‘Tis the season to be hungry! On Nov. 20, Chartwells served SHU students a traditional Thanksgiving dinner complete with herb-roasted turkey, green bean and mushroom casserole, au gratin potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and poultry dressing stuffing with rolls.

While many enjoyed the meal, a lot of students, faculty and staff are patiently awaiting Thanksgiving break so that they can enjoy their own home-cooked meals. Recently, there have been many new trends and dishes inserted into the usual Thanksgiving menu. A survey was conducted to see if anything has changed in terms of Thanksgiving dishes and the results are interesting.

Unsurprisingly, 17 percent of the survey participants claimed that macaroni and cheese was their favorite dish. Mashed potatoes and ham came in second with 11 percent of the participants’ favorites.

Surprisingly the famous turkey and stuffing came in third with only 9 percent of the total votes. Yams and sweet potato pie or casserole came next, taking up 6 percent of the total votes. Cranberry sauce had 4 percent of the total votes.

The last 26 percent of the votes went to miscellaneous items like pecan pie, sweet potato pie, green beans, banana pudding, green bean casserole, corn, and rolls. A few notable oddballs were shrimp Alfredo, Chinese takeout and ribs. There were also some cultural foods like Jollof Rice and Nigerian salad.

Another question that was asked had to do with something new that people would like to try, whether it be a specific dish or an activity on Thanksgiving. Many people stated that they wanted to try making, or eating, sweet potato pie. A few said that they wanted to try a different version of the traditional turkey, whether it be fried or turducken.

Two of the parents I interviewed stated that they were looking forward to “holiday booze.” Another parent, Libby Masteller, said that “I’m looking forward to trying The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for making sweet potatoes in the crockpot.”

Jenny Manwaring said that she was looking forward to cooking “… au gratin root veggies and a new spin on Brussel sprouts.”

There were also some survey participants who claimed they were looking forward to trying outdoor activities like ice skating and snowboarding.

Whether it be the food options, football games, reliving memories of past Thanksgivings, or simply spending quality time with family and friends, these were things that all of the participants had in common when it comes to their favorite aspect of the holiday itself.

Happy feasting!