Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the past year. People are brought together on Thanksgiving in many ways, one way includes the meal. Families and friends come together and share this mealtime to let each other know that they are thankful for one another.
I personally love Thanksgiving food. I enjoy eating with my family and friends. I am very thankful for the time we get to spend together laughing and eating. For my family, we normally have a pretty classic Thanksgiving spread. This year is different though, I decided that I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone and try what others eat on Thanksgiving.
Through the research process, I learned that many people do and eat very different things on Thanksgiving. I decided to try the top food items that the Viking student body to eats on Thanksgiving. Before crafting my menu, I went around and asked students their top four Thanksgiving foods. After careful counting, I discovered the top four options: chicken, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and rolls.
For each food item, I either made it at home or bought it from the store.
First, I tried the mac n cheese. This mac and cheese was store bought so I was a little nervous to try it from the looks of it. It looked cheesy and there were bacon bits all over, which elevated the appearance. The first bite was delicious. The cheese was melty and not gritty like other mac n cheese recipes I have had in the past. I cannot stand when I eat gritty mac and cheese, it ruins the whole flavor and experience. The bacon bits also added a nice crunch and good savory flavor. I rate the mac and cheese a 4.3/5.
The next thing I ate was the mashed potatoes. From the start I knew, I was not going to like the mashed potatoes. To me, mashed potatoes resemble food that has already been chewed up and spit out, aka mush. These mashed potatoes were no different. There also were chunks of potatoes still left in them, which made it even worse. Although the texture of the food was disgusting, the flavor was not that bad. It was well seasoned and buttery. If only the texture did not gross me out, the mashed potatoes would not be that bad. The mashed potatoes were not my favorite, so I rate them a 1.1/5.
Then I tried the rolls. From the looks of it, I was not excited to try them. The rolls looked like they were bone dry. I suspected the rolls to taste like nothing because it had nothing special on top. No butter, no cinnamon sugar, nothing, which honestly broke my heart a little bit. To my surprise, the roll was really good. Even though the roll did not have anything on top, it still had a nice buttery flavor. It was super soft, flakey and definitely better than what I thought it was going to be. At this point, the rolls were my favorite part, so they get a 5/5.
The last thing I tried was the chicken. Prior to tasting the chicken, I had high hopes. The chicken was fried and well-seasoned, so I assumed that the chicken tasted pretty good. The crust of the chicken had a nice golden-brown color that was sprinkled with tiny flecks of pepper of other seasonings. I had hoped that it tasted the same way it looked. After I took my first bite, I was proven to be correct. The chicken tasted very good, and it had the appropriate amount of seasoning. The crust was even better. It was a little spicy, but the crunch was heavenly. The chicken was super tasty and earned a well-deserved 4.7/5.
For this food battle, the winning dish had to be the rolls. I do not think I have ever fallen in love with bread before, but it happened today. On the other end of the spectrum, the texture of the mashed potatoes just made my stomach churn. The rankings speak for themselves.
After eating all this food, even by myself, I was well fed and happy. This has made me realize that food might be the source of everyone’s happiness on Thanksgiving. It also might be the reasoning behind it being people’s favorite holiday. The Thanksgiving food adventure led me to realize I need to add rolls to the Thanksgiving spread and take out the mashed potatoes.
