We have all been taught how Thanksgiving was originated… the story where the religious refugees from England – known popularly as the Pilgrims-  invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after a particularly successful growing season. The previous year’s harvests had failed and in the winter of 1620 half of the pilgrims had starved to death.Luckily for the rest, members of the local Wampanoag tribe taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, beans and squash (the Three Sisters); catch fish, and collect seafood.

A lot of things have changed since 1620 and nowadays we celebrate family union more than a successful harvest season. Although, one thing remains intact, and that is of course the food. Can you imagine a Thanksgiving without turkey or pumpkin pie? We can’t!

Here are some interesting facts you can read before preparing your dinner:

• The First Thanksgiving lasted for three days. Three days in a row. Eating. Why did they changed that?

• On the West Coast of the US, Dungeness crab is common as an alternate main dish instead of turkey, as crab season starts in early November. 

• Turkeys can swim. We don’t mean in gravy – although it sounds delicious-  they can actually swim in water just like ducks. These magical creatures have its abilities while alive.

• Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey. Why? An eagle, he wrote in a letter to his daughter, had “bad moral character.” A turkey, on the other hand, was a “much more respectable bird.

• Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving too! But unlike us, their thanksgiving derives from ancient festivities in Europe that commemorated the abundance of the harvest and having enough food to survive the winter. 

Happy Thanksgiving from our EOX family to yours!