16 Thanksgiving Traditions You Might Not Expect

"My Korean mom loves lasagna," says Young C., who runs a preschool in Seattle, Washington. "So, I make her lasagna for Thanksgiving." In turn, her mother makes a spicy Korean black cod dish for Young. And kimchi. Always kimchi.

For Reddit contributor Aliensheep, it's also all about lasagna, despite their family origins. "My family does at least one lasagna," they write. "Dunno why—we're Hispanic."

Reddit user Amedais just doesn't do turkey at all. "My family has started doing tri-tip [steak] as a replacement for turkey. It's 1000 [times] better."

For Liz K., a teacher from Washington, D.C., it's all about Thanksgivukkah 2013. "A few years ago, Hanukkah and Thanksgiving overlapped, so we had potato latkes to go with our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a pretty rad combo, so we kept it!"

Similarly, Rachel L., from Los Angeles, mixes three traditions at once: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and being vegetarian. They do sweet potato latkes with toasted marshmallows on top, and stuff a baked pumpkin instead of a turkey.

"Never turkey!" says Nora L. from New York City, who often heads to Rochester, New York, for the holiday. "We usually smoke pork shoulder or similar."

Shoshana F. always has a special moment with her now-husband. "DH proposed to me on a flight to Chicago from LAX on Thanksgiving morning in 2006," she says.

For Marija T., an actress in Los Angeles, no one in the family likes turkey—or even mashed potatoes. "Every year, we each make a dish we like, and we eat sort of a crazy mashup of favorites made by us in our California orphans-style Midwest transplant dinner." Last year included chicken nuggets, natch.

But you can't take the New Mexico out of the boy. For Henry P., a transplant from the small town of Trementina, who's now living in San Francisco, it's red chili sauce instead of gravy on the mashed potatoes. "Can't do Thanksgiving without that nod to New Mexico," he says.

Cynthia A., who lives in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, has but one tradition. "The only constant is no turkey," she says. They've ordered Chinese and made fish tacos. Last year, they had BBQ ribs with a coffee dry rub that her fiancé made.

For Fred W., an actor in Los Angeles, it's not Thanksgiving without these three words: White Castle stuffing.

Becca Hutchinson, of Wilmington, Delaware, told NPR about the origins of a strange family tradition—dropping one Brussels sprout on the floor before serving. "The tradition comes from childhood, when a sprout mistakenly fell to the floor and was bitten into by our dog before I deliberately put it back into the dish, slobber and all, and carried it to the table."

Lots of people see movies on Thanksgiving Day—it's the not-so-unofficial start of the holiday movie season. For Erin K, from Del Mar, California, it wasn't just one. "Before kids came into the picture, my fam would do a movie-theater marathon," she says. "We'd see like six or seven movies in three days. Great movie catch-up time!"

"Homemade ravioli—a family recipe—was always a mainstay for my Italian family," says Emily B., a professor who was raised in the Bay Area. "Rolled out the dough, filled, Great-Grandma Amelia's sauce." It's served along with more traditional Thanksgiving fare.

For Jen B., the best tradition involves her apple pie. "Each person gets a chance to hold the pie and then makes a guess of how much it weighs. The winner gets a dollar or some little token and is named pie king or queen for the year," she says. "It's my favorite."

Julie O.'s grandmother—"68 years young," she says—starts every Thanksgiving with a toast and shots of Fireball. "She typically holds the shot up and says, 'Arriba.' Then down, 'Abajo.' Then she sticks it out in front of her, 'Al sexo,' and then takes the shot right after and says, 'I hope so!'"