One Thanksgiving Dinner…to go.

     Onions sauteeing on the stove preparing for their union with bread cubes for savory stuffing.  Cranberry’s bitter-fruit scent wafting from it’s patiently waiting glass vessel.  The plastic Kroger bag being tossed open to retrieve the pre-cooked bird in all it’s store made glory.  Wait…what was that last one? 

     It was good.  Damn good.  I ate it and enjoyed every morsel from the gelatinous, stupid-sweet cranberry sauce, to the boxed mashed potatoes with a slight hint of melted Glad-ware on the back of my tongue. (Anyone who’s ever reheated lasagna in said reusable storage container gets the reference).  Yes, the meal was delicious and remarkably easy to prepare thus making it incredibly easy to enjoy.  But, that’s not really the point, is it?  After all, what’s Thanksgiving dinner without my frazzled Mom sitting down for the first time all day to enjoy the fruit of her labor whilst dabbing the sweat from her brow?  The holding of the family’s collective breath as Dad cuts into the overly browned fowl praying it’s cooked all the way through (the thermometer popped about 20 minutes into the cook time, so there goes that fool-proof method of checking). The sigh of relief and subsequent mastication marathon when we realize it’s not only done, but was probably done 2 hours ago (right after the commencement of Carmen Harlan’s “Thanks for joining us!” parade speech on t.v.). 

     See, Thanksgiving isn’t about ease of preparation and quickest to the finish line…it’s about taking the time to, well, be thankful.  Thankful for the effort in creating the bounty.  Thankful for the lumps in the potatoes and the rogue stem in the cranberries.  One may argue that Kroger customers everywhere are thankful for the pre-fab eats Annie the Deli Lady has prepared for them.  I’d rather get half way through my meal, then remember the rolls are still warming ,and now burning, in the oven.  Those are the memories I prefer…mistakes (and inedible roll briquettes) and all.

     Thanks, but no thanks, Giant Supermarket Chain…lesson learned!  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the store to buy some leftovers.