Today is Turkey Day (also known as Thanksgiving in the U.S., or as the harvest festival in previous Animal Crossing games). Franklin the chef was at the plaza, along with most of my villagers! It was quite a festive scene that reminds me of the harvest festival on GameCube. And the hats that villagers wear also resemble Franklin’s original hat.
The event, however, works much like it did in New Leaf. We have to gather ingredients for Franklin, and then he will cook each dish. First up was some clam chowder. He asked me to gather up three manila clams (he likes to use local ingredients) from the beach.
I dug them up and took them to the turkey. It was time to start cooking!
He made the chowder and then gave me a Turkey Day rug for helping out. Next, he wanted to make some pumpkin pie, which required just an orange pumpkin and a white pumpkin. I simply grabbed them from my pumpkin patch and handed them over to Franklin. He made the pie and then handed me a Turkey Day wall.
Next up was some seafood gratin. He needed a round mushroom and a mussel. One thing I can’t help noticing is that the foods require fewer ingredients than they did in New Leaf. Anyway, I got the mushroom out of storage and went diving for the mussel. Franklin made the gratin and gave me some Turkey Day flooring.
The final dish was a fish meuniere. For that, he needed a sea bass and a dab. When I spoke to Hornsby, I noticed a Turkey Day typo!
After changing into a chef’s hat to become Jeff the chef, I went fishing and caught a dab. But before I went looking for a sea bass, I decided to try out another aspect of Turkey Day: getting ingredients from islanders that are cooking at home. When I visited Midge, she needed a turban shell I had in my pockets. I handed it over, and in return, she gave me a sea bass!
But she also clued me in that you can make dishes even better by adding secret ingredients!
New Leaf’s harvest festival had secret ingredients too, but here, Franklin made no mention of it! At least not yet. I took the sea bass and dab to Franklin and he made the final dish. He gave me a cornucopia for completing all four dishes.
But then he also mentioned that I could go above and beyond by bringing him the secret ingredient for each dish. Unlike in New Leaf, these can be added after the dish is already done. That’s a big relief!
So I helped out my villagers and learned tips for the secret ingredients. Then I spent a bunch of time fishing and diving to find everything I needed. Fortunately, you don’t need to re-acquire the original ingredients; just add the new ones!
I eventually upgrade all four dishes, and they now have a golden sparkle to show that they’re extra special.
Franklin also gave me a Turkey Day casserole, Turkey Day decorations, Turkey Day table, and…a DIY recipe collection that teaches me how to make all of the Turkey Day furniture! I crafted the remaining items and turned my exercise room into a Turkey Day room.
The furniture looks realistic, and it has a warm, cozy feel to it…even if it seems a bit old-fashioned. It’s quite a departure from the pink and purple harvest furniture that appeared in the older games.
One interesting thing about Turkey Day: I’m pretty sure that rare fish and sea creatures seem to show up more often today. I caught multiples of things I rarely see, like football fish, rays, and pikes. While diving, I caught my very first sea pig and Dungeness crab.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S.! I hope you all enjoyed your Turkey Day!
Update: Here is my Turkey Day video.