Thanksgiving is right around the corner. As we talk about our current favorites at Thanksgiving, we still look back on the first Thanksgiving.
The very first Thanksgiving dinner was in October 1621 and the Pilgrims feasted for three days to celebrate the New World.
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At the very first Thanksgiving, very different foods were eaten. For their meat, they ate deer, wildfowl, fish, and seafood. For vegetables, they ate squash, beans, peas, and flint corn. They had no turkey, no ham, and no mashed potatoes. But we think that there was pumpkin there as well. Over many years, Thanksgiving dinners have transitioned into more modern dishes.
I asked Central students what their favorite Thanksgiving foods were. I posted a Google Form for Central students to fill out. There were five questions and they all relate to Thanksgiving. I began the quiz by asking “What is your favorite Thanksgiving meat?” The answers had no variety and only two options were said: turkey and ham. Turkey won with 15 votes while Ham only had 9.
“What is your favorite Thanksgiving side?” was the next question I asked. Rolls, candied yams, and green bean casserole all had one vote compared to the tie for the number one spot. With 7 votes, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes won as the favorite side amongst 25 Central students.
My third question was “What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?” Pumpkin pie won by a landslide with 10 votes, the second place was apple pie with 4 votes. Personally, my favorite Thanksgiving dessert is cheesecake but only 3 people agreed with me.
The overall Thanksgiving food was mashed potatoes with 5 votes; ham and mac and cheese were tied for second with 4 votes each.
For the final question, I asked the students who they were most thankful for this Thanksgiving. With 11 votes, “my mom” was the number one response. Their father was next and some just put their family.
Thanksgiving has evolved a lot since the first feast and many new foods have been introduced since then. People have shared their cultural foods and made them a part of their feast.
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