Once we’ve prayed and grace has been said, we take our plates and make a line behind the table of arranged food. We have a variety of food set out on the table, as each family is in charge of bringing a dish to contribute to the meal. It’s very common in American culture to eat turkey at Thanksgiving, along with side dishes like mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. In a traditional model of kinship, the father worked while the mother stayed home and cooked. In my family, everyone has a role in making the food for our Thanksgiving meal.

Kenneth J. Guest, Essentials of Cultural Anthropology (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016), Page 255.