Our annual tradition the next before Thanksgiving is to watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and eat the food that Charlie Brown served up in the episode.
When it comes to holiday classics, you have to always talk about Charlie Brown. Whether it's the Great Pumpkin, the small pathetic Christmas tree Charlie Brown brings home, or the subject of today's post Charlie Brown's idea of a Thanksgiving dinner, it isn't a holiday without watching them.
In a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Charlie gets roped into hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for his friends. But he doesn't know what to do as all he can make is "cold cereal and maybe toast". Not being one to give up, even when misguided, Charlie puts together a Thanksgiving feast for friends and sets up a buffet for them outside. It must have been warm late November day as I know Charlie lives in an area that gets snow in the winter time!
Here is what Charlie Brown served his guests:
- Buttered toast
- Popcorn
- Pretzels
- Jelly bean
Not exactly turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce! (Check out my Thanksgiving Hub to get all the recipes to those things!)
One year I thought it would be fun to surprise the kids with this as a Thanksgiving Eve meal. Now we have made it a tradition as we sit down to watch the special each year. It's nice to have kind of a fun, light-hearted meal the day before we cook the biggest meal of the year.
Want to make the best tasting buttered toast? It all starts with choosing the best butter. Learn about one of our family favorites Kerrygold Irish Butter and how it's different than store brand butter. Charlie Brown's guests would have never protested about not having a traditional meal if Charlie has buttered his toast with Kerrygold!
Popcorn Tips
If turkey is the star of the standard Thanksgiving meal, then popcorn is the turkey of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I want to share with you some of my popcorn tips. I always pop my own popcorn. Fresh popcorn has a flavor that fades when it cools, so it's always going to be extra special when freshly popped. You don't want to buy bags of microwave popcorn to pop as they contain a lot of extra ingredients that you don't need. Popcorn, butter, and salt is all you need, not "mixed tocopherols" or whatever natural flavors is.
Check out these answers to commonly asked popcorn questions:
- What is the Difference Between Yellow and White Popcorn
- What is the Best Way to Butter Popcorn
- How Can You Make Your Own Microwave Popcorn
- How to Make Your Own Popcorn Salt
"Fancy It Up!"
In 2023, I decided to fancy it up a little bit and do my own interpretation.
This was our menu:
- Popcorn
- Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Gingerbead Toast Crunch
- Nerds Jelly Beans
Still had that popcorn as is. Instead of having hard pretzels, we opted for making our own homemade soft pretzels. The recipe I use is Alton Brown's recipe. It's included in my list of 24 of the Best Alton Brown Recipes.
The key to making homemade pretzels is you need to boil the pretzels first for 30 seconds in simmering water that has baking soda in it. Then brush the pretzels with an egg wash, then you will get that classic brown soft pretzel color.
Then I didn't think it would make sense to have that and toast, I got a box of a Gingerbread Toast Crunch that way we could have some milk and try a seasonal flavor. You could do just standard Cinnamon Toast Crunch if you want. The CinnaGraham Toast Crunch is good too.
For the jelly beans I went with the Nerds jelly beans. These started as an Easter thing but then they became a year round offering that they call Big Chewy Nerds.
I felt this option was more substation while still paying homage to the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Definitely not our every day thing at all but just a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving and give the kids something fun to look forward to.
What is your favorite food from the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving? Share below by leaving a comment.
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