Though Thanksgiving dinner is known for the consumption of vast amounts of turkey, that's really only because that was the dinner of the first Thanksgiving and it also happens to be turkey season. Why not celebrate the day and the thought behind it with your own flare instead of the one history dictates?

The first thing you have to do to host any type of dinner, much less a Thanksgiving dinner, is to pick the theme of the dinner. One common way to host a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner is to stick with a thankful theme, but to change everything else about the dinner. Below are some ideas for you to choose from for dinner themes. ~Cultural. You can base dinner on a specific cultural meal depending on your own culture and that of your guests. You can even make it a multicultural meal in which everyone brings a dish from their own culture. ~Humorous. Being thankful sometimes means finding the humor in life and being thankful that you can see it. Celebrate this with a humorous dinner. To do this you can ask everyone to bring a humorous dish. Some examples would be Kitty Litter Cake or even something with a more adult theme. ~Medieval. If you like the idea of medieval gatherings, ask everyone to dress in a medieval costume and bring a medieval dish such as grog, mead or stuffed quail.

Most traditional Thanksgiving dinners involve eating dinner and watching football after dinner while listening to Grandpa snore in the recliner. For a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, it might be a good idea to host your own activities instead of watching football, especially since there isn't any turkey to put Grandpa to sleep! Below are some activities to consider. ~ Twister ~ Funny Bone ~ Cards ~ Bingo ~ Poker

If you want to still host this as a thankful day, but you don't want the traditional dinner, you might want to consider finding a new way to express your appreciation. However, nothing says you can't say grace over a lasagna dinner instead of Turkey. Try the following activities to express your thanks in a different way.

~ Host door prizes ~ Vote on who fits in the best category, then give an inexpensive gift. For instance you might hold a vote on some of these categories in appreciation for every one's unique sense of self; funniest, tallest, shortest, wildest hair, craziest, most carefree and so on. ~ Create a "hot seat" in which everyone takes turns telling the person in the hot seat what it is they like most about them. Challenge guests to avoid repeat comments. ~ Tell about your funniest, weirdest or most creative Thanksgiving, then vote on the best in each category.