Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and we asked some students what their favorite food of the holiday is. Here are their stories of appreciation and heart-warming comfort food.

The Classic

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Marisa Asari | Photo by Laura Lim

Name: Marisa Asari

Major: Public health

“I like turkey with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes—actually, I like everything. When I was growing up, my mother always made pre-ordered turkey. We’d have a bunch of family members over, and she’d always make the cranberry sauce from scratch. That’s the family history part of it. Everything’s so good, and we end up so stuffed at night we can’t move. But it’s so worth it.”

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Spencer Simpson | Photo by Laura Lim

Name: Spencer Simpson

Major: Political Science

“My favorite Thanksgiving food is just the traditional stuff: turkey, ham, sweet potato and pies. I live with my mom, and we visit my aunt. And the rest of the family comes down. We sort of gravitate around my aunt because she’ll cook for us.” 

 

The Stuffing Lover

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Isabel Angelo | Photo by Laura Lim

Name: Isabel Angelo

Major: Astrophysics

“Stuffing! That’s always what I go for, and that’s always what I get seconds for. One reason is that I never get to eat it when it’s not Thanksgiving. Sometimes my mom cooks; sometimes my dad makes sweet potatoes or sometimes we go to a friend’s house.”

 

Those Who Do It Differently

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Daysha Bermudez | Photo by Laura Lim

Name: Daysha Bermudez

Major: Interdisciplinary Studies

“I love sushi, turkey and gingerbread houses with frosting. We’re not that traditional, except when it comes to the turkey and gingerbread house (laughs). We had sushi once for Thanksgiving, and it tasted really good.”

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Syndi Huynh | Photo by Laura Lim

Name: Syndi Huynh

Major: Media studies

“Well, I’m vegetarian, so I like salad, mashed potatoes and vegan mac’n’cheese. We usually cook ourselves, ’cause it’s hard to buy some vegetarian Thanksgiving food.”

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Summer Mason | Photo by Laura Lim

Name: Summer Mason

Major: Film Studies

“It would have to be yams. We usually make this yam casserole—on top there’s an awesome apple pie crust/cookie crumble. It’s really delicious, and the good thing about it is that my brother was very heavy on making sure that we all eat healthy for all of our meals. He made us learn about how original soul food was healthy and how to reduce grease and oil use. We definitely infuse that strategy into our cooking for Thanksgiving meals. Everything’s cooked with limited amount of oil, butter and sugar. Also, we don’t eat pork, so we only eat lean turkey.” 

 

The Biggest Meal of the Year

Name: Rey Fernandez

Major: Economics

“I hate holiday ham; it’s gross. Love turkey ’cause turkey’s always good, but it can’t be dry. We also have tamales. Alcohol, too! My family likes to get hammered during Thanksgiving (laughs). Mashed potatoes and green bean casseroles, candied yam and every type of pie—apple and pumpkin. For some reason, we always have lasagna, too. I don’t get it, but it’s always there. There are usually twenty of us. I don’t have a big family, but everyone invites friends over for Thanksgiving dinner.”

(At this point, Spoon felt the need to interject: Okay, wow. But if you had to name one thing only, what would that be?)

“Oreo Cheesecake—I’d be super full, but for some reason, I’d still eat six to seven pieces of it. I just eat and eat and eat and then just go to sleep after.”

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Jaime Campos (left) & Rey Fernandez (right) | Photo by Laura Lim

And The Simple and Traditional

Name: Jaime Campos

Major: Statistics

“I can’t really compete with that. My favorite is casserole. However, we do have pie, mashed potatoes and tamales, but I never really partook in eating the turkey. It’s pretty ironic. I usually eat with my cousin; it’s pretty simple.”


We all have our favorites when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, but (as cheesy as it sounds) the most important thing of the holiday season is to show appreciation to our families and spend time with our loved ones.