Thanksgiving To Go

The days of the traditional homemade Thanksgiving dinner are changing for many.

“Meal time in America is changing.” says Michael Sansolo, a spokesman for the Food Marketing Institute in Washington, D.C. “An increasing percent of the population might not have the time or know-how to prepare these giant Thanksgiving or Christmas meals.”

Twenty years ago, the thought of ordering Thanksgiving Dinner over the internet never existed. In fact, many would feel guilty if they didn’t make everything completely from scratch. Today, companies like DineWise offer Thanksgiving Dinner with all of the trimmings, delivered to your door.

On one hand it makes me a little sad to think of the most homespun of holidays going so commercial. I certainly can appreciate the time and effort that my mother and grandmother put into their traditional holiday meals and the pride they felt as they served them. I looked forward to dishes like my grandmother’s mashed potatoes or my mother’s pumpkin pie, which may have been made with the same ingredients as the supermarket version, but sure didn’t taste the same to me.

On the other hand, is getting up at 4 a.m. to put in the turkey all worth it? If ordering a prepared Thanksgiving Dinner online, through a caterer or the local supermarket helps to reduce the stress and expectations of the holiday meal, traditionally put upon the women of the family, why not?

After all, the meal, whether made at home or somewhere else is only one part of Thanksgiving. It’s really about bringing family and friends together, giving thanks for the people that we are lucky enough to have in our lives.