Yahoo Lifestyle The Charlie-Brown Inspired Thanksgiving Dinner That People Can't Wait to Try
If you're a fan of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts cartoon universe, then it's not really the holidays until you've tuned into the series's iconic holiday specials. There's It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for Halloween, A Charlie Brown Christmas for the holly jolly holidays, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which includes a very unique Thanksgiving meal.
With the boom in Snoopy popularity in 2024, the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner made the leap from on-screen to on the table. We've seen people across TikTok and Instagram recreating the quirky menu from the darling Peanuts special. It's a range of people, too. The fun meal has been a tradition in some elementary schools for years, but we've also seen some Peanuts-inspired girl dinners and other nods to the seasonal special. We did a little digging to get a little more info on this nostalgic trend and help you bring it home to your family and friends.
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What Is the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Dinner?
In the 1973 CBS special, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the righteous Peppermint Patty invites herself over to Charlie Brown's house for a Thanksgiving meal. But poor, powerless Chuck doesn't really know how to cook and can't muster up the courage to let his friend know. His trusty canine pal Snoopy swoops in to help by cobbling together a "gourmet" meal: toasted bread, popcorn with a side of pretzel sticks and jelly beans. Patty is indignant about not having a proper turkey but all is solved when Charlie Brown's Grandma invites all the kids to tag along for home-cooked Thanksgiving meal.
Why Are People Making the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Dinner at Home?
The combination of popcorn, buttered toast, jelly beans and pretzels might not sound like a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but it can be a great no-cook snack or lighter pregame to tide you over before the big Turkey feast. It's also really fun.
"Typically it is more of our lunch or appetizer on Thanksgiving day before we eat turkey and all the fixings," says food writer and podcast host Meghan Splawn. Since 2017, Splawn and her Peanuts-loving family have made the CBT. "It makes a fun snacky dinner for watching the special anytime in November and we've done that once or twice."
To put it metaphorically, the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Dinner is a reminder to keep things simple and to tap into your childlike wonder, because something really delicious can come out of it.
Related: 50 Thanksgiving Cupcake Ideas For Turkey Day
Ingredients You’ll Need for a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Dinner
Here are the core ingredients for a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner:
If you think you have to go the extra mile to make as much of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving from scratch, don't. Take it from Meghan: "One of my favorite things about this tradition is that it can be as elaborate or as easy as you want it to be. I like making stovetop popcorn and this year I'm baking soft pretzels from scratch, but there are years where I've literally just bought a big bag of popped popcorn, pretzel twists, and only put my effort into toasting bread!"
Below, Meghan details how to think about shopping and prepping for Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
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How to Recreate a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Dinner at Home
The CBT is snack board or girl dinner in that it is inherently a no-recipe recipe. All you need is a platter (or a baking sheet) and the essential ingredients: toast, popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans. From there, you can round out the snack board as you like. Splawn has liked to add sliced apples, grapes, pickles or carrot slices as well as cheeses and sometimes cured meats.
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Where to Watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving This Year
Sadly, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will not be airing on TV in 2024. But wait, there's still hope! You can catch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Apple TV+ and any other participating streaming service.
Related: Thanksgiving Movies for Kids
More Recipes Inspired by Our Favorite TV Shows and Movies
Dolly Parton's Famous 3-Ingredient Cake from Steel Magnolias
Adam Sandler's Famous 'World's Greatest Sandwich' from Spanglish
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