On Thanksgiving week, the big stories were the consumer's holiday shopping start-up — Black Friday, of course. The turkey was barely cold this year before family members were out the door to hit the box stores for the biggest deals of the season. In Washington, the debt committee was the most expected failure all year. And pepper spray went from a crime deterrent to an Internet meme.

We have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving here at the Takeaway, including loyal listeners and unexpected guests. Among them, a team of five people who helped us see the world through different eyes: Larry Bissonnette, Tracy Thresher, their assistants Pascal Cheng and Harvey Lavoy, and film director Gerry Wurzburg. They talked with us about their documentary, "Wretches and Jabberers."

Thanksgiving doesn't just mean turkey and stuffing for many Americans. It means football. The resurgent Detroit Lions play host to the currently undefeated and defending Superbowl champs Green Bay Packers. In Dallas, the Cowboys square off against a very hot Miami Dolphins team led by Reggie Bush. The loser will likely miss the playoffs. The night cap features a true sibling rivalry as head coach Jim Harbaugh takes his NFC West leading 49ers to Baltimore to face his brother and head coach of the AFC North leading Ravens John Harbaugh. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin previews the day's games.

This Thanksgiving, we want to know what you are thankful for. We speak with two listeners who we have talked to before. Both were hit hard by the recession, and ask them what is worth giving thanks for this year. Cynthia Norton recently found a job as a caregiver after spending months unemployed. Last year at this time, she was sitting in a park with her dog wondering where she would go. She had no home, no income, and felt helpless. This year, Norton will be having dinner with the landlord of her new home. Lyndon Dees is still seriously underemployed.

It's the day before Thanksgiving and many of us will be spending the day preparing for our holiday feast. But for millions of Americans the tables may be more bare this year. With the economy still weak, and federal and state budgets for charity services cut, many local food banks and food pantries are seeing an increase in demand. But they don't have enough food on their shelves to keep up.

Holidays are defined by traditions — those we keep and those we break. And nothing could be more traditional than a roast turkey on Thanksgiving. This year, nearly 250 million turkeys will be raised to satisfy American demand. But how traditional is the turkey? The fact is, we don't know. The first Thanksgiving included venison, the Wampanoag people brought plenty. And the colonists shot some wild fowl, but there probably weren't any sweet potatoes, and definitely no cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln's time, what was traditional when the tradition was new?

The week starts out on an ominous note as the Congressional "super committee" charged with reducing the national debt announces that they will not reach a deal. What went wrong during their negotiations, and where do we go from here? How will markets react? Also, the Euro crisis rages on as another government falls in Spain with the election of a new Conservative party. Finally, another GOP debate, the start of the holiday shopping season, and Thanksgiving traditions from Takeaway guests.

Thanksgiving typically conjures images of spending time with family, savoring long meals, and watching sports. For those working at the Target corporation this year, they will remain only images. The mega-chain store has just asked many of its employees to put on their work clothes at midnight on Thanksgiving night to prepare for Black Friday shopping. However, many are not looking forward to the extra hours.

If Thanksgiving is a day for gratitude, Black Friday is a day for...sales! Right? Not so fast, says our personal finance contributor, Beth Kobliner. Last year, retailers were slashing prices by 80 or 90 percent, but she says bargains just aren't as big this year. 

If it's the adrenalin rush of Black Friday shopping you're after, we've got some tips on how to stay sober while walking down the aisle. Our Golden Rule to follow: fifty percent off of something you don't need is not a deal.

Every year, millions of families across America do two things on the fourth Thursday in November ... gorge themselves and watch football. Yesterday saw six of the biggest teams in the league go at it: New England took on Detroit, New Orleans went head to head with Dallas, and Cincinnati went up against New York.

In January, Lisa Scoppa and her husband, Duke, were in the process of adopting two young Haitian children when the news struck that Port-au-Prince had been hit by a devastating earthquake. The Scoppas feared their children were lost, but after several anxious days, discovered they had been evacuated to Florida. Now, ten months later, the family is together for their first Thanksgiving, and the two kids, Therline and Erikson, are officially U.S. citizens.

Thanksgiving approaches, a holiday full of yearly traditions for families across the country. As Americans begin to prepare turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberries for their Thanksgiving meals, we decided to take look at how our nation's capital celebrates this holiday. It seems that Washington lobbyists have their own special traditions in November, and the food we enjoy each Thanksgiving arrives infused with political influence. 

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and with the nation’s unemployment rate at 9.6 percent, many Americans are facing a difficult holiday season. Lyndon Dees, a listener from Stillwater, Oklahoma, knows what tough times are like. Lyndon lost his job in August, 2009, and has yet to find a new position.

This week, as we inch closer to the holidays, we wonder about home. What is it? Where is it? And what are the essentials, the bare minimum to make a place home? It's a complex question for me.

The image of home is a changeable picture for me. I lived in the same home through my 18th birthday, and the smells and textures of my childhood home are still familiar. I can imagine the bumpy green carpet of the hallway; imagine sliding down that long staircase without hitting the banister and relaxing on the fuzzy orange bean bag while watching “The Love Boat.”

With Thanksgiving approaching, how many notches you'll have to relax that belt buckle won't be the only question people will be asking. Much of the focus will be on air safety and retail sales. Many travelers are not happy about the latest security measures the TSA is using for secondary screening, including full-body scans and thorough pat-downs. Many see both as extremely invasive, but the TSA says that both measures will stay. Callie Crossley, host of "The Callie Crossley Show" at WGBH in Boston, will see if any changes will come as Thanksgiving quickly approaches.

This week as we contemplate the holidays we've all been thinking about home. What is it? Where is it? We've been getting a lot of examples from you, and every one of them makes me think, how would I answer that question?

In my home, a big old 110-year-old house my wife and I have had for almost as long as we've been married, the piano is the center, where you can hear folks playing away on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Just in time for the holidays, we're asking, What says home to you? Identify the scenes, the sounds and the events of what makes a place a home: Snap a photo, record audio or video and upload it via The Takeaway iPhone app.

Read more about the assignment and the new series we're launching for Thanksgiving.

It’s Thanksgiving Day! We're talking turkey and all the fixins’ that go with it. What is the proper way to carve a turkey? What do you do if your guests show up late? And how can we stay away from that dreaded canned cranberry sauce? Here to help solve some of these dilemmas, as well as give some helpful tips, are food writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin from our partner The New York Times.

At a Defense Department briefing on Tuesday, spokesman Geoff Morrell ran down the list of what U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will be eating on Thanksgiving day. It's a feast that includes more than 465,000 pounds of turkey and 61,000 pounds of stuffing. Specialist Naveed Ali Shah is one of the enlisted soldiers who will be taking part in the festivities on base. He's stationed in Balad, Iraq. First Lieutenant Russell Galeti joins us from Germany, where his unit is training before deploying to Afghanistan. And Michael Hoffman, staff writer for The Mililtary Times and a former Air Force intelligence officer, talks about what it's like to be enlisted during the holidays.

For every Thanksgiving Day grocery shopper procrastinator who hasn't picked up the essentials, Melissa Clark, our food contributor and food writer for The New York Times, offers us wisdom. Where can you best put your money to work for you at the Thanksgiving table? The turkey or the side dishes? (click through for Melissa's tips and her recipe for Spicy Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Hash)