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Today is a holiday, truly unique only to the US. Most other countries don’t even know what it stands for. The origins of celebrating this day date back to the time the Founding Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock. You can find out more about this here.

Having been here over the past 7+ years, I’ve celebrated thanksgiving with friends, every year. Some years we cooked the whole turkey et al, and some years we took some alternative culinary path.

But to me thanksgiving is a very interesting day. It is one holiday in the whole year which does not have an agenda or an affiliation. It does not belong to any one religion as Christmas does to Christianity or Yom Kipper and Rosh Hashanah do to Judaism. It is not about celebrating the labour movement, or remembering veterans or a day in memory of those who died protecting the country.

No, it is none of that. Its just a day of thanking everyone and everything you believe in, for giving you a life that is good to you. Its a day when families travel thousands of miles to be together for this one meal. In a country where the family structure is very nuclear, this is a very important thing. In many cases, it’s the only time of the year parents meet children and grandparents meet grandkids. And what best way to celebrate this true one of a kind day, but to indulge in something we all love……EAT !!.

Its also the one day that the bird turkey hates. Personally I don’t like turkey a lot. Its a very bland tasteless meat and therefore you always have to add flavour, be it cranberry sauce or stuffing.

Thus as families gather today at the evening tables all over America, Happy Thanksgiving to you all.