Thanksgiving Food People Pass Up

By Jillian Phippen


Thanksgiving has traditional food: turkey, potatoes and gravy, candied yams, the green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, and a Utah favorite: the Jell-o salad. However, among diners, there's a reluctance to eat certain Thanksgiving staples.

A poll revealed that cranberry sauce is often unpopular. "I hate cranberry sauce," said senior Colby Johnson. Whether it's the unappetizing blob of cranberry that still resembles the can or a more exotic homemade kind, Thanksgiving diners often skip the cranberry sauce. Junior Marissa Unbedacht learned to make her own cranberry sauce. "It was actually really, really yummy." Sophomore Emily Pratt concurs. "I like homemade cranberry sauce, but everything else is just nasty." 40 percent of students polled disliked canned, jar-shaped cranberry sauce.

Another perpetually hated dish is the yams. Artists wood carving in Mr. Benson's class disliked yams, "Any kind of yams!" 30 percent of students polled disliked yams. Students who loved yams often identified loving the candied yams the most. Cecile Thomas, digital art teacher, likes her sweet potatoes simple. "Nothing too sweet. Just salt and pepper." On the flip side, Mrs. Mills said, "I love sweet potatoes. I could eat them every day."

Stuffing was another food that made it to the dislike list. 25 percent of students disliked the stuffing. "It's just so starchy," Mrs. Thomas agreed.

Students favorite food was the mashed potatoes and gravy. Pumpkin pie was the runner up. Mrs. Thomas loves a unique sweet potato squash pumpkin pie.

Although Thanksgiving is usually a turkey fest, there are a few students who hate turkey. Whitney Stone, senior, stated, "I hate turkey. I can't imagine eating it, let alone fried." Other students agreed. 

Vegetarians find Thanksgiving difficult. Colby Johnson, senior, often participates in a vegetarian Thanksgiving. A favorite memory is eating "a huge salmon. It was so good." Mrs. Thomas is also planning to scale back on Thanksgiving this year and "perhaps cook crab legs" instead of the traditional foods. Other families will forgo the traditional turkey dinner and go out to eat at Mimi's Cafe, Cracker Barrel, casinos in Vegas, Disneyland cafes, Texas Roadhouse, and Chuck-a-Rama.

Long live the turkey. Now, someone please pass the funeral potatoes. Jell-o, anyone?