Thanksgiving is a day of celebration with the family. It’s a break from school and work to concentrate on the things we are thankful for and to appreciate even the smallest things we have been blessed with. Surely, a wondrous and loving holiday such as this has to have normal historical and factual surroundings, unlike holidays like St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween which obviously have unique beginnings. But even a holiday as wholesome as this has its quirks too!!
Sports fan? Well, the Detroit lions have been playing on Thanksgiving since 1934. Previously known as the Spartans, they were bought by a man named George A. Richards who moved the team from Ohio to Detroit. The team was able to pull about fifteen thousand people, but Richards wanted to somehow market and get more publicity from Detroit to get excited about the team he just bought. His solution? Advertise and have the team play on Thanksgiving, which ended up being a huge hit since they beat the Chicago Bears!
Thanksgiving is a holiday of being grateful family, friends, and apparently alcohol as well. The night before Thanksgiving is the single biggest day for bar sales in the United States. With college students and employees going home for the holiday, times to catch up with old friends and bonding at the bars seems to be the popular desire. The bars even provide Thanksgiving-like comfort foods, but the cover charges are higher as well. It gets about as crazy as New Years.
Bad news girls: Thanksgiving isn’t the best for our hips. On average, a person consumes 4500 calories or more and gains about 1.3 pounds. To get an idea of how much this is, in order to gain a pound, a person must consume 3500 calories. Remember the daily suggested calorie amount is about 1500-2000. The foods contain copious amounts of fats and oils and lets not even start to talk about the detailed nutritional facts behind the foods. Just to add a little more guilt to this already sad fact, in order for a 160-lb person to burn off 4500 calories they would have to either: walk 45 miles, swim for 7 and a half hours, or run at a steady pace for 6 hours. But be happy, because the original Thanksgiving dinner lasted for 3 days, we only “suffer” one day.
One of the weirdest and still continually trending Thanksgiving meal is known as the Turducken. This interesting meal is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. The way in which it is made is a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with, at the very least, a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture. Be proud of this interesting food piece though, because it was originated in the great United States in the state of Louisiana.
Not all stuffing is made equal! Depending on which region of the United States decides what sort of stuffing, or dressing, you would encounter at your Thanksgiving meal. Southerners generally make theirs from cornbread, while in other parts of the country white bread is the base. One or several of the following may be added: oysters, apples, chestnuts, raisins, celery and/or other vegetables, sausage or the turkey’s giblets. Also the reason why you can’t always just call this part of the meal stuffing is that only 50% of Americans put the stuffing inside the turkey, the rest put it as part of a side dish.
So remember to stay safe and I hope you enjoyed these quirky Thanksgiving facts! May you have a merry holiday and your bellies full!
Image(facts): http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0243/9705/files/talking-turkey-1.jpg?7182
Image(bar): http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2012/1114/20121114__20121116_C1_AE16THANKSGIVING~p1.jpg
Image(icon): http://images.wikia.com/farmville/images/archive/2/2d/20091217061520!Wild_Turkey-icon.png
Image(surprise turkey): http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/735/Screen_shot_2011-03-19_at_12.24.23_AM.png
Image(turducken): http://allthatcookingdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/turducken-cut1.jpg
Facts: http://www.jewishjournal.com/thebulletinbored/item/twelve_weird_thanksgiving_facts
Facts: http://www.coolest-holiday-parties.com/thanksgiving-facts.html