Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States every fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving is one of their major holidays of the year  together with Christmas and the New Year. Abraham Lincoln's successors as president followed his example of annually declaring the final Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was founded as a religious observance for all the members of the community to give thanks to God for a common purpose.  During Thanksgiving Day, families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner and during the holiday weekend is one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Since 1924, in New York City, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held annually every Thanksgiving Day from the Upper West Side of Manhattan to Macy's flagship store in Herald Square, and televised nationally by NBC. The parade features parade floats with specific themes, scenes from Broadway plays, large balloons of cartoon characters and TV personalities, and high school marching bands. The float that traditionally ends the Macy's Parade is the Santa Claus float, the arrival of which is an unofficial sign of the beginning of the Christmas season.

Featured food for the Season

Traditionally, turkey plays a central role in the celebration of Thanksgiving.  Baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table.  Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various fall vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes), and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner.

Here is one of the simple recipe for Turkey

What You Need

Ingredients

1 turkey, any size

2 cups broth or water

Melted unsalted butter (optional, for basting)

Equipment

Roasting pan (or alternative)

Roasting rack (or something to lift the turkey off the pan)

Turkey baster or spoon

Instructions

1. Prepare the Turkey for Roasting

2. Heat the Oven to 450°F 

Optional Extras - Rub your turkey with butter or oil for a richer flavor and browner skin, rub minced herbs or ground spices into (or beneath) the skin for more flavor, place a few halved lemons or garlic cloves inside the cavity of the turkey.

3. Roast the Turkey - Pour two cups of broth or water into the roasting pan. Place the turkey in the oven and turn down the heat to 350°F.

4. Cooking Time - The rule of thumb for cooking a turkey is 13 minutes per pound. A 16-pound turkey should have taken about 3 1/2 hours to cook. 

5. Baste the Turkey - Every 45 minutes, remove the turkey from the oven, close the oven door (don't let that heat out!), and baste the turkey all over.

Optional Extra - In the last 45 minutes or so of cooking, baste the turkey with melted butter or oil. This helps crisp up the skin and turn it a beautiful deep golden brown.

5. Check the Temperature - To make sure that turkey is fully cooked through and through, we like to check its temperature in three places: the breast, the outer thigh, and the inside thigh (see photos above). In every case, the meat should be at least 165°F. 

6. Rest the Turkey - Grab one side of the roasting rack with an oven mitt and tilt the turkey so liquids inside the cavity run out into the pan. (These juices are used to make the gravy.)

Then, lift the whole turkey (still on the rack) and transfer it to a cutting board. Tent the turkey with aluminum foil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. This gives time for the meat to firm up and the juices to be re-absorbed into the muscle tissue, making the turkey easier to slice and taste juicier.

7. Carve the Turkey

And voila! That's it... Happy Thanksgiving Day to all! =D