BDBF Dishes – Overrated and Underrated Thanksgiving Traditions

If our analytics tell us anything, it’s that our readers are surprisingly very interested in our opinions on Thanksgiving! Whether it’s favorite foods or something else, something about the holiday season strikes an interest in our readers! And we want to give our readers what they want! So here, without further adieu, we present Overrated and Underrated Thanksgiving Traditions…

Liz Farley

I think my choices are controversial … but I’m willing to take the heat.

Overrated Thanksgiving Tradition – The NFL. I know this is a controversial take but having football games all day on Thanksgiving distracts from quality family time and rushes everyone during dinner so they can watch the game (Jeremy Rachlin’s Editor’s Note – As a lifelong Redskins/Commanders fan, I loathe when my team plays on Thanksgiving because we almost always gets stomped by the Cowboys).

Underrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Turkey Trots/Flag Football/Exercise. Getting a workout in on Thanksgiving morning means that you’ve worked up an appetite so there is more room for food and drinks later on! It also helps with the guilt when you go to grab a second (or third) round of your favorite dessert.

Vi Nguyen

Overrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Fancy Thanksgiving dinner. We are just eating at home! Bring the paper plates and comfy clothes. It’s just another family dinner but with extra tasty food.

Underrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Family. I am fortunate to have the majority of my extended family in the area so we get together for almost every holiday. It’s the perfect time to catch up and play a bunch of games together!

Jeremy Rachlin

Overrated Thanksgiving Tradition – One word: Turkey. I don’t care how you cook it. It’s just not my thing. Fried turkey is too greasy. Baked turkey is almost always too dry. Give me my sides, but I’ll take a few courtesy bites of the turkey.

Underrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Friendsgiving. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday of the year because there’s four days and four nights to spend time with friends and family. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, you will find me and my family at one of our friends’ houses for a long evening of fun, laughter, takeout, and adult beverages, knowing that we’re off from work for the next four days!

Meg Rosan

Overrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Travel. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it’s all about family and food, but I could do without all the packing and driving. I look forward to the days when my kids are traveling to my house for Thanksgiving and I can stay put!

Underrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Mashed potatoes. The spotlight always shines on the turkey, stuffing, cranberry, or yams (yick!), when the real star of any holiday meal is mashed potatoes. Nothing absorbs wine – or butter – better.

Dan Shaivitz

Overrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Turkey-Trot. Every year, it is a tradition to run off your turkey-induced hangover in a 5k race. Most of the time, it’s too cold and too early. But maybe I’m just getting too old.

Underrated Thanksgiving Tradition – Turkey-Bowl. That’s right, nothing beats the feeling of getting rough and muddy (or covered in turf pellets) in a quasi-friendly game of family or neighborhood football. It always ends in tears and injury, whether it’s physical harm or emotional damage that will last a lifetime. A word of warning, stay out of my way if my team is down a score and I’m heading for the goal line!

From Bulman Dunie to you and yours, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!