Thanksgiving USA

Tomorrow .My favorite holiday .  A simple get together to be thankful for what you have  .No presents are required .None of the circus atmosphere that comes after with shopping mania that dominates December  & NYE fanfare and not loud with lots of fireworks & shooting like the 4th of July .Mostly a family function but friends can be invited.

Anything like it in the UK ?

 The main course is always turkey ,  other  foods include stuffing , potatoes , pies with pumpkin pies being the most favorite .Some people their are ethnic touches , some Chinese immigrants I know have a turkey but it's mainly Chinese food, another family who have roots in Italy add lasagna & antipasto salad to the menu .All fine with me   Parades in the morning all over the country & on tv . Football games on tv in the afternoon ,  often leads to all the man in one room watching the game and the women congregating around the dinner table talking .

They tell you in school that the tradition began way back in the 1600's in Massachusetts  when the Indians invited Puritan settlers to an annual feast .Others say it became popular in 1864 when President Lincoln declared a national day of thanksgiving since the Union was finally beating the south in  the civil war . Think that's more likely  but it really doesn't matter since this is the here & now.

I will be joining some of my out of town co-works here at the conference center for dinner . The kitchen crew are all Mexicans so  it will be interesting to hear their opinion about the holiday /food . A good introduction to USA culture for them too.