turkey and traditions!

thanksgiving-infographic-taza

with thanksgiving approaching next week, we wanted to share this darling graphic our sponsor sweetgreen put together around food and the first thanksgiving.  it’s so interesting to see! (you can click on the graphic to see it bigger.)  i had no idea a turkey can run faster than a person? and yes, i totally had to go youtube some turkey running videos after reading that stat. and yes, those turkey running videos on youtube are…. interesting (and not worth your time, really.)

besides the race stat, it’s fun to see what everyone likes to eat on thanksgiving. we do all the traditional stuff at our house like turkey, stuffing (and we are kind of obsessed with stovetop!), mashed potatoes and yams, and a few vegetable dishes and casseroles, too. but our biggest tradition dish is josh’s raspberry-applesauce-jello that his mom made growing up which is a “secret” recipe that he loves to make each thanksgiving. he’s never missed a year, even when living abroad!

since we are a newer family unit, it’s been fun to bring old traditions from our upbringing and make new traditions together around the holidays the last 6 years of our marriage. besides eating our big thanksgiving meal together, we love to take a family walk on thanksgiving and talk about the things we are thankful for. those sorts of conversations are always my favorite because they give us time to reflect as a family on our blessings and each other.  thinking to thank is something we both were taught growing up and want to be sure to instill in our children and home.  now with kids in the mix, it will be fun to see what other traditions evolve around thanksgiving as they grow older and our family expands.   what are some of your favorite family traditions around thanksgiving?

and best of luck prepping your thanksgiving day meal!

this post is in partnership with our long time sponsor, sweetgreen. see more details about the graphic HERE.

  1. I’m English (living in London) so I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving….but I follow a few other US bloggers and I feel like I am missing out…maybe I need to marry an American or failing that…holiday over this season!

    http://vodkaandarose.blogspot.co.uk Jess. x

  2. Iva

    Thanksgiving is a great holiday .. kind of sad we dont have this in Europe …
    family expands? is there going to be a new Davis family member?:D

  3. Bea

    It’s so nice this graphic!and very interesting!
    Thanks for sharing!

  4. Anna

    I love Thanksgiving! I think that it’s focus on family and not “stuff” makes a beautiful entry into the holiday season. We also have a “secret” casserole dish that we wait all year to have. It’s funny, we’ve never even considered making it any other day!

  5. Amanda

    Cranberries are by far my favorite dish on my favorite holiday that is Thanksgiving. It is a great time for family, food, and football! Also, most people do not realize that the ‘yams’ they are eating are actually orange sweet potatoes. Real yams are extremely difficult to find in the states because they are not often imported here.

  6. We always takes walks after dinner in my family because we’re so full! We also eat lasagna in addition to the usual foods (it’s tradition!), and launch directly into Christmas decorating after dinner.

  7. My favorite Thanksgiving tradition as a kid was going to my grandparents’ old, creaky, turn-of-the-century house and having a giant feast. Afterward, my sister and I would ditch our ruffly dresses, change into (neon) leotards, and perform a routine for all the turkey-stuffed adults!

  8. ESRA

    When I first saw the headline, I thought it’s about my country Turkey:) Hope u and ur lovely family can make your way to Istanbul:) Love from Turkey:)

  9. Miriam

    Please don`t make up verbs like “to youtube”. It still means simply to watch a video on a special webpage. Thank you ;)

  10. Maria

    I love this infographic… I wouldn’t mind a lobster with my Thanksgiving turkey :) Since we’re Italian, we always have some sort of pasta dish with our turkey. Last year it was ziti, but this year we’ll have manicotti. It was perfect when I was a vegetarian… I aways had something to eat!

    xo Maria
    elephant in the room

  11. Stefanie

    I always loved getting up early to watch the Macy’s Parade and have started doing that with my little one. She is two this year so hopefully she will think that it is neat to see some balloons that she recognizes. Maybe one year I can convince my husband to take us there to see it live!

  12. hanna

    I’m surprised apple is more popular than pumpkin. –Hanna Lei

  13. Stacy

    A turkey shortage?! Too bad they didn’t suggest some non-animal alternatives to turkey dinner. I’ve definitely eaten my share of turkeys but these days our family fills up on all the yummy sides, gravy and a bit of veggie roast.

    Happy Thanksgiving Taza and family!!

  14. Heather

    This is our 2nd married holiday season together and we always have a ton of running around to do because his parents are divorced and remarried, but we’ve made it work. On Thanksgiving Day we do my family and his mom’s side and then on the weekend after T-Day we go down to his dad’s NJ beach house to do “Shacksgiving” where we eat seafood and relax :-)

  15. Janis

    I love family traditions, they get better with age :)

  16. i’m a self-professed stovetop lover myself! i’m in good company :)
    xx

  17. JM

    Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it. We don’t in Europe but I feel we are very familiar with this tradition through films/tv :)

    http://lifeiswhathappensblog.wordpress.com/

  18. Jenn I.

    This year is our first year being married together and with a baby on the way we will be house hopping to each of our families homes. Each of our families are so large that we wouldnt be able to fit them in our own house. Every year my husbands grandmother makes persimmon cookies that I crave all year long. Thank you for the thanksgiving stats and i am also going to check out those youtube videos ;)

  19. Amy

    I love this tradition my mother started years ago. She has a linen-type tablecloth that runs the length of the large table (there’s 8 of us kids!). Each year, with a different color fabric marker, she writes the year (2013) on the tablecloth, and then, with that same color, we all are offered an opportunity throughout the day to write our THANKS on the tablecloth (mostly all anonymous). It’s so fun to see that tablecloth every year and relive previous years’ blessings.

  20. Anne

    Awesome graphic! Thanksgiving traditions are so fun

  21. This is so fun! I’m really surprised pecan pie isn’t on the list though!

  22. Can’t believe we are already in Thanksgiving Week (well, kind of… almost there!) – the spirit of gratitude in this time of year makes my heart so full. Hands down the best time of the season!

  23. Hannah

    As a non-American (Londoner) I found this post really informative on a tradition I always find so intriguing and sweet. Thankyou very much for sharing.

  24. interesting graphic! i did learnt some great informations here..we don’t celebrate thanksgiving here in singapore.but i love this celebration as i think we always should be feeling gratitude towards everything in life..and i really love your blog.thanks!

    xo josephine
    http://www.joselovincolors.com

  25. Kelly

    What great facts about Turkey day, thanks for sharing!

    xx
    Kelly
    Sparkles and Shoes

  26. Thanksgiving sounds to me like a great family reunion. Unfortunately, here in Europe, we don’t celebrate it so the only opportunity when the family gets together is on Christmass which is a pity I think. Anyways, interesting information! :)

    http://andreavytlacilova.com/

  27. This year it’s a double doosey with Day#2 of Hanukkah happening on the same week. First time in a long time it started before Turkey Day I believe.

    I guess this means I gotta put the white and blue tree up today or tomorrow :) Oh, and get gifts!! Glad I don’t wait to the last minute and all.

    Happy Turkey Day everyone!

  28. Renee

    Love this post on a great holiday that is such a nice thing that US americans celebrate! I don’t agree with Miriam – make Youtube a verb if you want Taza! Also, I’m appalled to hear we might have a turkey shortage! Have to have turkey – my husband told me it’s a bird that’s only found in North America! Learning so much today!:)
    Thanks for always making me feel warm and fuzzy, Taza – you’re the best!

  29. beth-ann

    yay! we can’t wait for thanksgiving around this house. i love the graphic so cute and interesting. it would make an awesome host gift.

    hope you have a wonderful holiday, beth-ann
    campanywhere.blogspot.com

  30. Sinead

    I love this graphic, so fun! I wish we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Ireland,

  31. Katherine Charles

    If there is a shortage of birds, how about a meat free Thanksgiving? Frankly, I am a little tried to hear that you can’t have a real family Thanksgiving without a bird or some other animal on your table. For us, it is more about celebrating family and being grateful to God, while being kind to the animal world. And trust me we still have a bunch of traditional items and are very full by the end of the day! Have a great Thanksgiving.

  32. nikki

    yay thanksgiving! me and my boyfriend had a mini thanksgiving yesterday since we can’t be together on the actual holiday!

    xxoo,
    nikki

    http://www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com