MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Yesterday on the program, we heard from some of our listeners with their Thanksgiving family traditions. We had asked you to send in your unusual rituals and today, we'll hear some more.
One theme that emerged was the post-meal meal. What do you do when you've feasted on turkey and trimmings at mid-day, and later, you're hungry for dinner? Well, in East Meadow, New York, on Long Island, Gene Koo(ph) heads out to White Castle with about a dozen friends.
Mr. GENE KOO: The tradition started in 1991 and you know, holidays are a great time to get together with family and friends, but they can also be really stressful. So a friend of mine was looking for - kind of a release after one of the more stressful family events, and we went to the local White Castle and had a contest to see who could eat as many sliders as we could.
BLOCK: And the record is?
Mr. KOO: The record is 17 cheeseburgers, not just regular hamburgers.
BLOCK: And that has not been topped?
Mr. KOO: That has not been topped.
BLOCK: And there's no time component to this? It's not a matter of who can eat the most sliders the fastest?
Mr. KOO: Well, we've kind of determined that if you stop, you can't start again. So there is a kind of an internal timing mechanism, as far as how long it takes before your stomach starts rejecting the sliders.
BLOCK: Ouch.
(Soundbite of music)
BLOCK: A holiday television classic inspired another family's post-Thanksgiving meal.
Ms. KIM KRZYWY: Hi, my name is Kim Krzywy, and I'm from Durham, North Carolina. And my nontraditional Thanksgiving tradition is a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner.
BLOCK: And that, of course, means�
Ms. KRZYWY: That means that after several days of preparing food, that my husband and I serve a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner to our kids, which consists of popcorn, jellybeans, pretzel sticks and buttered toast.
BLOCK: And this is after the actual big meal.
Ms. KRZYWY: After the big meal, yes. We have that earlier in the day, around 1. And one year we were just really tired, and it was time to feed them, and it just seemed like a great idea.
BLOCK: Had you been watching the special "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"?
Ms. KRZYWY: Yes, they were familiar with it, and I believe they had commented that that sounded like an awesome Thanksgiving dinner to eat. You know, they were little at the time, so I think that the, you know, the corn bisque was not a huge hit with them. So the idea of toast and jellybeans and popcorn sounded really great.
BLOCK: And pretzels.
Ms. KRZYWY: And pretzels, too, that's right.
BLOCK: Yeah.
Ms. KRZYWY: And they have to be the sticks, the pretzel sticks, not any other shape.
BLOCK: Yeah, you really have - right, right. You really have all four food groups represented right there.
Ms. KRZYWY: Right, I guess the jellybeans are sort of a fruit.
(Soundbite of laughter)
BLOCK: Maybe. Now, are you eating around a ping-pong table?
Ms. KRZYWY: Unfortunately no, because we don't have a ping-pong table. I think the first few years when they were little, it was on the floor in front of the TV while watching the special.
BLOCK: Do you figure there will be a year when they will outgrow this, or do you think it'll just keep going on and on?
Ms. KRZYWY: I think it might go on and on. I really do. They have a lot of affection for it, and they're all pretty sentimental, all three of them. So I can't imagine us giving it up anytime soon.
BLOCK: That's Kim Krzywy of Durham, North Carolina, telling us about the Charlie Brown dinner that her family - including three kids, now ages 15, 13 and 11 - will be having tonight after the Thanksgiving feast.
I should say that here at ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, our Thanksgiving tradition is to produce this program after our mid-day potluck meal. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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