Thanksgiving Songs

Thanksgiving songs are just as much a joy to recite as they are to sing. Here is one for you to hum or share. This apt song of Thanksgiving is based on Martin Rinkart’s Ecclesiasticus 50:22-24 and was translated by Catherine Winkworth.

Now Thank We All our God


Now thank we all our God,
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms
Has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us still in grace,
And guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills,
In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given;
The Son, and him who reigns
With them in highest heaven;
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.

Thanksgiving Tit-Bits

“Elementary, my dear Watson” – is what Sherlok Homes used to tell his assistant – Dr. Watson. Its astonishingly true how the elementary things often escape our senses and elude our memory. While we all have a splashing time during the holidays very few of us care to remember the little tit-bits that often accompany us through the day. For example while we all remember what we had for dinner last Thanksgiving, I doubt how many would remember what they said just before starting dinner or what was the first word they uttered when they got into the car.

Here are few interesting tit-bits I found on the net about Thanksgiving.

While most of us (59%) would prefer to stay at home on Thanksgiving, those hitting the road anticipate the following to be the most uttered phrase on their way to Thanksgiving Dinner –

i) “Are we there yet?” (57%)
ii) “Slow Down” (21%)
iii) “Do you know where you are going?” (11%) (BEWARE!!! This is a dangerous question. If you happen to be on the hearing side of this statement, take guard. This might be the lull before the storm)
iv) “Could you drive faster?” (7%) (This is dangerous again, only a little bit less than the previous one)
v) “You missed the turn” (4%)


For those who prefer to stay back at home here’s what they do after Thanksgiving Dinner

i) Only 10% take post turkey naps.
ii) 60% of women clean up right away
iii) 42% of men head straight for the TV.

Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

Here are a few Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids ( courtesy dltk-holidays.com )

Making Fall Leaf Turkeys

This simple craft is made with natural materials (leaves and a pinecone.)

Materials Needed:
Fall leaves
pinecone
eyes (wiggly or paper)
paper
glue
scissors

Instructions:Go outside and collect autumn leaves and a pinecone (this is LOADS of fun, especially if it requires a trip to a park!)
OPTIONAL: You can press the leaves for a few days before making the craft. This will help keep them from getting crunchy. We didn't do this for ours (we've had it about 2 weeks now and it still looks fine)
Glue the leaves onto a piece of paper in a fan shape. Younger kids won't get a nice fan, but they'll still have lots of fun gluing!
Glue the pinecone onto the bottom of the fan (use lots of glue)
Make eyes from a scrap piece of paper and markers or use wiggly eyes. Glue them to the pinecone.
Make an orange beak and a red wobbler from felt, construction paper or white paper and markers. Glue them onto the pinecone.
Let dry and hang up!

Thanksgiving Games

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The biggest Thanksgiving tradition and the most cherished game of the holiday is the Thanksgiving football. And it’s more than impossible to think of today’s Thanksgiving without the football games held all over America.
In a way, Thanksgiving has become synonymous with football. Antiquity has instances where harvest festivals were celebrated with games and sports. But Thanksgiving Day football is a very recent invention. It came into popular practice only in the 20th century. The traditional football game of Thanksgiving Day was usually held between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. But now, the Thanksgiving Day is not just confined to football—it’s jam-packed with actions and numerous other games that are sure to keep your adrenalin running high all day through ! History has it that it started in 1876, the year the Intercollegiate Football Association was set up. The championship game of this association was held on the Thanksgiving Day. And by another decade or two, Thanksgiving holiday was announced to be the official day for watching football games.
Numerous such football games were held all over America and reaped huge amounts after each Thanksgiving game of football every year. Evidently, the sportsmen earned huge revenue from this traditional Thanksgiving game—football. In the past decades, watching the Detroit Lions play the Green Bay Packers has become so much a part of the Thanksgiving tradition that all activities came to a halt till the game was over. You can find some cool cards for Thanksgiving games at 123greetings.com

Thanksgiving Decorations

Set in a season of beauty and bounty, Thanksgiving decorations witness the brilliant Fall shades of red, orange, brown, golden and amber. It would indeed be unwise to think that Thanksgiving decorations are limited to the theme of turkeys and Pilgrims and cornucopias. While these are perfectly there and make wonderful decorations on Thanksgiving, you can touch up your Thanksgiving décor with the many beauties that Autumn offers. You can set up a bright and warm decoration with the Autumn leaves, flowers, pumpkins, harvest-colored table spreads or curtains, nuts, acorns, berries and more.

You can fringe the window sills or the doorway with miniature gourds and pumpkins. Orange, green and white pumpkins when arranged in a row make a good show of Thanksgiving decorations.

Thanksgiving wreaths are known to be very good decorations too. This looks festive when hung at the entrance and is warm enough to welcome your friends and folks heartily in. Create your wreath as creatively as you can. Use flowers, leaves, berries etc to make a bountiful Thanksgiving coronal.

Streamers made with alternating Fall leaves and flowers add a special touch to any Thanksgiving decoration if hung or placed artistically on table-tops or ceilings.

For the tapestry and upholstery, it’s always good to stick to the Autumn shades. And silk fabrics are better choices when it’s a Thanksgiving decoration in agenda. So choose burnt orange curtains with a silk finish, have an amber-colored table linen or spread out a yellow-ochre carpet to effuse the season’s brilliance.

Prepare wheat sheaves tied up with orange silk ribbons and place them at the corners of your room on Thanksgiving to give a rustic flavor to your Thanksgiving decorations.
A cornucopia placed on the mantle is a warm thought as always. But how about complementing the warmth with a bit of shine and sparkle ? Place a few long slender candles in a cluster near the cornucopia and watch how it enhances your Thanksgiving decorations. You can also strew a few nuts and acorns sporadically around the candles.

How To Make Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey

Fall is on its way and I cant wait to soak in the festivities of the season. The foodie that I am - I love the holidays for the delicious treats. I wait all year long for the Thanksgiving Turkey. Last year was quite a feast - a large roasted one at the dinner table simply send me into raptures. As much as I love to eat , am quite a cook myself (my wife wouldnt acknowledge this though!!). I love going through books and surfing sites that offer new recipies. Heres a simple roasted turkey recipie for all my food loving friends -

Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey

1 turkey (approx. 16 to 20 pounds)

Stuffing of your choice

First, thaw your Thanksgiving turkey in the refrigerator, giving some time to get the giblet broth ready the day before roasting the bird. The turkey legs are to be removed from the leg sockets or skin crossing the tail. If needed, you may also take out the leg clamps from the body. Now, you also need to remove giblets and neck from the body cavities of the turkey. Just before roasting, you need to spoon in the stuffing into the body cavities of the Thanksgiving bird. But do not put more than 3/4 cup stuffing per pound of turkey. Do not pack the stuffing too hard, or it will not get sufficiently hot by the time of cooking. Now you can tuck the legs back under the band of skin or reset legs into the sockets. You can also tie legs together with string if you find the leg clamp removed. Now place the Thanksgiving turkey on a shelf in a shallow roasting pan with its breast side up. Fix a meat thermometer into the center of a thigh muscle so that the bulb doesn't touch the bone. Now cover it with foil, allowing some space between the turkey and foil. Tighten the foil over the drumsticks and neck. Roast it until the meter of the oven reads 180 degrees F and juices start oozing out. It takes about 4 to 5 hours for a stuffed bird. Now put the bowl containing the extra bit of stuffing in the last half hour of roasting. Remember to remove the foil in the last 30-45 minutes to allow the turkey turn a yummy brown. Here, your Thanksgiving turkey is ready now ! Take the turkey out from the oven and keep it covered loosely in foil before serving hot.

Heres wishing good luck for your cooking endeavours.

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A Thanksgiving for Friends

November is on its way and I am sure all are looking forward to that one Thursday where all the hearts and minds swell out to that hard feelings we had against somebody. A day of togetherness,a day of thanking everyone and showing gratitute to all those who made made our lives better and pleasant all this year .I have always felt that Thanksgiving probably was the least of all commercial Holiday in The US. Christmas and Halloween have become too much too commercial for my liking .Thanksgiving allows me solititude and lets me introspect about the year and helps me appreciate how lucky I have been to have a large no of friends in my Life . Friends who have been much more than mere Friends, they have been very much a part of my life .They have given me hope when there was none , have shown me light when all I saw was darkness , They have given me all, when I had none ... Thanksgiving allows me to to show these people my gratitute to them and to let them know... Hey buddy ! Thanks for all that you have done for me .

Tags: Thanksgiving greetings

Harvest Season and Thanksgiving

In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year. But in Canada, the harvest season ends a little earlier in the year. Hence in Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. The Canadians have a three-day long Thanksgiving weekend and the holiday is not as significantly hyped here as in the United States. The Canadians also do not get enough time for a convenient homecoming. So they reserve the family reunions for the Christmas holiday. The Thanksgiving holiday has serious religious shades for the Roman Catholic Quebecers, who call it l'Action de Grâce. Thanksgiving has a long-standing history in Europe; it is associated with the harvest festivals held there. So then, as you see, celebrating harvest is quite old. And so is the thanksgiving act—to thank the Almighty for all the good things He has given us ! And all these harvest festivities, although having cultural differences, are common in spirit to the modern American Thanksgiving.
Today’s Thanksgiving has its history and origin embedded in all these ancient harvest festivals across the world. However, you should also take note of the fact that today’s Thanksgiving has its direct origin in the history of America—in the popular Pilgrim’s story of Thanksgiving.

Tags: Thanksgiving Pumpkin

Thanksgiving History and Origin

One of the biggest and warmest holidays of the United States, Thanksgiving has its history and origin way back in centuries. There are various instances of thanksgiving observances in history, all of which bear resemblance to the modern celebrations of Thanksgiving; but the generally accepted and circulated view is that the modern day American Thanksgiving has its origin in 1621, when the Pilgrims, or the English settlers and the Native Americans celebrated a three-day long feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts. But quite contrary to this popular belief, the Pilgrims were never the first to have a Thanksgiving feast. Feasts celebrating a good harvest existed well before the Pilgrims or the settlers arrived. Nevertheless, it’s true that these Pilgrims held a Thanksgiving feast (more aptly, a feast to say ‘thanks’) in the first year of their survival in America.
Following this Pilgrim’s 1621 Thanksgiving observance, began the Thanksgiving tradition of holding feasts after a good harvest.
People usually celebrate Thanksgiving to mark the Autumn harvest and make merry in the plentiful yield. There is, however, a long tradition of celebrating the harvest throughout history.
It might interest you to know that even the ancient Greeks and Romans had their respective harvest celebrations with music, parades and feasts quite like today’s Thanksgiving celebrations.
People in ancient China also had their harvest festival with families feasting together on ‘moon cakes’ (round yellowish cakes). This was to celebrate the full moon and, as a matter of fact, the Chinese still celebrate this as their Moon Festival with much hype and hoopla !
Then again, there’s the harvest festival of the Jews. The Jewish harvest fest, Sukkot, is celebrated for eight days and is an occasion to catch up with the family on feasts and to be thankful for a good year. The British Isles too has a harvest festival called the Lammas, which marks the beginning of the harvest season. Now, whatever the history and origin, Thanksgiving today is primarily a day set aside in the most part of North America to show gratitude and be thankful to God. Feasts and family reunions are a regular trend for Thanksgiving in North America.