Thanksgiving dinner may be a curiosity to most of the world, but to Americans, it’s serious business. The nation takes great pride in perfectly seasoned green bean casserole, decadent mashed potatoes, and perfectly basted turkey, but even a holiday so beloved for its amazing food fare has a few lackluster presentations.

In a seamless example of monied people being unable to afford taste — as if those gaudy golden bathrooms weren’t enough proof — Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago turkey day feast left much to the imagination. The 78-year-old leaned into the food of his people and dished up a dinner stacked with reminders on why it’s so important to bring those elderly loved ones home for the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have miserably failed, and will always fail, because their ideas and policies are so hopelessly bad that the great people of our Nation just gave a landslide…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2024

Donald Trump truly embodied the spirit of Thanksgiving by bashing “Radical Left Lunatics” and hurling around baseless promises to make America “respected, productive, fair, and strong” again. If the plans for America look anything like this soul-draining Thanksgiving dinner, count us out.

President-elect Trump hosted a who’s who of celebrities, politicians, and the mega-wealthy at his Mar-a-Lago resort over the holiday weekend. Attendees ranged from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who met with Trump to discuss the looming tariff war, to Rocky star Sylvester Stallone. Naturally, Trump invited tech billionaire Elon Musk to the party, and the Tesla CEO gladly jumped at the opportunity to ditch his 12 kids for the holiday event — though he did bring along his mother, Maye.

But even a cavalcade of respectable people, a hip fee rumored to be around one million bucks, and an alleged dinner price of $350 couldn’t convince notorious cheapskate Trump to whip out the holiday big guns.

This was the $350 Thanksgiving dinner plate at Mar-a-Lago. Even Tucker Carlson's Swanson's looks better. pic.twitter.com/YRPIIa6OcA

— Hoodlum (@NotHoodlum) November 30, 2024

It was a real “divorced dads dinner” if the picture is to be believed. Gleeful commenters across the net couldn’t help but hover between shock and delight at the most disgusting dinner found outside of the retirement home.

The meal is so unappealing it makes TikTok’s many food-related horror stories almost palatable. One even shared a picture of a $49 plate purchased from a Las Vegas strip club — and honest to God those Mar-a-Lago millionaires should get their money back. Others compared it to hospital food but were immediately shut down by those who declared the comparison an affront to the dietitian-crafted meals.

“It’s the concept of cornbread,” one said of the blocky chunk of something on the right side of the plate. Indeed, the whole dish looks like the concept of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner — complete with imaginary spices. Across social media, they quickly went for the low-hanging fruit, something the poor Mar-a-Lago guests probably would have preferred.

We know Trump is struggling with money these days, considering he owes nearly half a billion dollars, but the man is still a millionaire. It boggles the mind to see this sorry of a meal served on a plate that goddamned tacky. Trump rakes in somewhere around $700 million a year, so why does this typically extravagant meal look worse than a box dinner?

The whole affair reminded one of a quote from world-renowned chef Anthony Bourdain. In 2017, while speaking about Trump, Bourdain told The National, “I don’t think he likes food. And from people I know who have had to endure dinner with him, if you enjoy sitting there listening to him talk about himself, you know, great, God bless you.”

Combine that horrific excuse for dinner with Trump forcing Elon Musk to dance along to The Village People’s “YMCA” like some sort of billionaire stooge, and you likely get an evening on par with that one Thanksgiving we’ve all reluctantly sat through. At least the rest of us got a decent meal made with love and maybe even a few spices.

Incoming Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., never fails to shock, disgust, and amuse for his bonkers beliefs and downright dangerous demonstrations of reckless abandon. This Thanksgiving, good old RFK deep-fried a whole turkey and posted the clip to X, formerly Twitter.

In the video, RFK deep fries an entire turkey in beef tallow, a somewhat controversial substance — but that’s the least of his problems, as there were so many health and safety violations in the video it’s difficult to believe everything came out okay!

The setup is one many people will be familiar with — a vat for deep frying, a fuel, and of course a turkey for frying. But RFK takes to the process with a laissez-faire attitude unbecoming of the Secretary of Health, completing the cookout barefoot and without any kind of personal protective equipment.

While some s criticized the choice of tallow, citing its unhealthy properties, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to use in cooking. Beef tallow may be unsuitable for those looking to lower their cholesterol, but the animal fat does have some health benefits when used sparingly. Although some people don’t like how tallow is obtained from the cow during the rendering process, this is a much more personal objection.

So even though RFK attracted criticism from X s for his “stupid” choice of frying agent, it should be said that beef tallow isn’t really any more dangerous than other frying mediums, assuming it’s used correctly. A popular tweet containing criticism of RFK’s choice even received a community note to exactly that effect.

But before the MAGAs get out to celebrate, beef tallow isn’t the only issue. The problem is that the Secretary of Health nominee doesn’t appear to have put any safety mechanisms in place! Deep frying the whole turkey barefoot, right next to many different wooden objects, without gloves or anything to cover the face, RFK Jr. throws caution to the winds as he cooks up a storm. Some X s were quick to point out the problem, while others were unsurprised:

Every time the turkey goes in and out of the vat, there’s the potential for spillage of hot oil — right over bare feet and wood. When the oil touches fire, bad things can happen. So it’s not the best of ideas, even if in this instance it did work out okay. And don’t even get us started on how the whole thing remained uncovered, open to anything that could and did fall in the simmering oil in the 40 minutes it boiled in the oil. In a private dwelling, RFK Jr. doesn’t need to follow commercial health codes, but it’s not a good look for a prospective Secretary of Health to be so blasé with health and safety.

Except RFK Jr. is no stranger to dangerous stunts or weird behaviors. While frying a turkey barefoot isn’t a normal activity, it’s far from his only downright bizarre animal antic. From dumping a dead bear in Central Park after failing to skin and butcher it to chopping the head off a whale and strapping it to the top of his car, or even that one time he videoed himself lecturing about grasshoppers, RFK Jr. has a truly astonishing record when it comes to animals.

What’s even weirder is that he was an environmental lawyer with many, many good works to his name before drinking the Kool-Aid and becoming an anti-vaxxer Trumpian mess, making him a truly bizarre pick for the Secretary of Health role. Just like his Thanksgiving Day video, RFK Jr. is a wild ride and one which, unfortunately, (if picked) won’t end for another four years.

As millions of Americans are recovering from a yearly festival of abundance, something stirs deep within the wilds. “Gobble gobble,” say the turkeys, as they put the finishing touches on their grand plan for revenge.

Every year, American families across the nation — and the world — celebrate Thanksgiving, where turkeys are traditionally served as the centerpiece of a big family meal. Whether it’s a no-expense-spared blow-out, or a carefully budgeted meal, the turkey is usually the star of the show, and in more ways than one. Used as food, decoration, and in one memorable instance, a hat, turkeys take pride of place at Thanksgiving.

Except it seems like turkeys have had enough. Or at least, two of them have anyway. A video clip posted to TikTok by @carolina_mic shows the turkey vanguard as it launches the first in — presumably many — attacks in a war of revenge.

In the video, two wild turkeys attack a man’s car as he pulls into a driveway. He pulls away in an attempt to distract the two terrifying turkeys. Undeterred, the large birds follow him — at least until he gets too far away. Determined to make their feelings known, however, the turkeys attack the next vehicle ing through the street.

The guy in the video, identified as “Mike,” tries to lead the turkeys down a different street, but they’re having none of it. They have their orders, and they will not be denied. The turkeys stay exactly where they want, right in the middle of the road, ready to attack their next victims. This is one persistent pair of poultry, that’s for sure.

This hilarious video clip attracted 6.5m views on the platform, and even has a part 2 to enjoy. Legions of amused TikTokkers took to the social media giant to express their feelings about the avian encounter, and it’s easy to see why.

Many s honed in on the remarkably good timing of the turkey attack, noting how it was smack in the middle of Thanksgiving, a tense time for turkeys everywhere. One said, “They said “ NOT THIS YEAR MIKE!!!!”,” while another said, “it’s the revenge of Thanksgiving” followed by laughing emojis. Another warned that Mike would need to sleep with one eye open, as the turkeys had him marked: “Trauma turkeys aren’t letting it slide this year, you’re gonna have to sleep with one eye open at this point.”

One put it succinctly with the perfect comment: “They’re in their revenge era,” while another said, “Those two woke up and chose violence!” But while many s were happily focused on the turkeys and their warlike ways, others found hilarity in the person recording the video.

One found it hard to choose between which was funnier, the turkeys or the woman recording: “I don’t know what’s funnier. The actual video, or the lady in the background, laughing and filming. I swear to God I could watch this all day long! You have the BEST laugh!” When @carolina_mic said she didn’t know what to do, another had the perfect response: “Ma’am you’re doing the EXACT right thing taking this video for us all.” I for one welcome our new turkey overlords. Gobble gobble, gobble gobble.

While Sean “Diddy” Combs spent Thanksgiving in dire straits behind bars, his son, King Combs, was living large, and he wasn’t shy about showing it off.

On Thursday, Diddy once again had to stay locked up amid his legal battle, so he couldn’t enjoy the holiday like he used to when he was still a free man. Instead of his usual sumptuous Thanksgiving meals, the disgraced music mogul only had a few food options to choose from — and that’s already something he should be grateful for.

According to inside information retrieved by Page Six from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detection Center, where Diddy, 55, has been staying since his September arrest, the celebrity prisoner and his fellow inmates got the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving, albeit in the most humbling manner for the multimillionaire.

The facility’s menu for the holiday reportedly included fruit, cereal, pastries, and skim milk for breakfast. For lunch, the Hollywood star and his fellow prisoners had the option to really experience Thanksgiving because the food options included turkey roast (portioning not disclosed), turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and margarine, mixed vegetables, and cranberry sauce.

For dinner, the facility reverted to its usual menu, offering inmates like Diddy simple food choices, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, whole wheat bread, fruits, and potato chips. They also had the option to grab a beverage and make their Thanksgiving dinner a bit more satisfying.

Diddy’s Thanksgiving prison meal is a stark contrast to the glamorous life he once lived. For someone whose net worth is estimated to be $400 million, the food served to him in prison is no match to what he could readily afford for himself and his family outside.

But while the “Satisfy You” hitmaker is still struggling to come to with his new reality, his 26-year-old son, King, is seemingly having the best time this holiday season. On Wednesday, he showed off the lavish pre-Thanksgiving feast he was having in an Instagram Story, sharing a video of his plate stacked with crab legs.

“Oh man, eating good,” the young rapper said in the clip as he bragged about his food and the top-notch quality of his new iPhone’s camera to his 2.8 million followers. He tagged his location as Atlanta, Georgia, and wrote “pre Thanksgiving” as a text overlay in his .

On Thanksgiving morning, King shared a follow-up video of himself bonding with his nearly two-year-old half-sister, Love, as she adorably wished him a “Merry Christmas” with a kiss on the cheek. He clarified in the caption that Love meant to say, “Happy Thanksgiving.”

Love is the youngest of Diddy’s seven children. She was born in December 2022 to Dana Tran. The Bad Boy Records founder’s other kids are Quincy, 33, Justin, 30, Chance, 18, and 17-year-old twins, D’Lila and Jessie — all of them have shown to their dad in his legal fight to clear his name.

It’s not clear how the Combs family celebrated Thanksgiving, but it can be assumed that all of Diddy’s older children were heartbroken on Thursday after hearing the news that Judge Arun Subramanian once again quashed Diddy’s hopes for release by rejecting his third request for bail despite a staggering $50 million bond offer.

“The Court finds that the government has shown by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community,” wrote the judge in a five-page ruling obtained by Deadline. Considering the gravity of the accusations and the number of lawsuits Diddy is facing, it’s possible that this won’t be the last time the Combs family celebrates Thanksgiving without their father.

Ben Affleck, 52, seemed to be wearing his emotions on his sleeve — or perhaps his beard — during a recent solo outing in Los Angeles. The ant star, who split from Jennifer Lopez a few months ago, was spotted sporting a noticeably bushy beard as he was driving around town on Sunday. 

In the photos released by Page Six, Affleck looked rugged in a blue sweater, with his sleeves pushed up, as he puffed on a cigarette with the car windows rolled down. He appeared lost in thought in all of the snaps. The Academy Award-winning actor is reportedly on a break from filming his latest project with longtime collaborator and close friend Matt Damon for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Meanwhile, his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, was all smiles when she took their younger kids, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, to a Santa Monica AMC theater to catch a screening of Wicked on Tuesday. 

Photos obtained by the same outlet showed the 13 Going on 30 actress keeping things casual in a navy jacket, leggings, a baseball cap, and orange sneakers. Her children mirrored her laid-back style, with Samuel sporting a Snoopy T-shirt and Seraphina opting for a blue sweatshirt and black sneakers.

It was unclear why Garner and Affleck’s eldest child, 18-year-old Violet, could not her mom and siblings. She is currently on a holiday break from her freshman year at Yale University. The cinematic family outing seemed like Garner’s way of “holding space” for quality time before Thanksgiving, according to Page Six. 

Sources revealed that Affleck and Garner have decided to reunite and celebrate Turkey Day with their three children at the Peppermint star’s farmhouse in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Garner’s boyfriend, John Miller, is expected to the family.

Last year, Affleck spent the holiday with Lopez. This year, he wants to keep things “drama-free” as much as possible so he has decided to spend it with his ex-wife and their children. Lopez is very unlikely to be invited since Garner recently made it clear that she’s tired of the singer’s antics.

“Ben and Jen are looking forward to a relaxing day full of food and football,” a source told the Daily Mail of the “low-key, only good vibes” gathering. “Thanksgiving is all about being drama-free when it comes to Ben … and Jen is doing everything she can to make the day easy for him.”

Garner, who has been dating Miller on and off since 2018, is no stranger to blending family traditions. Despite early tensions between Miller and Affleck — especially during the latter’s turbulent marriage to Lopez — there’s now “nothing but love and appreciation” among the group, according to the source. The family gathering also doubles as a time for healing for Garner, who is currently mourning the loss of her beloved golden retriever, Birdie. She recently announced her pet’s ing on Instagram in a lengthy message reflecting on the bond they shared through the years since she got her after her separation from Affleck in 2015. 

“She lived a happy dog life and is now in the role she was born to play: angel girl. It’s a gift to love and be loved by such a creature as Birdie the Doggie,” she captioned her post showing her precious moments with Birdie.

As Thanksgiving brings Affleck and Garner together again, it’s clear that despite their differences, the two remain united in their shared mission of prioritizing their children.

Thanksgiving is that time of year when kitchens are bustling, families are gathering, and everyone is trying their best to whip up a meal that could rival a Norman Rockwell painting. But let’s be clear: not everyone belongs in the kitchen, and the following TikTok video hilariously proves why! 

As Thanksgiving approaches, home chefs everywhere are scrambling to perfect their holiday recipes. But as anyone who’s hosted Thanksgiving knows, not all culinary efforts are created equal. Sometimes, recipes flop spectacularly, and the viral TikTok shows that when the rolls go wrong, they can really go wrong.

Who ordered the rock-hard rolls?

A viral TikTok video from Barstool Sports has taken the internet by storm, racking up more than 7 million views and nearly 350,000 likes. It hilariously demonstrates just how wrong things can go. It stars two brothers, one questionable batch of homemade rolls, and a whole lot of laughter. The now-famous clip shows one brother holding one of his mom’s homemade rolls, which, at first glance, might seem innocent enough. But things quickly take a turn when he demonstrates just how solid these rolls are. The roll is so overcooked it’s practically indestructible. 

To prove its toughness, the boy bangs the roll on the table, and the sound it makes is unmistakably similar to a pool ball clunking against the surface. But the real laugh-out-loud moment comes when he lobs the rock-hard roll at his unsuspecting brother, who is sitting quietly at the dinner table. The roll bounces off his head with a loud thunk that TikTok s couldn’t contain their laughter. The absurd sound effect and the brother’s nonchalant reaction have made this video a Thanksgiving comedy classic.

One commenter summed it up perfectly with the question on everyone’s mind: “Why’d it sound like a pool ball?” Another chimed in with a playful jab, “Yummy! It will give you that CRUNCH.” Meanwhile, a third compared the unfortunate rolls to “the burger buns at school,” which, let’s be honest, hits way too close to home for anyone who endured cafeteria lunches.

Thanksgiving fails make the holidays a lot funnier 

While this hilarious kitchen mishap has people howling, it also feels incredibly relatable. Thanksgiving is known for its share of culinary disasters. From turkeys that refuse to thaw, and mashed potatoes that are more glue than fluff, to pies that resemble hockey pucks. It’s all part of the holiday charm or chaos. This particular roll catastrophe, however, has reached a level of comedy gold most kitchen fails could only dream of. What makes this video so endearing is its relatability. Everyone has experienced a Thanksgiving kitchen fail at some point.

Let’s be honest, half the fun of Thanksgiving is laughing off those mishaps with the people who matter most. Thanksgiving, at its core, is about coming together with loved ones, sharing gratitude, and even laughing at the occasional dinner disaster. Whether it’s a dry turkey, lumpy gravy, or, in this case, rock-hard rolls, the memories made around the table are what really matter. And for this family, those memories now include a viral moment that millions of people won’t soon forget. 

Donald Trump‘s annual unhinged Thanksgiving message has tragically become as much a tradition of Turkey Day as, well, arguing about the man himself at the dinner table. Our putrescent President-Elect never wastes an opportunity to squeeze in a not-so-subtle dig at his enemies while he’s wishing the American people some holiday goodwill, and sure enough, he wasn’t about to let the opportunity to gloat this Thanksgiving him by.

In this year’s A Very Truth Social Thanksgiving Special, Trump decided to waste no time in switching from festive cheer to directly attacking his Democratic critics who he blamed for working “so hard to destroy our Country.” He also couldn’t resist the opportunity to mock the left, with all the finesse of a first-grader bully, by noting how they “have miserably failed, and will always fail.” Trump ended his message with a truly disturbing promise. “Don’t worry…” he began. Forgive us, but when Diaper Don tells us not to worry, we tend to do the opposite.

Here’s Trump’s Truth Social message, posted in the early morning hours this Thursday, Nov. 28, in full:

“Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have miserably failed, and will always fail, because their ideas and policies are so hopelessly bad that the great people of our Nation just gave a landslide victory to those who want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted on Truth Social in the early hours of Thursday morning. Don’t worry, our Country will soon be respected, productive, fair, and strong, and you will be, more than ever before, proud to be an American!”

Believe it or not, Trump was clearly in a better and more generous mood than when he wrote his Thanksgiving message last year as that was even more spiteful and hate-filled. At least, this time he’s not singling out anyone specifically to call them “Racist & Incompetent” and a “Psycho” like he did to New York Attorney General Letitia James and Justin Arthur Engoron in 2023.

We can’t wait to see what he comes up with for his extra-special Christmas message this December, although it’s going to be hard to top the fuzzy warmth, wholesomeness, and general Santa Claus vibes he gave in last year’s Xmas message. As a reminder, he spent the whole thing ripping into President Biden and Special Counsel Jack Smith before ending with a heartwarming holiday farewell: “MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

Trump’s speech at the dinner table today might well go on for as long as one of his rambling rallies, as he’s got a lot to be personally thankful for this year. From his recent re-election to this week’s dismissal of the 2020 election interference case, the last of the aforementioned Smith’s criminal cases against him. For the rest of us, let’s just be thankful we’ve got at least two more months to enjoy before Trump comes along to gobble-gobble up the nation.

For most people, Thanksgiving means food, family, and movies, but for organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the holiday has a different meaning. 

Whether you eat meat or you’re a devout vegan, everyone can agree that animal cruelty is deplorable. That’s why the allegations that PETA is making against Butterball, one of America’s biggest turkey brands, have people questioning their Thanksgiving dinner plans for this year.

PETA’s allegations against Butterball 

PETA made some startling allegations against Butterball recently, and with Thanksgiving here, they could prove disastrous for the company, not just for this year, but for subsequent holidays. The animal rights organization carried out an undercover investigation into one of Butterball’s facilities, and the investigation revealed all kinds of abuse being carried out by Butterball employees on the turkeys.

PETA posted a video to Instagram and captioned it, “Do you know what happened to your Butterball turkey before they were killed">In a statement emailed to Scripps News and other outlets, Butterball’s spokesperson claimed the footage was, “taken prior to Butterball becoming a private company and prior to our engagement and certification through American Humane.”

Their email response also claimed, “Animal care and well-being is central to who we are as a company, and we are committed to the ethical and responsible care of our flocks.” They also added, “We have yearly audits conducted by a third party to ensure compliance with our 200+ science-based standards of best practice of care for turkeys, well-exceeding industry best practices.”

Overall, Butterball has confirmed that the rumors that their turkeys are being recalled are false and maintains that their turkeys are safe to eat. Meanwhile, PETA’s president, Ingrid Newkirk, claimed that the American Humane certification is a “sham.” So while you probably won’t get physically sick eating a Butterball turkey, your conscience might feel very queasy.

Just one month ago, we were all collectively dragging the skeleton decorations up from the basement and setting up inflatable ghosts in the front yard for spooky season. Now, there’s simply no time like the present, as we all get pre-gaming for this year’s Turkey Day.

With a blink-and-you’ll-miss-them matter of weeks between Nov. 1 and the onslaught of Christmas, it’s easy to forget the holiday before the HOLIDAY, especially if you aren’t the one cooking the bird (or tofurkey) on Thanksgiving Day. But, don’t worry, maybe you can at least bring the store-bought pumpkin pie, or a few bottles of wine to spice up the festivities.

So this year, why not luxuriate a little in the season that takes place before Black Friday, Tech Monday, and the week before Christmas? Here are, in no particular order, 17 festive flicks to help you slip into the Thanksgiving spirit as easily as your favorite house slippers.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

There’s no point in opening our list with anything other than the granddaddy Thanksgiving holiday movie of all time. Without a doubt, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is sure to elicit all the feels of nostalgia — even for those who weren’t alive when it first aired in 1973. And while turkey with cranberry sauce and all the trimmings is still the national Thanksgiving meal gold standard, Charlie Brown and co. have made popcorn, pretzels, toast, and jelly beans an acceptable second option for nearly a half-century.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Big Christmas will probably always maintain its hold on Hollywood as the number one topic for seasonal festivity films — so that just makes a holiday pic with Thanksgiving bonafides all the more special. If anything comes close to a nationwide Thanksgiving movie, it’s the beloved John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and its tale of two hapless holiday travelers doing everything they can to just make it home for the big meal.

The Blind Side

The real-life story surrounding this heartfelt drama might be getting its fair amount of controversy right now, but we certainly won’t let that take away from the fact that this is a memorable drama project which can definitely be enjoyed during the massive holiday season. After taking in a homeless young teenager, the Tuohy family quickly realizes that they have a new family member to welcome with open arms — which even includes a special Christmas card.

You’ve Got Mail

While You’ve Got Mail isn’t explicitly about Thanksgiving, one does occur during the course of the movie and that’s good enough for the feel-good rom-com to make our list. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are still one of the greatest romantic comedy pairings of all time, and this remake of The Shop Around the Corner makes for plenty of charm and magic for the holidays.

Little Women

Thanksgiving is nothing without family, and it’s hard to find a movie more about family than Little Women. The troubles and triumphs of Meg, Amy, Beth, and Jo March always make for a great Turkey Day movie marathon entry. You can practically make a marathon of nothing but different Little Women adaptations, but we favor the most recent Greta Gerwig-directed version featuring Florence Pugh and Saoirse Ronan (the Katherine Hepburn version or the Winona Ryder version are both laudable).

The Family Stone 

Okay, we’ll it that this list is going to inevitably experience some Christmas creep — filmmakers can’t seem to be able to resist the tinseled allure of the number one holiday. But many films — including this holiday rom-com — could just as easily be about Thanksgiving if you give or take a tree or two. Misunderstandings, awkward dinner conversations, and food disasters make The Family Stone just as apropos for Thanksgiving viewing as it is for Yuletide.

Home Alone

Now, this is technically a Christmas movie, but what’s a ’90s kid going to do without this on their watchlist? There’s no arguing that, no matter how the home is decorated, Home Alone is one of the most traditional ways to kick off a twenty-first-century holiday season to Millennials and Gen Z-ers alike. So Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving, ya filthy animals.

What’s Cooking?

A lot of people absolutely slept on What’s Cooking? when it came out in 2000, but its different tales of the cultural and generational struggles of four diverse families resonate now more than ever. Anchored by a solid cast of Hollywood character actors, What’s Cooking? may be the holiday family film you never knew you needed until now.

Friendsgiving

Speaking of non-traditional families, Friendsgiving sends up the now-common tradition of an “orphan’s” gathering of friends unable or unwilling to spend the holiday with family. Kat Denning stars as Abby, a recently out lesbian attempting a quiet holiday meal with her sister that keeps on escalating into a feast full of strangers.

Miracle on 34th Street

At some point during November, perhaps one day after Thanksgiving or maybe one week into the month, you will relent to the fact that Christmas, like Winter, is coming. When you finally lose all resolve that jingle bells must and will be heard, there’s no better bridge-gap movie from November to the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” than Miracle on 34th Street. It even starts during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So abandon your Grinchy-ness early and give it up for Kris Kringle and the United States Postal Service.

This Christmas

A heartfelt drama with plenty of comedic side dishes, This Christmas offers a multigenerational dive into one family as they return home for Christmas. There’s plenty of meat on the bone here, but the movie also has one of the best “boyfriend claps back during the holiday meal” scenes of all time. So, I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is definitely being added to the top of my watchlist for Thanksgiving this year. And yes, it’ll be just as played out during Christmas time.

Knives Out

From the cozy sweaters to the wooden mantel and crisp fireplace, it’s hard to imagine conducting a Thanksgiving watch marathon without adding Rian Johnson’s puzzling project to the list. And, of course, if your own family are huge fans of fun-filled games and solving mysteries from time to time, there’s no better film to indulge in during this Thanksgiving than the star-studded extravaganza. Feel free to enjoy the sequel, as well.

Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays might be low-key about its iconic Thanksgiving movie status, but that doesn’t make it any less a classic for all of its obvious quirks. Mixing gut-busting humor and expected drama, the film is practically the other side of the coin you get with most holiday films and for all its laughs it doesn’t provide many pat answers or clichés. If you like your feels a little bittersweet (just like some yummy sweet potato pie), then this may be your best holiday dish.

Lez Bomb

There’s no denying that the holiday season sometimes turns out to be unofficial “coming-out season” as well. Bobby Farrelly of Farrelly Brothers fame produced this 2018 coming out and coming home for the holidays mash-up back in 2018. Looking back, its endless array of misunderstandings and mishaps lend an LGBT twist to a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation-style farce. The film also has a jaw-dropping array of ing talent including Cloris Leachman and Bruce Dern.

Fantastic Mr. Fox 

Something about Wes Anderson films just seem to lend themselves to November, but possibly none more so than Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anderson’s stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel boasts a great story and a star-studded voice cast of Anderson regulars, but its rich Autumn color palettes and almost obsessive use of food make it the most Thanksgiving-esque Anderson film ever.

The Oath

No matter how much we may try to get around it, the stereotype of the huge political argument breaking out during the Thanksgiving meal is a stereotype for a reason. The Oath takes that argument to a (hopefully) ridiculous extreme with the conceit of a fictional loyalty oath that the public will be required to sign on the day after Thanksgiving. Arguments and incredible mayhem ensue. This might not be the right movie for families with split political loyalties, but it might be just right for your own little holiday echo chamber.

Addams Family Values

We would be remiss if we were to leave out the film version of the greatest First Thanksgiving Play ever. Addams Family Values skewers the season mercilessly and while the revenge fantasy end sequence of the Addams kids’ summer camp stay is the high point of the movie, is it really even Thanksgiving until we’ve seen Pugsley dressed as a turkey singing “Eat me!?” We think not.

Gisele Bündchen has her kids all to herself this Thanksgiving after the NFL star and father to her children, Tom Brady made a subtle dig about the importance of staying committed on social media. 

A source revealed on Tuesday that the supermodel, 44, left the country with their children to spend Thanksgiving in the Caribbean. Bündchen’s boyfriend, Joaquim Valente, also ed the family for the celebration/getaway. 

“[The co-parents] won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving together. Gisele took the kids and headed to Costa Rica with Joaquim to spend the holiday with each other,” an insider told Page Six. 

Bündchen’s decision to bring the kids — Jack, 17, Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 — with her comes after the exes seemingly had a low-key exchange on social media about their failed marriage. 

Last week, the fashion model shared a meaningful message about personal growth with her followers on Instagram, saying they should not be afraid to make changes in their lives if it’s for the better. 

“There’s no guide to life, no perfect roap to follow. But everything you are, is a choice! To feel good, to be healthy, and to cultivate a positive mindset are daily choices that only you can commit to,” she wrote in the caption of a photo showing her enjoying a peaceful moment while sitting on a dock. 

Interestingly, Brady, 47, decided to show off their lavish family home on Miami’s exclusive Indian Creek Island days later. In an Instagram Story, he ed a photo showing the breathtaking sunset by their lavish pool, and he accompanied it with a cryptic message: “Discipline reveals the commitment you have to your dreams.”

Some fans quickly assumed that it was Brady’s response to Bündchen and that it could be his way of reminding her of their previous commitment and shared vision to live in the family home they bought for $17 million four years before his retirement. 

Ever since the athlete and the model divorced in October 2022, Bündchen has been residing in an Art Deco-inspired cottage while awaiting the completion of her $11.5 million Miami Beach mansion’s renovations. On the other hand, Brady has opted to stay in their family home. 

It’s unclear if Bündchen took the kids abroad with her this Thanksgiving as a way to get back at her ex. Both parties did not respond when asked by Page Six for comment. 

However, the outlet’s source insisted there’s no issue with the supermodel having their children with her on the holiday because the two allegedly agreed to have this arrangement. Their kids will reportedly spend time with Bündchen and her beau this week, but they will be with the quarterback for the remainder of the holiday season. 

“Tom is ive, and that’s the arrangement he and Gisele have agreed upon. [Besides, he will] have plenty of time to spend with his children during the holiday season,” the insider explained. 

It’s also worth noting that Brady will be busy on Thanksgiving due to his broadcasting duties with Fox Sports. The retired NFL star was tasked to give play-by-play comments on the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants game on Thursday.

“He’s going to be calling the game for Fox that day and will be tied up with work,” noted the source. 

Brady and Bündchen share custody of their two biological children, Benjamin and Vivian, and the model co-parents her ex-husband’s eldest son, Jack, whom Brady had with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.

Bündchen is currently pregnant with her first child with Valente, whom she started dating in June 2023, months after her divorce with Brady was finalized. 

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, the nation’s home chefs are preparing for the most stressful batch cooking event of 2024. But thanks to one TikTok recipe, it need not be stressful for financial reasons.

Content creator Dollar Tree Dinners, who is dedicated to sharing budget-friendly recipes, posted instructions to make a three-course meal on Nov. 26, 2024, right in time for the holidays. The best part? The whole dinner costs under $12.

You can view the detailed recipe and the method in the video’s description, but the meal is made up of nine simple ingredients: instant mashed potatoes, green beans, 2 cans of turkey, gravy mix, turkey stuffing mix, dried cranberries, milk, margarine, and chicken broth.

It may lack the decadent vibe of a roasted turkey with made-from-scratch stuffing, but this recipe aims to allow people who may not be able to afford all the trimmings of a Thanksgiving dinner to still make the most of the food-filled occasion. Caleb Cooks explained as much in a sweet and grateful TikTok response, telling Dollar Tree Lady “You are helping a lot of people,” and saying he wants her to know that her content is helping families in need.

Cooks said he visited the Dollar Stone earlier, and that a woman with a “beat up car” and three young kids had approached him. He claims that he saw all the ingredients from the TikTok recipe in her cart. When he asked the mother about it, she said she had originally planned to do frozen meals for Thanksgiving this year, but that the TikTok had inspired her to make the Dollar Tree Lady’s meal instead.

“She’s actually going to be able to give her kids like a real Thanksgiving dinner, and her kids are excited for it,” Cooks added. The Dollar Tree meal lady is a wholesome creator and I want her to know that her videos do help her.”

As if we couldn’t love this story more, Miss Dollar Tree herself responded in a humble post. She captioned it, “Thank you @CalebCooks for sharing that story. It’s an honor knowing that someone out there is able to make a holiday meal for their family because of my videos. This platform is the best thing that has ever happened to me, you all educate and inspire me every day.”

Food poverty in America

Over 47 million people in the U.S. face hunger, and one in five of those are children, according to Feeding America. Inflation, the ongoing impact of COVID-19, rising housing costs, and a stagnated minimum wage are a few factors of many contributing to tighter pursestrings across the nation. The Food Research and Action Center additionally reported that about one in seven households (13.5 percent) experienced food insecurity or lacked access to affordable nutritious diets in 2023.

ing for things other than food insecurity, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which s for the cost of living and social safety nets, reported the overall poverty rate increased by 0.5%, from 40.9 million people in 2022 to 42.8 million people in 2023.

When you’re facing rent arrears, have no health insurance, and can’t save for kids’ college tuitions, things like a fancy Thanksgiving dinner are the first ones to go, even though they often have lots of sentimental and cultural value in family homes.

Many folks are simply struggling to live, with no immediate signs of change on the horizon. That said, creators like Dollar Tree Lady are essentially doing grassroots community work, offering whatever they have to give. Some people have money to donate to charity, some offer the strength in their legs when helping a neighbor move, and some know how to make cheap meals so nobody is left out.

Whether you’re traveling or hosting family, the holiday season can be stressful. Even on the best years, when post-election agita isn’t at an all-time high, seeing that many friendly faces all at once can take it out of you. The next time Uncle So-and-so brings up politics, just hit him with one of these conversation-starting tidbits.

1. Female Turkeys can fertilize their own egg

Female turkeys can produce a fertilized egg without the help of a male turkey. Known as parthenogenesis, it’s a form of asexual reproduction frequently observed in insects, crustaceans, and mollusks – but it’s incredibly rare to find in vertebrates. The offspring are always male, and are indistinguishable from the turkey toms born the ol’ fashioned way.

2. Lobsters are NOT biologically immortal

The myth that lobsters are immortal has been circulating the web, but it’s far from truth. Lobsters can live an estimated 100 years, but the oldest recorded was a nearly 80-year-old female. The crustaceans molt every time they increase in size, but the shedding of shells doesn’t equate to immortality. Scientists estimate that 15% of lobsters meet their end during the energy-intensive process, finding themselves too exhausted to carry on.

3. Dolphins don’t hold the record for Mammalian breath holding

Our seafaring mammal cousins might call the ocean home, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best at holding their breath. Instead, it’s the sloth who claims Poseidon’s crown. Because the sloth has one of nature’s slowest heart rates, the Amazonian beastie can hold its breath for 40 minutes! Dolphins, on the other fin, have a maximum of 15.

4. Space is a natural adhesive for metal

In the vacuum of space, metals can fuse without adhesive – but only to an extent. They have to be similar in composition, and cold welding works best if both have surfaces have a flat edge. In space, there is no air to form a barrier between the atoms so they can share electrons and fuse permanently! Astronauts use rubber-coated tools to prevent anything from sticking to their much-needed devices, though theoretically, the oxidized layer of Earth-made tools would keep them from fusing to the things around them.

5. It’s incredibly hard to shuffle a 52-card deck the same way twice

Cards have a factorial of 52, which means taking 51 and multiplying it by every number below it to get the number of possible combinations. The answer is a mind-boggling unvigintillion! That’s 8×10^ 66, which comes out to 8 with 67 zeros following behind. That means that there is a real possibility that when grandma shuffled for Rummy, it was a shuffle never seen before, and one that will never be seen again.

6. Cheetahs aren’t big cats, they’re just very large small cats

Big cats, or Pantherinae, have evolved a floating hyoid bone and a special larynx that allows them to let loose those spine-tingling roars. Cheetahs, on the other hand, can’t roar. Instead, they chirp and purr like a house cat! They aren’t the only ones shut out of the Big Cat Club. Their closest feline cousin, the cougar (or mountain lion), is right beside them in the lonely sub-family Felinae. The Snow Leopard, believed to be the link between big and small cats, is shut out of both.

7. Trees aren’t the oldest from of life on the planet

That honor goes to sharks. Sharks have been an apex predator since before trees even existed. They’ve been around for 450 million years. Trees only appeared around 385 million years ago. The critters are even older than the rings of Saturn, which only formed around 100 million years ago!

8. The fax machine is really old

Alexander Bain patented the fax machine in 1843. That same year the first large caravan, composed of about 1000 settlers, left Missouri to pound the Oregon Trail. One in 10 settlers perished on the journey, but at least they had an easy way to tell their loved ones back East they made it safely.

9. The difference between a million and a billion is actually crazy

A million seconds is about 11 days. A billion seconds is 31. 5 years. Here’s another way to think about it: for every dollar a millionaire has, a billionaire has 1,000. If you were to lay a billion dollars end to end, the 96,900-mile line would wrap around the world nearly four times.

10. The Scottish Highlands and the Appalachian mountains used to touch

Before central Pangea broke apart, the Scottish Highlands, the North American Appalachian and Ouachita Mountains, and the Little Atlas of Morocco were all one mountain range. The supposedly haunted rock formations found in these mountains are older than trees (but not older than sharks).

11. Man’s best friend is incredibly deadly

People may fear shark attacks, but the aquatic creature is one of the least likely animals to hurt a human – domesticated dogs are far more lethal. The loveable household pets kill an estimated 100,000 people per year.

12. Humans can’t feel wetness

Humans can’t detect wetness independently. While our skin can sense temperature and pain, we don’t have a sensor for wet. Instead, our brains use a host of other senses to deduce wetness through a combination of temperature and context clues.

13. You’re more bacteria than human

It’s nearly impossible to accurately assess how many cells a human has due to our wild variations in size, but one study revealed that males between 20 and 30 years of age are more bacteria than man. Bacteria cells overwhelmed the “human microbiome” in the adult body, which on average consists of around 30 trillion human cells to 38 trillion bacteria cells.

14. Space is closer than you think

The edge of space, called the Kármán Line, rests around 62 miles (100 Km) above our heads. If we didn’t have all this pesky gravity and air resistance, it would only take around an hour to drive to the edge.

15.The world gets less beautiful as you age

Color isn’t a physical attribute, instead, it’s the color of light reflected off an object that gives it the beautiful trait. As we age, our eyes loose the ability to see and distinguish colors, and many of us suffer from a yellowing of our eye lenses. It dampens colors, prevents us from differentiating yellow from green or blue from purple, and makes most colors look faded.

17. Squirrels are omnivores

Those adorable acorn-eating rodents aren’t as sweet as they look. The little guys eat anything they can get their hands on, and have even been known to hunt injured birds or crunch down on unattended eggs for some minerals and vitamins.

18. Jupiter is Earth’s protective big sibling

Scientists believe that Jupiter has been absorbing or deflecting space junk away from our solar system since the beginning. The gas giant is 11 times the diameter of Earth, and gets hit by meteors 2000 times more frequently than our little planet. It’s a double edged sword, however, as Jupiter’s incredible size might mean its gravitational pull is sucking more debris our way.

19. There is a frequency that causes fear

Just below a human’s audible perception of 20 Hz, there is an infrasound that causes us to feel dread. At 19 Hz, humans feel the hair on their neck stand on end, get cold sweats, and even hallucinate — though they can’t hear the sound. The good news is that there is a frequency that helps us relax, too. 432 Hz, which is close to the natural human frequency, can help relax listeners and dispel anxiety.

20. The animal with the most teeth is smaller than your hand

Snails have more teeth than any other creature on Earth. The snail has a flexible, tooth-coated tongue-like ribbon called a radula instead of a jaw. The band goes all the way down its throat and shreds its food into tiny pieces. The Common Garden Snail has an average of 14,000 teeth, but some species can have up to 20,000! Not only that, but the aquatic Limpet Snail has the strongest teeth of any animal on Earth.