Although Thanksgiving is still a few days away, some people in the D.C. region are already thinking about how to avoid the foods that they dread.
Some of the holiday culinary traditions are a bit divisive, a new AP-NORC poll found. For one, just three in 10 people who will celebrate Thanksgiving this year identified turkey as their favorite item on the table.
Stuffing or dressing, and then mashed potatoes, are the second- and third-ranked favorites, the poll found.
Outside of Tysons Corner Center on Tuesday afternoon, Jessica described turkey as one of her least favorite Thanksgiving foods. She鈥檚 from Germany, and said that if turkey ends up on her plate, it usually remains there until the plate gets thrown away.
Though she doesn鈥檛 enjoy the turkey itself, she said her favorite Thanksgiving item is stuffing. As for the 鈥渟weet potatoes with marshmallows,鈥� Jessica said that鈥檚 an item on the table she considers eating just to make someone at the table happy.
Greg, meanwhile, usually has a lot of Greek-inspired cuisine on Thanksgiving. His mother-in-law does a bunch of the cooking.
鈥淚f she does it well, it鈥檚 great,鈥� Greg said. 鈥淚f she doesn鈥檛, it鈥檚 not so good. 鈥� She overcooks the turkey, and it鈥檚 very dry when we eat it. And so we all sit around and tell her how much we love it.鈥�
He said the family uses gravy to address the issue, noting that they 鈥渟uck it up.鈥� Others turn to cranberry sauce, an item that 2 in 10 people who celebrate the holiday say 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 be missed,鈥� according to the AP-NORC poll.
But Megan described the cranberry sauce as 鈥渢he loser on the table.鈥�
鈥淚 just don’t put it on my plate, or you put the obligatory dollop, make people feel better, but you don’t eat it,鈥� she said, explaining that they鈥檙e a 鈥渟ides family.鈥�
As for sides that combine marshmallows and sweet potatoes, the poll found that one-third of people would prefer a dish without marshmallows, but 26% of people want them included.
Shelby Brown tries to avoid the potato salad, but said that sometimes, she pretends to eat it to keep everyone at the table happy. If it ends up on her plate, 鈥渋t goes in the trash,鈥� she said.
Anna said her least favorite Thanksgiving dish is green beans.
鈥淚 just refuse to take them,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like green vegetables; I’d rather have the sweet things.鈥�
She鈥檚 also opposed to the 鈥渇ake meat meatballs,鈥� but only described their taste as 鈥渇ake.鈥� Her family usually makes corn pudding, though, which she said is served with dinner even though it could be classified as a dessert.
