[Erin] Can I get a price check on Thanksgiving?

I confess. I bought a prepared turkey and ham this year. (Throw stones if you wish.) We did Thanksgiving early, last weekend, because my stepson had to leave for Fort Polk (and probable deployment to Iraq) this week.

Some in the family were sick. We all had to work. It seemed more important to share a meal together and give thanks for our blessings than to obsess about whether or not it was "home cooked" enough. It was the chance to be together that mattered ... not what was on the plate.

I have been buying pre-cooked turkeys for Thanksgiving & hams for Christmas and Easter for the past several years. This is because I stink at cooking meats for some reason. I have no knack for getting meat to come out juicy and tender. Pre-cooked versions of holiday favorites have been a God-send for me.

However, I absolutely insist on making everything else myself, if not necessarily making it all from scratch. Not only do I enjoy holiday cooking, I also think the prepared sides generally stink. They can't compare.

But this is not the worst of it. I agree that what is at stake is family and national tradition. Even worse is the growing trend to treat Thanksgiving like any other business day. A growing number of fast food chains will be open all day for Thanksgiving. I cannot imagine a world where someone would prefer a Big Mac which can be had 363 days a year to a home cooked traditional meal which comes around just once. But the chains wouldnt be doing it, if they didnt know that people will take advantage. That's about as sad as it gets.

I also feel deeply sorry for those who will be forced to work on the holiday in order to serve Big Macs and man registers at WallyWorld etc. Many of these folks would love to be at home with their families, but anymore only the economic elite can be assured of the day off. The working poor will increasingly be forced to work in order to serve the priveledged so that they can squeeze one more shopping day into the year. God forbid that anyone would expect a person to stay home with their families and entertain themselves there.

Girls don't have "accomplishments" any more, just as boys don't go out and do "nothing" unless they're gang bangers. They take AP classes and engage in sports organized by adults.

That's why we need Mexicans to mend our clothes, and throw away socks instead of darning them.

Bubble-wrap ignorance, I'd say.

Er, 'rich', not 'right'.

Erin:

You realize there's a much bigger issue here.

I don't "cook," in the classic sense you are talking about, at all. I do "food preparation."

And that, in turn, gets to people being too busy in general in our very non-"crunchy" age. (Also, in my case, the fact I've lived alone much of my own life, and it's very difficult to cook well for one without so many leftovers that some will eventually spoil.)

PS -- To do Thanksgiving in the way you are suggesting, you really have to start the night before. How many people have that energy after working a full day, even if they have already done their shopping?

Here's a different take: I do live life. I stay home, raise my children, don't homeschool so I have time during the day to...be. I paint, I read, I volunteer, I work out, I go to daily mass. Plus I do all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, housekeeping, gift-buying, schedule-keeping, you get the picture. But when it comes to big dinners like Thanksgiving, I order in. First of all, the cost is, depending on where I get it, exactly the same, a little bit more or a little bit less. No major difference, except my time, which is worth something. Cooking everyday is drudgery enough; why be completely over-wrought and exhausted when you're expecting a houseful of guests and relatives who want to actually spend time and visit with you?

My own big-dinner cooking leaves no time for that. I think it's actually crunchier to hire out the cooking and sit and talk, reminisce, play the piano and have a sing-along, play cards, etc. then worry about getting the potatoes and meat out at the same time at the right temperature.

I have gotten a turkey dinner (usually just the turkey, stuffing and gravy - because it was included), and I make my own stuffing and pumpkin pie. I also like to make or buy candied yams. It's been just me and my boyfriend for 4 years, and previously it was me and my husband. I don't have kids, and before I moved out on my own, I'd go with my parents to my grandmother's. She did cook the whole feast herself. It wasn't super fancy, but it was a day where we all (though it was only about 6 people, give or take) could hang out and talk, while she cooked. She loved doing it. My mom made a turkey once in a while, but since we all would go there for the holidays, it wasn't often. Once I moved out, I moved AWAY, to another state, so no more going home for holidays. Years have passed and now that I'm 30, I still have never made a turkey. I've never had the reason to make one for anyone other than myself and my boyfriend, and I am a full time student, so I don't have time to do it. I would like to learn how and try it one year in the future so that when I ever have kids, I can do all that cooking and preparing, but that's not now.

I don't criticize anyone for buying a pre-made meal. It's not here the food came from (or even WHAT the food is, though I love the food for Thanksgiving), it's getting together and having dinner together. Even though I can't spend the money to get with family far away, I am being with those I can, and eating a traditional meal. That's a tradition in itself, not who cooked it (and who stressed over it, and who spent more time in the kitchen than visiting with people).