感恩节的一天
（11－28－15）
十一月24号星期四是美国的感恩节。无论办公室，邮局，学校，商业部门等都关门。人们从美国各地分别乘飞机或者开车返回家中，居家团圆欢聚在一起。共同来庆祝感恩节这个节日。
在感恩节的上午，向往年一样，坐在电视机前看纽约梅西的感恩节大游行。在游行中有表演，唱歌和跳舞等等。每一个队型的设计都很有创意。
（照片来自电视）
看完游行后，就开始准备感恩节的晚餐。 自己也买了一只十八磅重的火鸡，还买了绿豆角，红薯，Cranberry(越桔），土豆泥等等。星期三一早就把火鸡拿了出来解冻。到了感恩节这一天，就把已经融化好了的火鸡洗了一下，然后再把蒸熟的糯米（里面放了核桃仁，果脯等等）放进了火鸡的肚子里。再用锡泊纸把火鸡包好后放进了烤箱。按照说明把烤箱的温度调到了325度，因为整个火鸡需要烤上三个半小时。等到烤了两个小时之后，就可以把锡泊纸摘掉。接着还需要烤上一个半小时。在继续烤的时间里，需要用小毛刷子在火鸡的表皮上刷刷油，这样火鸡的表皮就能够烤出金黄色而不会烤焦。
在烤火鸡的同时，就可以把要做的一些青菜准备好。（青豆角，鸡蛋炒西红柿，炒小白菜等等）。然后用蒸锅蒸上红薯和马铃薯；接着又熬出了越桔（Cranberry)果酱等等。
（“传统的美国感恩节起始于1621年。那一年在马萨诸塞州的普列茅茨，人们准备了一次特殊的盛宴。在那里定居的殖民者因为得不到宗教信仰自由而离开了英格兰。他们横渡大西洋，克服重重困难，来到了新的土地上。他们乘坐的船叫做”五月花号“。由于极其恶劣的风暴，在大西洋中航行是十分困难的。他们在当地印第安人的帮助下学会了在新的土地上生活。清教徒们有了许许多多要感激的事物。他们的宗教活动不再是政府谴责的根源。他们学会了因时因地制宜。当选择了11月的第四个星期四作为他们的感恩节时，他们邀请了他们的邻居，印第安人，共同进餐并作为感恩节生活的祈祷者。他们回想起了离开英格兰的102名男女，回想起了没有能够看到马萨诸塞州海岸的先逝者，回想起了考验他们力量的65天的航行。”
英文的原文：“ The traditional American Thanksgiving Day celebration goes back to 1621. In that year a special feast was prepared in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The colonists who had settled there had left England because they felt denied of religious freedom. They came to the new land and faced difficulties in coming across the ocean.
The ship, which carried them, was called the Mayflower. The North Atlantic was difficult to travel. There were bad storms. The Indians who inhabited the region assisted them in learning to live in the new land. The Puritans, as they were called, had much to be thankful for. Their religious practices were no longer a source of criticism by the government. They learned to adjust their farming habits to the climate and soil. When they selected the fourth Thursday of November for their Thanksgiving celebration, they invited their neighbors, the Indians, to join them dinner and a prayer of gratitude for life. They recalled the group of 102 men, women and children who left England. They remembered their dead who did not live to see the shores of Massachusetts. They reflected on the 65-day' s journey which tested their strength."
(以上的中英对照来自李阳英语学习一书中。）
