Thanksgiving (Green Line 4) Focus on the USA

A very American holiday

On the fourth Thursday
in November, Americans
celebrate Thanksgiving.
This holiday started as a
1
5 kind of harvest festival, like
Erntedankfest in Germany.
Today, it is mainly a day when
Americans get together with
2
their families for a big feast .
10 Thanksgiving is so important
in the US that even the stores
and shopping malls are closed
that day – and that almost
never happens! So what is
15 this holiday exactly, and what
makes it so important to
Americans?
On Thanksgiving Day, The First Thanksgiving, by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (1850-1936)
Americans remember the
3
20 origins of their country.
7 8
The history books tell us that in 1620 a group of Today, dishes like turkey with stuffing , cranberry
4 9 10
102 Pilgrims sailed from England to what is now sauce, sweet potatoes , mashed potatoes , salad 50
11 12
Plymouth, Massachusetts, in a tiny ship called the and pumpkin pie are typical of a Thanksgiving
Mayflower. These people were looking for a place dinner. There is always a lot of food! But food isn’t
25 to practice their form of the Christian religion everything. To most Americans, this holiday is a
after it had become more and more difficult to do time to be thankful for the important things in
this in England. The Pilgrims wanted to be as far life – family, friends, good health. And the airports 55
from England as possible, and so they sailed to the are very busy on Thanksgiving weekend: Many
New World. But when they arrived in November of Americans fly long distances just to celebrate the
30 1620, after two long months at sea, there were no holiday with their families, even if they live on the
shops, no streets, no markets to greet them. The other side of the country.
passengers from the Mayflower had to build their Thanksgiving is also a day to relax. In the morning 60
own houses and grow their own food. you can watch the traditional Macy’s Thanksgiving
The Pilgrims were not prepared for their first Day Parade on TV while the turkey is cooking.
35 winter in the New World. Half of them died of cold, Macy’s is a big department store in New York City
5
hunger and disease . They needed help or they which organizes the colorful parade. At the end
would all die. So they went to the Indians of the of the parade Santa Claus always waves to the 65
area. The Native Americans were friendly to the children: The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest
Pilgrims and taught them how to plant corn and shopping day of the year in the US. Thanksgiving is
40 other food. After their first harvest in the New World also a big day for football fans. There are always lots
in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims invited the Native of games on TV and the men usually spend at least
Americans to a big feast to thank them for their half the day in front of the television. 70
help; now the new colony would have a chance to Thanksgiving wasn’t always a holiday on which
survive. This was the first Thanksgiving. people had a day off from work. A woman named
6
45 Although wild turkey could be found in the Sarah Hale wrote letters to the US presidents for
Plymouth area, the Pilgrims probably did not eat forty years. She wanted Thanksgiving to be a real
turkey at the first Thanksgiving feast. Historians national holiday, like Christmas. Then, in 1863, 75
think they ate deer, fish, duck, corn and fruit. President Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national
holiday.
1 2 3 4
harvest [*hA:vIst] = the end of the farm season • feast [fi:st] = a large meal • origins [*OrIdZInz] = where sth began • Pilgrims [*pIlGrImz] =
5 6 7
a religious group from England • disease [dI*zi:z] = a serious illness • turkey [*t3:ki] = a bird like a chicken, but bigger • stuffing [*st0fIN]
8 9
= sth you fill the turkey with, usually made of bread, nuts and other things • cranberry [*krxnbri] = a red berry • sweet potato [*swi:t
10 11
pE+teItEU] = a kind of potato from the New World • mashed potatoes [+mxSd pE*teIteUz] = Kartoffelpüree • pumpkin [*p0mpkIn] = an
12
orange fruit (not a vegetable!) originally from the New World • pie [paI] = a kind of cake

© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2008 | [Link]

Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Autor: Krista Ann Eichler, Weil der Stadt
Bildquellen: Corbis/Burstein Coll. (S. 1); Gettyimages/photodisc
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Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten. (S. 3); Krista Ann Eichler (S. 3 – 4)
Thanksgiving (Green Line 4) Focus on the USA

1 Reading comprehension
How much did you understand? Tick (✔) the correct answer.

1. Why did the Pilgrims come to the New World in 1620?

a) They wanted to visit the other Pilgrims who had already built the town of Plymouth.
b) They wanted to practice their religion in a place where it was possible to do this.
c) They had heard about Thanksgiving and wanted to learn more about it from the Indians.

2. Why is Thanksgiving celebrated in November?

a) That is when the Pilgrims decided to go back to England; they had to sail before winter.
b) That is when Macy’s has always had its big parade.
c) November is after the harvest, and the Pilgrims were celebrating their first harvest.

3. How many of the Pilgrims died during their first winter in the New World?
a) Just a few of them. b) Half of them.   c) All of them.

4. The Native Americans taught the Pilgrims

a) how to build a new ship to sail back to England with.
b) how to cook a turkey.
c) how to plant corn.

5. One of these activities is not typical for Thanksgiving Day. Which one?
a) have a big meal b) watch football games c) watch the Macy’s parade
d) go shopping

6. Today, a typical Thanksgiving feast has

a) turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. b) duck, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes
and pumpkin pie. c) turkey burgers, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin soup.

7. One of these sentences is not true. Which one?

a) Thanksgiving is special to Americans because it is a day for families to be together.
b) Thanksgiving is special to Americans because it is the day America became a free country.
c) Thanksgiving is special to Americans because it is a day to be thankful for what one has.

2 Your turn: Your celebrations

a) Does your family celebrate ‘Erntedankfest’?
b) What holidays/celebrations are there in your family where you eat special foods? (For example,
what does your family eat on Christmas Eve?)
c) Can you think of other holidays that Americans celebrate?

3 Internet task: Other early European settlements in America

The Pilgrims’ colony at Plymouth is the one that American students hear the most about in their history
books. But it was not the first European colony in the land we now know as the United States of America.
These places, for example, were there first:

 St. Augustine  Jamestown  Santa Fe

Find out more about these places on the Internet. (Who founded the towns/colonies, and when?
What states are they in today? What can you see there now? Are there any special events?)

1 1. b), 2. c), 3. b), 4. c), 5. d), 6. a), 7. b)

Lösungen:

© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2008 | [Link]

Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Autor: Krista Ann Eichler, Weil der Stadt
Bildquellen: Corbis/Burstein Coll. (S. 1); Gettyimages/photodisc
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Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten. (S. 3); Krista Ann Eichler (S. 3 – 4)
Thanksgiving (Green Line 4) Focus on the USA

Recipes
A Thanksgiving meal takes some time, but not too much. Just follow these recipes and you can prepare a
turkey with stuffing, make your own sweet potato dish, and then bake your own pumpkin pie for dessert!

1
Roast turkey with chestnut stuffing

4-5kg turkey
3 tablespoons (tbsp) butter
2 teaspoons (tsp) salt

For stuffing:
200g cooked chestnuts
200ml water
150g butter
2
4 celery stalks with the greens
2 onions
3 tbsp parsley
3
1¾ tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp cayenne chili pepper
½-¾ loaf of bread cut into pieces
4
150g dried cranberries or raisins
1 egg
5
Optional: 75g chopped walnuts A turkey with stuffing is always the highlight of any Thanksgiving
Aluminium foil Day dinner

6
1. Wash the turkey and place it into a buttered roasting pan . Make sure you take out anything
from the inside of the turkey. It should be empty.
2. Melt the 3 tbsp butter and pour it over the turkey. Then sprinkle the 2 tsp salt over it.
3. For the stuffing chop the celery and onions into small pieces. Melt the 150g butter in a pot and
7
cook the onion and celery until it is tender .
4. Chop the celery greens and the parsley and add them to the pot.
5. Stir in the poultry seasoning, chili pepper and water.
6. Cut the chestnuts, nuts and bread into small pieces.
7. Stir in the egg, chestnuts, cranberries or raisins and nuts.
8
8. Mix the ingredients well and fill the turkey with this stuffing right before you bake it. Be
­careful: you should always stuff a turkey just before you bake it. Don’t stuff the turkey and then
let it sit around.
9. Cover your turkey with aluminium foil.
10. Bake your turkey at 175°C for 3½–4 hours.
9
11. After 2 hours, you should baste your turkey. Take the bird out of the oven and pour the juices
that have come out of the turkey over the turkey with a spoon.
12. After 3½ hours you should baste your turkey again and then remove the foil so that your bird
can brown.
13. After 4 hours remove your turkey from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes before you cut it.

1 2 3
chestnut [*tSesn0t] = Marone • celery stalks with the greens [+selri stC:ks wiD DE *Gri:nz] = Stangensellerie mit Grün • poultry
4 5
seasoning [*pEUltri] = Würzmischung für Geflügelgerichte • dried [draId] = getrocknet • chopped [*tSOpt] = cut up into little
6 7 8 9
pieces • roasting pan [*rEUstIN +pxn] = Bräter • tender [*tendE] = soft • ingredient [In*Gri:diEnt] = Zutat • to baste [beIst] =
to take the juice from the turkey and pour it over the turkey again and again

© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2008 | [Link]

Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Autor: Krista Ann Eichler, Weil der Stadt
Bildquellen: Corbis/Burstein Coll. (S. 1); Gettyimages/photodisc
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Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten. (S. 3); Krista Ann Eichler (S. 3 – 4)
Thanksgiving (Green Line 4) Focus on the USA

10
Sweet potato casserole

1½ kg sweet potatoes
80g butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
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1½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
100 ml milk
150 – 200g chopped
12
canned pineapple
50ml pineapple juice
300g marshmallows

A sweet potato casserole with a marshmallow topping

1. Wash the potatoes and then cut them in half. Put them into a pan and cover them with water.
13 14
Boil the potatoes until they are soft enough to be mashed with a fork or a potato masher.
15 16
2. Drain the potatoes and peel them. Place them in a bowl.
3. Mash the potatoes with a fork or a potato masher.
4. Open the can of pineapple. Save the juice from the pineapple as you drain it.
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5. Add the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, pineapple juice, and milk. Beat the mixture
18
until it is fluffy .
6. Stir in the pineapple.
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7. Grease a casserole dish with butter. Pour the potato mixture into the casserole dish.
8. Bake the potatoes for 20 minutes at 175°C.
9. After the potatoes are hot, take the casserole dish out of the oven. Place the marshmallows on
top of the potato casserole and bake the casserole for another 10 minutes at 150°C. Be careful
not to burn the marshmallows. They should simply melt and be slightly browned.

10 11 12
sweet potato casserole [+swi:t pE+teItEU *kxsrEUl]= Süßkartoffelauflauf • cinnamon [*sInEmEn]= Zimt • pineapple [*paInxpl]
13 14 15
= Ananas • to boil [bC:l] = aufkochen • to mash [mxS] = zerstampfen • to drain [dreIn] = to separate the water or juice from
16 17 18
the food • to peel [pi:l] = to take the skin off • to beat [bi:t] = schlagen • fluffy [*fl0fi] = locker, leicht
19
• casserole dish [*kxsrEUl +dIS] = Auflaufform

© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2008 | [Link]

Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Autor: Krista Ann Eichler, Weil der Stadt
Bildquellen: Corbis/Burstein Coll. (S. 1); Gettyimages/photodisc
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Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten. (S. 3); Krista Ann Eichler (S. 3 – 4)
Thanksgiving (Green Line 4) Focus on the USA

Pumpkin pie
For pie crust:
150g flour
½ tsp salt
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90g shortening
3 tbsp water

1. Put the flour and salt into a bowl and

stir them together.
2. Add the shortening. You can use a
fork to mix the shortening or you
21
can use your fingers to knead the
22 23
dough . It should look like crumbs .
3. Add the water and knead the dough
until it is a ball.
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4. Roll the crust on a floured surface .
The crust should be 3cm larger than
the baking pan.
5. Place it in a baking pan (a pie pan
if available) and pinch the edges to
make them look nice.

For pumpkin filling:

560g mashed cooked pumpkin
25
340g condensed milk
2 eggs
130g brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
26
½ tsp ginger
27
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt
Pumpkin pie: the classic Thanksgiving dessert

28 29
1. Cut the pumpkin into halves or quarters. Remove the seeds and stringy parts . Cut into large
32
portions and then peel them.
2. Add 2cm water to a pot and the pumpkin. Cover your pan with a lid. Cook until tender.
3. Mash the pumpkin with a fork or a potato masher.
4. Put all of your ingredients into a bowl and mix them with a mixer.
30
5. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake the pie at 180°C for 50-60 minutes. If you want to
31
know whether your pie is done, do the knife test: Stick a knife into the center of your pie; if it
comes out clean, your pie is done.
6. Let your pie cook for 1 to 2 hours and serve it with whipped cream.

20 21 22
shortening [*SC:tnIN] = Butter • to knead [ni:d] = to press a mixture of flour and water several times with your hands • dough
23 24 25
[dEU] = Teig • crumbs [kr0mz] = Krümmel • floured surface [+flaUEd *s3:fIs] = mit Mehl bestreute Oberfläche • condensed milk
26 27 28
[kEn+denst *mIlk] = Kondensmilch • ginger [*dZIndZE] = Ingwer • nutmeg [*n0tmeIG] = Muskatnuss • seeds [si:dz] = Samen •
29 30 31
stringy parts [*strINi pA:ts] = faserige Stücke • to pour [pC:] = gießen • to stick [stIk] = to put in

© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2008 | [Link]

Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Autor: Krista Ann Eichler, Weil der Stadt
Bildquellen: Corbis/Burstein Coll. (S. 1); Gettyimages/photodisc
5/5
Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten. (S. 3); Krista Ann Eichler (S. 3 – 4)