The use of the turkey in the USA for Thanksgiving precedes Lincoln’s nationalization of the holiday in 1863. Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that no “Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day,” and many of the Founding Fathers (particularly Benjamin Franklin) had high regard for the wild turkey as an American icon, but turkey was uncommon as Thanksgiving fare until after 1800. On an average, every American consumes 18 pounds of turkey per year and a third of it is typically consumed between the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Most Thanksgiving turkeys are stuffed with a bread-based stuffing and roasted. Sage is the traditional herb added to the stuffing (also called dressing), along with chopped celery, carrots, and onions. Non-traditional foods other than turkey are sometimes served as the main dish for a Thanksgiving dinner. Ham is often served alongside turkey in many households. Goose and duck, foods which were traditional European centerpieces of Christmas dinners before being displaced, are now sometimes served in place of the Thanksgiving turkey. Sometimes, fowl native to the region where the meal is taking place is used. For example, in certain parts of Texas, quail is the main bird for Thanksgiving dinners. In the US, a new globalist approach to Thanksgiving has become popular due to the influence of new immigrants. Some take the basic Thanksgiving ingredients, and improvise using flavors, techniques, and traditions from their own cuisines, while others celebrate the holiday with a large festive meal with or without turkey. You can try Tandoori Turkey to add an Indian twist, or a Thai Red Curry Turkey if you are in the mood for Thai. Meat lovers can go the extra mile by serving Turducken – which is a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, which is in turn stuffed into a deboned turkey. American football commentator John Madden popularized turducken during a National Football League broadcast. If you have vegetarians on your guest list, you could serve them Tofurky, which is a vegetarian turkey replacement made from a blend of wheat protein and organic tofu. There are plenty of fusion choices when it comes to side dishes. Jewish families may consume foods commonly associated with Hanukkah, such as latkes or a sufganiyah. In Puerto Rico, the Thanksgiving meal is completed with arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) or arroz con maiz (rice with corn), pasteles (root tamales) stuffed with turkey, pumpkin-coconut crème caramel, corn bread with longaniza, potato salad, roasted white sweet potatoes and Spanish sparkling hard cider. Cuban-Americans traditionally serve the turkey along with roasted pork and include white rice and black beans or kidney beans. Many Midwesterners of Scandinavian descent set the table with lefse (Norwegian soft bread).