不一样的感恩节
8th grader
我们家一般会在感恩节放假的一个星期外出度假， 但是今年， 我们决定要在家里过一个不一样的感恩节。
谁都知道在美国过感恩节是离不开吃火鸡的。节日前几天，爸爸妈妈召开全家大会，会上大家一致通过，今年要赦免火鸡，让鸭子做替罪羊。爸爸从网上找到了中式烤鸭的秘方，提前一天就忙开了。感恩节的上午，妈妈把外公外婆接到我们家。一进屋子，外公外婆和爸爸妈妈就开始研究制定节日菜谱。我和姐姐知道我们今天有口福了。今天的主食是猪肉包子。妈妈从她的朋友那儿拿来了食谱，早就想自己独立试试了。于是，爸爸和面发面，妈妈调肉馅，姐姐忙着搅拌，我赶紧到后院摘了一把我自己种的葱，大家一起坐下来擀皮，包包子，蒸包子。另外，外公外婆做了中式的珍珠圆子和粉蒸排骨，妈妈的紫薯圆子和甜点，爸爸的秘制烤鸭，我也准备了西式的土豆泥和肉汁。大家边聊边吃，越吃越香，最后撑得都弯不下腰了。
今年我们家的感恩节真是有点特别，全家动手，中西结合。我珍惜和感谢这一切，真希望以后年年都可以这样过感恩节。
My family usually goes on vacation during Thanksgiving break, but this year, we decided to try something new and stay home for a truly unique Thanksgiving.
It is an undisputed fact that Thanksgiving and eating turkey are one and the same, but we all agreed that we wanted have our own unique dinner, so, a few days before Thanksgiving, my parents called a family meeting. After some heated discussion, an unanimous vote was reached to “pardon the turkey”, and, instead, let a duck take its place on our dinner table. My dad found a Chinese-style duck recipe on the Internet, and promptly began the process of preparing the duck the day before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving morning, my mom brought my grandparents home to celebrate with us. The moment they arrived, my grandparents and parents began to form a menu for the day. My sister and I knew, at last, that we had a say in matters, so we immediately gave our opinion for the day’s menu. We agreed that this year’s Thanksgiving dinner’s main dish would be pork buns. My mom had learned the recipe and technique from her friend, and had long been waiting eagerly for the opportunity to try it out herself. Soon, we split up the tasks and began preparing our Thanksgiving meal. My dad kneaded the dough. My mom made the pork filling with help from my sister. I ran to the backyard to pick some of my homegrown green onion so that they could be diced and mixed in. After the preparation process, we kneaded the wrappers, wrapped the steamed buns, then steamed them. Besides the main dish, my grandparents made my favorite Chinese-style pearl meatballs and steamed pork ribs, my mom made purple sweet potato puffs, and my dad roasted his honey duck. In addition, I also prepared some traditional Thanksgiving dishes, such as mashed potatoes with gravy. We ended up eating so much that we couldn’t even bend over!
This year’s Thanksgiving was truly special. Everyone pitched in and we all had our own parts in the creation of our Thanksgiving meal. We managed, through some hard work, to combine our favorite Chinese foods with our favorite American foods. In a way, our meal represented our mix of cultures; part Chinese and part American. Although the foods from both cultures were enormously different, we were able to create a well-balanced mix. I really loved this year’s Thanksgiving experience, and am looking forward to having similar experiences in the future.
