Everyone seems to hold on to the nostalgic vision of the Thanksgiving meal as presented by Norman Rockwell. Days and days of shopping, cooking, baking, etc, leading up to the presentation and ceremonial carving of the turkey before the assembled family. But is that really accurate anymore?
I ask this because I'm wondering if we here in Dallas celebrate Thanksgiving the same as people everywhere else or are we an aberration? It's well known that very few people in Dallas ever cook.
Restaurateurs I know tell me it's true that Dallas has four-times as many restaurants per capita as New York City. I don't know if we're too busy or too lazy, but we just seem to prefer to graze for food away from home.
Yesterday I received an urgent text from K asking me to call Central Market and place our Thanksgiving order. It seems K and her sister threw in the towel and decided it would just be better for all (not to mention easier) if we got The Bird In A Box from CM, then took it to their parents house.
This is all perfectly OK with me as I come from a long line of the cooking challenged, K excluded, of course. Besides, I never could justify in my mind the days and days of planning and cooking when the meal itself is over with in 30 minutes. And The Bird In A Box is really very good. :)
So, do you cook, or do you import?
S
My mom cooks. I don't really like turkey so I'd just as soon go out but whatever.
ReplyDeleteI thought all you guys in Texas fried your turkeys in those huge deep fryer things. Or is that the Deep South?
Some here fry turkeys, but to me it's just too much of a mess. I'm fine with a roasted bird.
DeleteWe are a bit more relaxed from days gone buy, but the dinner is still traditional, different dishes are brought by guests but most done here in our kitchen. And the meal is way more than 30 minutes, it lasts an hour and a half at least followed later in the day by continued snacking and pie, and the next day with turkey sandwiches and other left overs. Back in the day the turkey lasted almost to Christmas as mom squeezed every bit of that bird by making soup out of the carcass.
ReplyDeleteMrs. C. always cooks a feast although this year we're only roasting a turkey breast. Frankly, I don't know what the fuss is about; turkeys are amazingly easy to cook, just get it in the oven in time and take it out hours later before it dries out. It's the fixings that take time and effort.
ReplyDeleteWhen we go to NC we have a huge feast with all my dad's sisters & their families (& his brother if he comes down from Chicago). Thirty - forty people depending on who can make it. And my aunt Lila usually does the smoked turkey in the big smoker.
ReplyDeleteBut we're not going down this year so it will just be Mike & me. Since he's the cook I'm not sure what he's planning :) (I did cook dinner for him ONE thanksgiving & it was really good. Once in 23 years is pretty good - ha!)
I never experienced Thanksgiving until I was in my early twenties, and now it's my second-favorite holiday (right after Christmas). The first few years, it always was dinner at my in-laws. When we moved away from family, I started cooking the big meal - and I tend to go all out. The big bird, stuffing, and about five or six different vegetables. Pies, cakes, other desserts. The meal stretches out a long time, and we all love the leftovers.
ReplyDeleteWe've gone out for the Thanksgiving meal maybe two or three times. I missed the leftovers so much, I made a turkey the following weekend.
well....we can't fry a turkey because we don't have a garage to burn down ;)
ReplyDeleteMom is buying the bird and some sides as a package deal from her local grocery store - Brookshires
My sister is making a pie, deviled eggs and something else that's easy
We bought sweet potatoes with marshmallows, cornbread dressing, Hatch Pecan dressing, various dips and crackers, and a Buttermilk PIe
Sounds easy peasy :)
When we lived in Texas, it was eat out Thanksgiving. Now in Florida we go to wife's relatives for big home cooked feast. What kind of meal has always depended on where we were at the time. It is more of an acknowledgement of a time of peace and kindness for others.
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