other crafts, or taking part in family traditions like watching the annual Thanksgiving parade.  It is very exciting to bring the Thanksgiving decorations down from the attic such as festive pumpkins for outdoors or indoors, little wooden pilgrims, or maybe different turkey decorations.  Some people also enjoy exchanging cards that they either bought from a store or made themselves in order to wish others a happy Thanksgiving.  A more personal approach may also be to create a poem for a loved one regarding the purpose, enjoyment, and thankfulness of the festive holiday.   Many children also love to take part in Thanksgiving crafts like making Pilgrim hats out of paper or creating turkey from the shape of their hand.

A wonderful family tradition is to watch the Thanksgiving parades each year either in person or on the television.  One of the largest parades is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City where children and adults can both be mesmerized by the giant and colorful characters floating in the sky like Charlie Brown or Big Bird, as well as the various floats that pass by where you can find different celebrities and even Santa Claus.

Thanksgiving truly is a memorable time for families and close friends to spend time together, eat wonderful food, and celebrate what they are thankful for in life.