Thanksgiving: One Girl's Crazy Opinion

I realize that I am likely in the minority on this one, but I am growing weary of all of the articles and TV segments I’ve been seeing that tout such headlines as “Thanksgiving Made Easy,” “Thanksgiving Dinner in 20 Minutes.” and “Turkey Day Your Way: Make-Ahead & Easy Menus.” Easy? Convenient? Quick? Where’s the fun in that? When did it become acceptable to treat Thanksgiving Dinner like any other weekday meal, something to be thrown together between loads of laundry and trips to the soccer field? Was it when they locked Martha up? Is that when those sneaky predators like Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee swooped in with their timers and canned goods and hawked the notion that Thanksgiving dinner preparation was some sort tedious chore to be dispatched much in the way you would rip off a band-aid? Honestly, we have 364 days a year to be easy; leave my precious Thanksgiving alone! Think of what the Pilgrims went through to put on the first Thanksgiving feast. It seems in light of that alone we could do better than a can-shaped blob of gelatinous cranberry goo. It could just be my nostalgia for the elaborate Thanksgiving spreads put on by my beloved Grandma Joie when I was a kid that has me on this rant (she's still alive; she just doesn't do the big dinners anymore - a casualty of the conspiracy?). Maybe it was the experience I had last Thanksgiving when my youngest, Fiona, was born three days before the holiday. I knew that a Thanksgiving baby was a strong possibility, so I ordered a meal from Whole Foods. It was delicious, but there was definitely something missing, something like a little bit of hard work. Whatever the reason for this bee in my bonnet, I truly feel that in our quest for efficiency, Thanksgiving has lost some of its magic.

Please don’t misunderstand my message here. I am all for a few shortcuts here and there, and I certainly don’t condone one person being confined to the kitchen asylum in her apron straightjacket while everyone else watches football and drinks hot toddies. I believe that everyone can be involved in the Thanksgiving meal and making it extraordinary. Part of the togetherness should come from laboring together with excellence to create something memorable and special. I believe that God created TiVo to get Dad and Grandpa off of the couch and into the kitchen to help chop veggies. I mean, even a small child can mash a potato, right? I’m even a fan of the Potluck experience. Have everyone bring his or her own signature homemade dish to add to the feast. Heck, you could even go non-traditional. Prime Rib anyone? Chocolate cake instead of pumpkin pie? Sure. Just let’s try not to have EVERYTHING come pre-prepared out of a box, bag, or can.

So, in the interest of bringing Thanksgiving Dinner back to its former glory, dust off your oven mitts, and do some real cooking. Don't let the ready-made mavens leave you feeling like some sort of freak. Be proud, make-it-from-scratch girls (or guys)! I hope you have a safe, blessed, and just a bit difficult Thanksgiving with your families and loved ones.