Whether it’s the feast, the relatives, the football, or all of them combined, Thanksgiving Day is always made up of memorable moments and traditions.  
    America defines Thanksgiving Day as a time to be grateful and to celebrate the gifts we have with family and good harvest.  While this is true, we tend to leave out the funny memories, traditions, and disasters in our definition of this “harmonious” holiday.

     Clare Carney '14 and her family experienced one of these out-of-the-ordinary Thanksgivings one year.  It all began when Carney walked into the kitchen while the feast was being cooked Thanksgiving Day. 

      “I started to smell something really weird,” Carney recalls.

     She brought it to the attention of her mother, and they soon realized that the smell was coming from the main course of their dinner.  The turkey.  The recipe had called for pouring white wine all over the bird before cooking. But instead of using white wine, Carney’s mother used white vinegar.  The Carney's ended up having to throw away the turkey and start over.
    Many other mistakes happen in the turkey baking process from year to year, as every cook tries new recipes to perfect the annual feast.  Some families even deep-fry their turkeys, which if done wrong can result in a fire small enough to singe one’s eyebrows or big enough to burn a house down.  This is why some families don't put the focus on turkey, if they have turkey at all.
     Elizabeth Walcher '13 has a friend who, instead of focusing on a turkey, eats shrimp every year to go along with the Thanksgiving Day feast.  Her friend and her friend’s family consume so much shrimp each year that they go into a “shrimp coma”, instead of a turkey coma.  So the family is exhausted the day after Thanksgiving, but they say that it’s well worth it.
    Original traditions like these are what some families look forward to each year instead of the the typical ways to feast and bond with family.
    Amanda Cullen '13 has the tradition of going bowling with her extended family every Thanksgiving. “They’re really competitive,” Amanda says about her family, but she looks forward to it every Thanksgiving, and they all have a great time.    
    Each family has different ideas about what makes up their Thanksgiving.  For some it’s the tradition such as helping out at a charity with family and friends to give a share of the blessings they have.  For others, though, it’s praying that their day goes according to plan by avoiding disasters such as family feuds or burnt food.