Melding Thanksgiving traditions

[yachachiq12 43]

Although Thanksgiving is a mostly American holiday (I'm talkin' to you, Canada), my spouse and in-laws loved when we celebrated it in Peru. I tried to bring American dishes and traditions to their table and now we do the same with Peruvian foods when celebrating in the U.S. Pumpkins, cranberry sauce, and stuffing were particularly perplexing to them. This year in the U.S., we added anticuchos de corazon (grilled beef hearts) with aji de mani (a peanut-pepper sauce) to the menu.

I found this article on immigrants integrating Thanksgiving into their family culture: http://www.northjersey.com/news/immigration/IMMIGRANTS_THANKSGIVING.html

What has your household changed about Thanksgiving, if anything at all? Does anyone have an immigrant spouse who is not interested in Thanksgiving and why?

[awkwardsoul 20]

Even though my fiance and I aren`t moved in yet, we`ve been celebrating both our thanksgivings on their respective days and are planning to keep doing that when I relocate there. It is win for both of us as thanksgiving is his favourite holiday and I want to keep my Canadian roots. Food wise is the same, though we alternate Turkey/Ham/goose/etc.

[106206 15]

Too long to explain everything but the primary melding of the traditions was eating MUCH later.

I explained to wife that dinner was at 1:00, maybe 2:00 at latest, and it turned out they expected it to be around 7:00 - 8:00 even.

We ended up having guests at 7:00 and we ate until about 10:00.

Weird. But OK in the end.

Edited November 27, 2011 by caterino

[yachachiq12 43]

Too long to explain everything but the primary melding of the traditions was eating MUCH later.

I explained to wife that dinner was at 1:00, maybe 2:00 at latest, and it turned out they expected it to be around 7:00 - 8:00 even.

We ended up having guests at 7:00 and we ate until about 10:00.

Weird. But OK in the end.

Speaking of which, my husband hates it when I try to make Christmas dinner on the afternoon of the 25th (they eat traditionally at midnight on the 24th). I convinced the in-laws by telling them about the health hazards of eating so late and pointing out that the festivities could last longer that way. They went the way of the gringo (at least the years I was with them).

[106206 15]

Speaking of which, my husband hates it when I try to make Christmas dinner on the afternoon of the 25th (they eat traditionally at midnight on the 24th). I convinced the in-laws by telling them about the health hazards of eating so late and pointing out that the festivities could last longer that way. They went the way of the gringo (at least the years I was with them).

You might try a comprimise by doing a dinner on both the night before and something light the next day...?

[yachachiq12 43]

You might try a comprimise by doing a dinner on both the night before and something light the next day...?

Oh, of course, but I mean the turkey, all the traditional sides, and the pies can only happen once, ya know? Who wants to make all of that twice? I'm still confused as to what families do on the 25th if mass, dinner, and gifts all occur at midnight on the Eve. From what I can gather, drink too much, but no one wants to say it directly... Have any insight?

[106206 15]

Oh, of course, but I mean the turkey, all the traditional sides, and the pies can only happen once, ya know? Who wants to make all of that twice? I'm still confused as to what families do on the 25th if mass, dinner, and gifts all occur at midnight on the Eve. From what I can gather, drink too much, but no one wants to say it directly... Have any insight?

Just do 2 dinners of different variety. For example it is common for Americans of South Italian descent to have both the traditional dinner on the 24th, mostly fish based dishes and sweets 'festa dei sette pesci', followed by a traditional American dinner on the 25th.

You could follow this by letting them make whatever they want Peruvian style for the 24th, and they can get liquored up all they want. Then on Christmas morning when they are sleeping off their ratón you throw in the turkey, stuffing, veggies, and a pie. That way you can make a smaller traditional American spread. Make it buffet style and let people pick on it all day, and when you have guests come over they can grab a plate, including the Peruvian leftovers.

[yachachiq12 43]

Good ideas! That is basically what we do. This year, we'll be on our own, so it remains to be seen what will happen. Since my husband will be working all night the 24th, I suspect we will not be doing much until the next day.

At any rate, I love that having a bi-national marriage means celebrations become a lot richer and even more plentiful (like celebrating the independence of two different nations from imperial powers every year!).

[Mononoke28 135]

Oh, of course, but I mean the turkey, all the traditional sides, and the pies can only happen once, ya know? Who wants to make all of that twice? I'm still confused as to what families do on the 25th if mass, dinner, and gifts all occur at midnight on the Eve. From what I can gather, drink too much, but no one wants to say it directly... Have any insight?

Not sure how it is in Perú but I'm guessing is very similar to what people do in Colombia. The reason why people stay up on Christmas Eve is not only to go to midnight mass but also to party, drink and eat all night long, till the wee hours of the morning. Most adults will sleep in on Christmas and have a hearty lunch to ease their hangovers. Here in the US we have Christmas dinner but my husband found it weird that we didn't have it the night before, which didn't make sense to me since we don't party all night here in the US like they do in Colombia.

Diana

[yachachiq12 43]

Mononoke, that seems to be the norm in many Peruvian households, too. I respect their tradition, but I'm just not interested in the drinking and explosives, so I go to bed! The imbibing continues the next day among the strongest...

One thing for gringos, I think, is that we grow up with the anticipation of Christmas Eve bedtime. I love the feeling of having to make myself go to sleep after a quiet family celebration and mass in the evening so that I can wake up and be thrilled to pass out my gifts and see how my stocking has been transformed. I don't know, maybe I'm five years old, but I put a lot of stock in the Christmas morning excitement.

We've already started eating pannettone and hot chocolate here to ready for Christmas. Is that popular in South American countries outside Peru as well?

[Mononoke28 135]

Mononoke, that seems to be the norm in many Peruvian households, too. I respect their tradition, but I'm just not interested in the drinking and explosives, so I go to bed! The imbibing continues the next day among the strongest...

One thing for gringos, I think, is that we grow up with the anticipation of Christmas Eve bedtime. I love the feeling of having to make myself go to sleep after a quiet family celebration and mass in the evening so that I can wake up and be thrilled to pass out my gifts and see how my stocking has been transformed. I don't know, maybe I'm five years old, but I put a lot of stock in the Christmas morning excitement.

We've already started eating pannettone and hot chocolate here to ready for Christmas. Is that popular in South American countries outside Peru as well?

In Colombia they don't have a "special" Christmas breakfast but they do drink hot chocolate with arepa or bread and eggs for breakfast on any given day. Since we're here in the US and we do celebrate Christmas morning, I make sure I have Colombian food ready such as again, arepas, hot chocolate, pandebono or even empanadas.

Diana

[yachachiq12 43]

Arepas, yum!! Will have to see if I can make that happen for us. They aren't really eaten in Peru, but I've had them elsewhere.

For my husband's family, juanes are a big special occasion dish. They require a couple days of work by a couple people, so I think I'll need to get back to Peru to enjoy those again. Hopefully, we can spend next Christmas there.

[Pinenut 1]

My husband hasn't immigrated yet and we live together in Russia. We celebrate all the American holidays ex-pat style because I miss them and my husband is interested in the culture. Most traditional ingredients aren't available, but my mom sent me canned pumpkin around Halloween and it got here right in time for Thanksgiving! This year, we had turkey breast sandwiches as our main course since we couldn't find whole turkeys.

Russians celebrate Christmas on a different day (Jan. 7) and last year I had an exam on American Christmas... looking forward to this year since it falls on a Sunday. We are looking even more forward to celebrating in the US next year!

Edited December 2, 2011 by Pinenut

[yachachiq12 43]

Good job getting creative, Pinenut! I wonder if you'll err on the side of more Russian celebrations next year while in the US or if it will just be double the fun. I like the latter!

[ryna 132]

We prepared a mostly traditional U.S. Thanksgiving dinner at the house since it was my wife's first experience with it but we did add in some plantains to the mix. What she was most surprised by, other than seeing some dishes she's never seen before, was the amount of preparation that went into it (started prepping 4 days ahead of time since I like to make everything from scratch) and amount of food prepared. She thoroughly enjoyed the day because it was spent together as family. And, she even watched football with us.

Christmas scares me because I know Christmas Eve is the big celebration in Colombia. I've done my share of staying up celebrating until 3AM with friends (several from Colombia) but, as I was single before, I slept in on Christmas morning. Now that she's here for her first Christmas, I want to do what she's used to on Christmas Eve while still letting her experience for the first time what I'm used to here early on Christmas morning. And, my parents are insisting on the early afternoon Christmas Dinner as well. It's going to be a long 48 hours!