November 14 sunset as seen from First and Kirby, Champaign.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists the largest pumpkin pie at 3,699 lbs. If a standard serving of pumpkin pie is 5.5 ounces on average, that pie could provide 10,760 normal-sized slices, feeding roughly one-fourth of all UIUC students.
Did you want some ice cream with that? If one standard-sized scoop (I do not mean commercial scoops) of ice cream is estimated to equal ¼ of a cup, or .015 gallons, the pie would require 161.4 gallons in order for everyone to get an equal share. That’s approximately 726.3 pounds of ice cream. Who’s hungry??
From reading around online, I found that some anonymous families have reported uncommon Thanksgiving traditions. One family names their turkey each year and then dances with it before it gets cooked. Another has an annual food fight, with the start of the fight always coming unannounced. There’s a family who described spending hours after each Thanksgiving dinner watching funny family videos. A tradition I’d love to participate in is car hide and seek, in which participants get in cars and drive around looking for hiding spots within the set boundary. When they find a spot, they park and turn off their lights. After some time, the “it” car drives around looking for all the hidden cars.
Whatever your tradition, or lack of one, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving and a good break.
P.S. Drying the turkey skin after brining and then rubbing it with oil before baking can make the skin extra crispy.