Thanksgiving Post 2025

Greetings and welcome to my 2025 Thanksgiving holiday post. In the recent years, our daughter spends the day doing Friendsgiving with friends. This year we got invited, and the Better Half and me decided to go, so we'll be celebrating with friends on Thursday. The Better Half will make one of her apple salads and bake a couple of pies, and I will bring the coquito. Making coquito and sharing it with others is one of those small holiday traditions I enjoy. This year, I work half a day on the Wednesday, then I am off from Thursday to Saturday; I return to regular work hours on Sunday. My other family members will work throughout the weekend after Thursday. 

 

While we are out for the holiday, here is some trivia and other small items of interest related to the holiday that I think my four readers may find amusing or interesting. Last year was a rough year, and to be honest, 2025 has not been that much better; it included one funeral. I am not holding high hopes for 2026 either, but we can worry about the next year later. 

 

If you celebrate the holiday, I hope it is a safe and happy time. If it is just Thursday for you, I hope it is a safe and happy Thursday. If you have to work the day, I hope the day is a calm one, and I hope you can find an alternate time to celebrate if you wish.  

 

 

 

 

 

Some holiday trivia

A vintage art piece featuring a live turkey, US flag, and a pumpkin

 

 

• As I mentioned, we will be celebrating Friendsgiving with some friends. If you are curious about the word and/or the tradition, NPR has an overview of the tradition's history and etiquette. 
• YouGov has their 2025 Thanksgiving survey asking what Americans will cook, eat, and debate for the holiday. A lot of the numbers they found are interesting, though I personally do not care much for the political trivia. One nice detail of us going to Friendsgiving with friends is that I know it will be a politics free environment. Keeping politics out of the day is a big reason why I tend to prefer staying home for the holiday, but I am keeping faith this outing will be peaceful. 
• The Thanksgiving holiday period is a big time for travel, especially the day before and of course people returning after the weekend. This for us is the first time we've traveled for the holiday in years, but at least we are just driving a short distance, about 45 minutes or so to the big city, i.e. Lexington, KY. Dinner starts in early afternoon, so by then the traffic should be bearable. If you are traveling, The Onion does a bit of humor with their Thanksgiving travel numbers.  

 

The Thanksgiving economy 

Cost of the 2025 Thanksgiving dinner graphic (see link below)

 

 By now I am sure you are aware of the press coverage regarding the cost of the meal, that it seems to be higher or lower, depending on who you ask, etc. I am not going to rehash that. I am sure you all know how to check news sites for those stories. Still, I do find some of the economic trivia bits to be of interest, and I hope you'll find these stories interesting too. 

•  Farm Bureau does an annual cost of the Thanksgiving dinner analysis, and they did again for 2025. The graphic above comes from their article. They concluded the cost, based on the basket they measure, declined a bit for this year. Their survey also looks at regional costs, say the South versus the West. 

 

 

Some holidays advice 

A little red bird wearing scarf and beanie saying: "If you are going home to an unsupportive family this holiday season, remember that your worth is not define by what they say or how they treat you.

 

 The holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. can be a complicated and/or difficult time for some folks. And given the current Hard Times we are in, those complications and/or difficulties can get worse. So to help some folks out, here are some articles with advice for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you must be with difficult folks, I hope some of these resources help you. My best advice is don't do it. Don't put up with anyone who grinds your gears. However, I understand some out there may not have the choice I have, and again, I hope some of this information helps. 

• The Verge has an article on how to survive Thanksgiving ranging from the food to dealing with stress and who to avoid if necessary.  
• Salon offers an article answering some of the big Thanksgiving questions such as your first time hosting the meal,  drinks to serve, and how to deal with that one overeager kitchen "helper" you'd rather be out of the kitchen. 
• On a different track, not many folks remember the pets that may be in a home at the time. Via Family Friends Veterinary Hospital, here are some Thanksgiving pet safety tips, things like what to feed them and what to definitely not feed them from the holiday table.  

 

 

The food 

A photo of Thanksgiving food including a sliced turkey in center and some sides 

 

Generally, when we celebrate at home, we always do non-traditional food. One year it's Mexican food, the other can be Italian or Puerto Rican food. It depends on what we feel like doing that year, and to be honest, probably one of the best decisions we ever made in our home. This year, I understand our host is doing some traditional fare, but with some spins of their own. Should be interesting. Anyhow, I know that most Americans do the traditional fare of turkey and sides. So here are some articles about the food and some advice on how to cook it if you need a little help.  

• Want some wine with your turkey? Drinkhacker suggests zinfandel this year.  
• Do you prefer non-alcoholic drinks with your meal? Vice offers some modest suggestions.  One of them is the Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale, one of the various soft drinks featuring cranberry flavor you can often find this time of year. The Better Half is a bit partial to the Cranberry Sprite, or whatever lemon-lime soda with cranberry is available that year; we are not brand loyal in terms of cranberry soda. Personally, I cut soda out of my diet years ago, but I may sneak in a sip of the cranberry stuff during the holiday. 
• Do you have the honor and sacred duty to carve the turkey, but don't know how? Country Living has an article with written instructions and a short video showing you how to carve the turkey. Back in the olden days when we went to our in-laws for the holiday, it fell to my father in law to carve the bird. 
• Don't know how to cook the turkey at all? Not a problem. The folks at Butterball have various resources on their website including access to virtual "how to cook a turkey" support.  You can click on the "How to" link to find resources. They also list a phone number for calling them or texting them, and even online chat. So have no fear. 
• The folks at Butterball also put together a "Togetherness Report" (warning: PDF) where they survey people to ask how they are spending the holiday. The document is 6 pages, so an easy read.  
• Finally, if you decide to say fuck it, or you just don't want to cook, or whatever the reason, Mental Floss offers the list of restaurants that are open during Thanksgiving. It is strongly suggested you call your local ones to make sure they open. For example, the article says Burger King will be open, but I happen to know ours here in town is closed.  So double check to be sure. On a side note, when I was still in college and before I got married, I had a brief stint as a banquet waiter, and the hotel where I worked did offer a Thanksgiving day buffet. We did get quite a bit of traffic, and often people did dress up nicely for the moment. For me, the tips made it worth it. The Better Half and I have often considered the idea one of these years of doing the eating at a restaurant for the holiday thing. So far, it is mostly just an idea, but there is still time we hope. 

If you read this far, thank you for reading and stopping by. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday and/or week days. Feel free to comment down below about your plans for Thanksgiving, any traditions you maintain or that perhaps you dropped, any new traditions you adopted, so on.