by: Blog Club

(Stacy Spensley, Flickr)

As a celebration for the break, here is a certified smorgasbord of Thanksgiving related pieces courtesy of WSUM Blog Club!

Ceci Dupor

Hot Take: Midwest “salads” are delicious

There’s one thing I’ve brought to every Thanksgiving for ten years, Watergate salad. Watergate salad is a delicious mix of pistachio pudding mix, Cool Whip, marshmallows, canned pineapple, and chopped pecans. When I describe this, quite a few people turn to judgment, but taste before you judge. Watergate salad used to be a recipe on every box of pistachio pudding mix, in the last five years it has been removed (RIP) but now you can easily find a recipe online. The history of the Watergate salad is up for debate since there’s no evidence it originated in the Watergate hotel. We know that the recipe was created in the 70s and was likely given the name “Watergate” to gain attention from the scandal which had just occurred. There are many variations on the Midwest “salad”; for example, ambrosia (pineapple, mandarin oranges, marshmallow, and coconut) and Snickers salad (Cool Whip, Snickers, and apples). Decades of Minnesota and Wisconsin moms have kept up this tradition because even though it sounds strange, they are the perfect sugar bomb to balance out the savory elements of Thanksgiving dinner. Also, hot take within a hot take: Jello salad is eaten as a side dish not as a dessert. I have members of my family who will even mix mashed potatoes, stuffing, and Watergate salad. Anyways, if you don’t trust me on this one, I’d say just make it for your next potluck. It takes literally five ingredients and ten minutes to mix it all together, so you’ve hardly lost anything by trying it out!  

Aniruddh Nambudiri

I don’t get it

I have never had Thanksgiving. It sounds completely wild to me as a concept to just bring food that has absolutely nothing to do with each other. I am Indian and we have a bunch of eating holidays, especially in the south. I love the concept of the eating holiday. The main difference though is that the meals are supposed to work with each other and over here they just……. Don’t. What does Turkey have to do with Cranberry sauce or mashed potatoes? You tell me. Does not sound appealing at all. What is the gravy? Where is the gravy even? Is it supposed to be completely bone dry and not really anything? Maybe the food is supposed to be bad to make sure you are not distracted from the people around you. At the end of the day, Thanksgiving is supposed to be about the things you are grateful for and the people you love. I guess in the end that is what it’s supposed to be. The same way Thanksgiving for me is being alone on my couch with a bunch of food and the best of Tubi’s B Movie catalogue, I guess.  

Lexi

Hot take: the Thanksgiving turkey is the least appealing dish on the table. 

While THE Thanksgiving turkey is often what comes to mind when we think of the holiday, when Thanksgiving dinner is finally here, the turkey is never the first dish people reach for on the table. With tons of other delicious options, like mashed potatoes (especially the cheesy ones), stuffing, apple pie, green beans, pumpkin pie, etc. the turkey often goes forgotten when it comes time for the big day. Families spend all day thawing and cooking and basting the bird, for only a couple measly slices to be gone by the end of the day. It sits there front and center on the dining room table, the perfect symbol of Thanksgiving. But like some sort of historic statue, it goes untouched. It’s almost sad. But it’s deserved. 

While I almost hate to admit it, I am a contributor to the problem. But for a good reason. Upon biting into the Turkey, you will most likely realize that it is overcooked. It is dry. It is flavorless. And cranberry sauce can only do so much. I’ve been to many a Thanksgiving and have yet to try a Turkey that tastes like all it’s made out to be. It makes me think the holiday might just be better off without it. 

This Thanksgiving, do everyone a favor: save a turkey. Save your taste buds. Maybe give the pumpkin pie a chance to shine for once.

Hallie

Bring the Discoteca to Disco-Dishes on Thanksgiving. 

Just as you try to sneak upstairs following the meal, your brother nags you to the kitchen to help with the ritual bequeathed upon the most honorable soldiers (the youngest cousins). Colossal towers of plates and the stickiest cranberry sauce coated knives meet your eyes. You yearn for the day you will be able to recline on the couch, with your hand over your belly and let out a loud sigh. You are a teenager so you must report to the dishes. As intimidating as the pile of dishes are, they do not have to impose dread on the joyous Thursday evening. 

In a few steps, you can make this burdensome thanksgiving task to the endorphin rush of an EDM music festival. It starts with the playlist. I suggest closing the door to the kitchen, and if needed put on some headphones. Show Me Love by Robin S. is a great start to the discotheque dishwashing mania. The 90s dance beat will get you into the ideal rhythm of washing. As your foot taps and energy levels rise, the disgust of turkey gunk leaves your focus. The pile of dishes has shrunk in half, and you notice yourself twirling the dish rag like a napkin at a coastal Mediterranean club. Channeling those international vibes, the next song on this set list is On The Floor by Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull. The intro to this song suspiciously lines up with the rate at which you scrub the crusted Mac and Cheese off of nanas plate. When the beat drops, your hips are moving so fast that you nearly drop a porcelain plate. Vibes are high in the kitchen. Your 25-year-old cousin who claimed the “adult table” seat at age 18 lurks in the corner of the kitchen. He has claimed to be above the task but now bops his head acting like he’s been there all along. 

The dishes discotheque set list can be altered to your liking, but a general rule of thumb is to pick songs that make you feel like dancing like nobodies watching. Thanksgiving dishwashing is a task dreaded by most but does not need to ruin the holiday. In fact, it can be the soul satisfying hype activity of the day. And moreover, romanticizing doing the dishes on thanksgiving is a metaphor for tedious tasks in life, never forget your most ludicrous dancing shoes.

Otto

My hot take is Canadian thanksgiving is better than American thanksgiving. 

By the way, as a French person, I can assert I am completely unbiased, I can hear both sides as my sister lives in Canada and I am currently living in America and experienced my first real American thanksgiving last year.  

My unpopular opinion is that Canadians do thanksgiving better than Americans. Many of you probably didn’t even know Canadians, but you would be surprised we can make a case they do it better than the Americans. 

My first reason is the dates. In the US thanksgiving is held in the last week of November which I feel doesn’t fit the thanksgiving vibe. It’s too close to Christmas, it has already snowed in many states, and most trees don’t have any leaves left on them. On the other hand, in Canada thanksgiving is held on the second Monday of October, mid-October suits the vibe better in my opinion. We’re at the start of fall which means it’s not too cold yet but not hot either which means you have the perfect middle ground to snuggle up in a blanket and watch football but can also toss the football in the backyard with your cousins. As a college student, those dates would fit better since it would be in the middle of the semester rather than at the very end, right before finals and Christmas break, but that’s another topic. 

My second argument is sports. Many Americans associate NFL games, and the last week of college football to thanksgiving which are good don’t get me wrong but could be better. You can make the argument Canada had a more competitive, diverse slate for sports. If you look at the weekend of October 10, 2025 to October 12, 2025 (Canadian thanksgiving dates this year) we were in the midst of the MLB playoffs, we were in the first third of the NFL season where most teams were still competitive and had not been depleted with injuries, the NHL season had just started, great college football such as the Red River rivalry opposing Oklahoma to Texas, FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the list goes on. 

Finally, this is rather subjective, but Canadians could go full patriotic and exclusively listen to Canadian artists, Justin Bieber, The Weekend, Drake, Tate Mcrae and you could even go old school and toss on some Celine Dion. Does it get much better than that Americans?  

You now know what to do, if you’re not doing anything during the second weekend of October next year, pack your bags and book a flight to Canada and enjoy the fun there!