Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where the meaning of it sometimes gets forgotten – which is surprising considering it’s right in the name: Thanks-giving. Many families gather together to feast on delicious food, talk about what’s going on in life, aand watch football (in-be-tween food comas). While the holiday does revolve heavily around the food on the table, the other part of the holiday is remembering what we are thankful for in life.

pecan pieWhen you are surrounded by family aand friends, having a nice juicy turkey with all the family favorite side dishes, aand the famous pumpkin or apple pie for dessert, don’t forget to stop aand remember how lucky you are to be surrounded by such great people. An easy way to do this is by dedicating a few minutes before eating to go around the table aand ask everyone to say a few words about what they are thankful for. Not only does it make you stop aand think about what you are truly thankful for, it also brings a few moments of calm aand sincerity to an otherwise traditionally loud aand busy holiday.

Let’s not ignore the fact that Thanksgiving revolves heavily around food, here are some interesting food facts about Thanksgiving:

  • 91% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
  • Turkey is the traditional dish for Thanksgiving. About 280 million turkeys are sold for Thanksgiving feasts, however there is no official reason for the use of a turkey. They happened to be plentiful at the time of the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
  • 20% of cranberries eaten each year, are eaten on Thanksgiving.
  • The first Thanksgiving lasted for 3 days.
  • There are more than 40 million green bean casseroles served on Thanksgiving.