What is Thanksgiving and Should We Celebrate it?

There are many traditions that our friends across in the USA celebrate that are making their way across the Atlantic to the UK.  Halloween is a prime example – while it originated here, it is the Americans who have made it the holiday it is today.  Thanksgiving is a very American holiday that is becoming popular to celebrate here in the UK, especially if you have friends who are from the US originally.  So what is it all about and how would we celebrate it?

Roots of Thanksgiving

The idea behind Thanksgiving is based in the traditions of the first Pilgrims and Puritans who travelled to the US back in the 1600s.  These settlers arrived in 1621 and were thankful when their first harvest produced crucial supplies for their new settlement so celebrated the event.  Therefore the root of Thanksgiving is similar to the harvest festivals celebrated around the world – celebrating a time of plenty when all the work of the year has produced the food needed to survive the winter.

Today, Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the US and is a secular holiday focused on spending time with family and friends as well as eating and drinking.  It is a time for larger gatherings that is typical at Christmas with ‘the more, the merrier’ being something of a saying for the occasion.  Americans also worry a lot about people being on their own at Thanksgiving and make a great effort to ensure no-one is by themselves.  The holiday is celebrated on the 4^th Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving traditions

One of the biggest traditions at Thanksgiving is football – not as we think of it, that’s soccer over in the US, but American Football.  There are usually at least three games on during the big day with around twelve hours of televised sports for fans.  The ThanksgivingDay Parade at Macy’s in New York has also become a huge tradition, for those visiting the city or just to watch on TV. 

However the biggest part of the traditions associated with Thanksgiving are around the food.  It isn’t the best time to be a turkey in the US, as this is the main meat for the day, though the President does traditionally pardon one each year at a fun ceremony at the White House.  Classic turkey served with stuffing is usually the centrepiece of the table.  Mash potatoes, glazed carrots and cranberry sauce are also found on most American tables while a green bean casserole is a side dish made with green beans and crusty Italian bread.  Cornbread is another dish we in the UK aren’t too familiar with that plays a big part.

For dessert, pumpkins are the top ingredient, a link to the harvest season origins of the holiday.  Pumpkin pie is one dish that is easy to make at home and is a great excuse to get out the personalised baking setthe kids got you for your birthday to put them to good use.  If you aren’t keen on pie, then pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin bread pudding make themed alternatives.

Baking with the Kids for Halloween

Halloween is fast becoming a major event in the UK as it has been for many years in the US and this means more and more kids wanting to host or attend a Halloween party.  But this also makes for a great reason to get that personalised baking set they bought you for your birthday out of the cupboard and enjoy some baking time with the kids.

Party treats

With ghosts, witches, pumpkins and other spooky elements, there are plenty of inspirations for Halloween and plenty of great ideas how to make something with the kids within the theme.  One really simple idea involves decorating biscuits to make Spider web biscuits to serve your guests.

All your need for this recipe is eight rich tea or other buttery biscuits, 100g of dark chocolate and 3 tablespoons of icing sugar as well as a few drops of lemon juice.  Melt the chocolate either on the stove or in the microwave until it is smooth and shiny then spread some on each biscuit.  Leave them for around ten minutes to set.  Meantime, mix the icing sugar with lemon juice to make an icing paste.  Use a pastry bag with a very fine nozzle and start in the centre, drawing three circles, each one a little bigger.  Then use a fine knife to drag the icing from one circle to another to create the web, or join them with more lines of icing if you prefer.  Let them set and you have perfect Spider web Biscuits.

Gruesome cakes

Graveyard cupcakes really look the part on the Halloween buffet table and by using a chocolate cake mixture from a box, the kids can really get involved with the job from the start.  As well as a 500g cake mix you will also need 800g of chocolate icing, 150g digestive biscuits and 24 oval or rectangular shaped biscuits such as Nice.

Make up the cakes as instructed on the box then add the chocolate icing, leaving one quarter of it for extra decoration.  Fill a pastry bag with the remaining icing and use a plain tip then write RIP on the rectangular biscuits at the top end.  Stand each decorated biscuit in the cupcake to resemble a gravestone coming out of the ground then sprinkle each cake the digestive biscuit crumbs to appear like dirt.

Traditional sweets

One of the most traditional sweet treats for Halloween has to be the toffee apple and these too can easily be made at home.  Use 100g pre-made toffee along with six Granny Smith apples and some wooden sticks like those found in ice lollies.  Insert a stick ¾ way into an apple then place them on a lined baking tray.  Mix up the toffee with two tablespoons of water and ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence on a low heat until melted and smooth.  Dip each apple into the toffee until each is covered then put back onto the tray until they set, pop them in fridge if you need them quicker than leaving them to air-dry.