by Liv O’Hara ’25
November 26, 2024
As Thanksgiving approaches this week, the debate over which part of the feast is best resurfaces.
The original Thanksgiving meal, consisting of meat, corn, pumpkin, nuts, fruits, beans, squash, and root vegetables, has evolved into a variety of complex dishes. Not everyone’s Thanksgiving dinner looks the same, of course.
However, when I surveyed a group of people the same top five dishes kept coming up. Aside from a few outliers, the most favored Thanksgiving dishes were stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, pie, and rolls.
When talking the members of the USN community it was clear that mashed potatoes were a distinguished favorite. As pointed out by USN teacher Mr. Hubbell, Thanksgiving is a time where people go all out when making their mashed potatoes.
“For Thanksgiving, people don’t make mashed potatoes from a kit. They don’t rush. They do all the steps. They really chunk the potatoes, boil the potatoes and salt them. I like some of the peel in it. I think the ratio of peel to potato is too much if you don’t take some of the peel off, so The perfect ratio is if you keep a little bit of the peel,” Hubbell said.
Others enjoy mashed potatoes for their versatility. With a feast as great as Thanksgiving, there are so many options and many people value mashed potatoes’ ability to pair with nearly all thanksgiving dishes. Emilia Baxter ‘25 argues that mashed potatoes are objectively the best dish.
“ I think that they’re just the most essential part of a Thanksgiving dinner. I feel like you can kind of substitute other things but you need a mashed potato to pair with other things. I think they’re objectively the best,” Baxter said.
Some USN students enjoy mashed potatoes simply because they taste good and have fond memories of making them from scratch with family members. Anna Picasso ‘25 shared her experience of making them from scratch solo for the first time.
“Last year when I made them for Thanksgiving in California with my family friends I had a lot of fun doing that. There were a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in a couple of years and I was really happy because that was the first time I was upgraded to making them,” Picasso shared.
The second most popular dish was stuffing. Similar to mashed potatoes, many members of the USN community believe that stuffing is a versatile dish. Sam Jackson ‘25 enjoys the variety of combinations made possible by stuffing.
“I think it goes with everything. I can put it with the macaroni. I could put it with the ham. I can put it with the bread,” Jackson said.
Stella Liebeskind ‘25 went lengths to track down a specific stuffing recipe, and her family has been making it ever since.
“The recipe that my mother uses is the recipe that my school used in New York. It’s boxed stuffing but then they augment certain ingredients. My mom hunted down the head chef at my old school to get this recipe and get it emailed to her and we make it every year,” Liebeskind shared.
The third most popular dish was mac and cheese. When some community members were asked about mac and cheese they claimed that it wasn’t a Thanksgiving dish. However, the mac and cheese lovers were passionate about their favorite dish. Lucas Assouad ‘25 shared his love for baked mac and cheese made each year by his mother.
“I’ve always loved mac and cheese; you can’t go wrong with it. My favorite part of the mac and cheese is when it’s baked,” Assouad shared.
Other community members not only enjoy eating the mac and cheese, but also the process of making it with family members. Corina Chalos ‘26 shared her joy of making mac and cheese each Thanksgiving with her mother. Making the mac and cheese gives her a time to bond and get closer with her mom. Similarly, Assistant Head of School Quinton Walker enjoys the memories around his grandmother’s mac and cheese recipe.
“I have memories from my grandma making it before she passed away. I have memories of my mom making it,” Walker shared. ”I have memories of me taking over because I do better than my mom does. If you ask my brothers I do better than she does.”
In fourth place was pie. There are a variety of pies that can be present at Thanksgiving dinner, a dish that could cause controversy in and of itself. In my interviews numerous pie flavors were named, yet they all had one thing in common: nostalgia and tradition.
English Department Chair Freya Sachs ‘00 shared her love of sweet potato pie. She enjoys the flavor of course, but more than that she enjoys the memories around it.
“It’s something my mom has made my entire life. I think it is not too sweet, a little bit spicy and delicious. I watched my mom make it and learned how to make it. Actually we make it together now,” Sachs shared.
Similar to Sachs, Lilly Martin ‘25 shares her memories making pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving with her grandma.
“I used to make it with my grandma a lot. We only made it during Thanksgiving so it’s associated with that time of the year. It just really brings in the holiday season,” Martin said Liam Schnelle ‘25 revealed his love of his mother’s pecan pie and referred to it as nostalgic.
In fifth place were dinner rolls. Community members enjoy the taste of dinner rolls and appreciate the warm and buttery accents they bring to the feast. Camerin Hinsey ‘25 revealed that he makes his rolls from scratch. Zelle Jones ‘25 appreciated her neighbor who gives her family delicious rolls during the Thanksgiving season.
Although some of the people I interviewed did not like any of the food at Thanksgiving they were still able to appreciate other aspects of the holiday. Leo Frein ‘25 shared that he liked getting to catch up with his Grandmother, Meemaw. Similarly, Mohraeel Mahoud ‘27, who has family visiting from Egypt and New York, described the joy that her family brought her during the holiday season.
“It’s a time where you get to spend the most amount of time and do fun stuff without electronics or anything with your family. You get to spend quality time,” Mahoud said.
History teacher Cameron Parsons explained that he enjoys the various conversations that the holiday brought. Aside from eating, the time at the dinner table provides a space to catch up with friends and family.
“The conversations I love sitting around with people, some of whom you agree with, some of whom you disagree with. Everyone is always ready for a good conversation and to catch up,” Parsons said.
Not only has the food served on Thanksgiving evolved, but the traditions and sentiment around the holiday have evolved as well. Thanksgiving is a time to reconnect with friends, family, and past generations around the dinner table.
