I have four popular Canadian magazines sitting in front of me.
All are October issues and all have Thanksgiving as their main topic on the cover.
All discuss the length it takes to cook Thanksgiving dinner.
All talk about how no one has the time to cook meals like these anymore.
All give short cut, fast and easy recipes for food that supposedly tastes the same as traditional turkey day feasts, but in a fraction of the time.
And all of these magazine leave me feeling that the general population is losing touch with the joy of creating a meal for your family.
Of putting food together to create a blend of flavours, textures, and scents that can only be created through time and patience.
Now I totally understand the rush of a meal during the week. I stay at home with my kids and I still feel a rush to get dinner on the table for 5pm. I can only imagine how parents feel when they work until 5, don't get home until 6 and then have to figure out what to make for dinner, create it, serve it, clean up after and then start on other family things.
It must feel totally overwhelming.
But Thanksgiving is a holiday.
A day where you should have time to relax.
A day where you have time to put the turkey in the oven at lunch, surround it with yummy root vegetables, season with herbs and spices and allow it to fill your home with the most delectable aroma.
I can almost smell it now...
What gets me is roasting is so much easier than the quick recipes they put in these magazines. What other total meal do you prepare for 20 minutes and then leave it in the oven to cook for over two hours? Two hours that you aren't needed in the kitchen.
I know that during the week, quick meals for many are a necessity.
But Thanksgiving?
I encourage you to slow down the pace of life for one day. Just one. And take the time to really enjoy cooking a meal for your family. And while it is cooking in the oven, take that time to enjoy the company of one another.
And that smell. MMMMM. Enjoy the smell.
Enjoy it all.
Cheers!
Marina
I totally agree with you! I LOVE Thanksgiving and am hosting it at my house this year. I love to prep the bird and season it lovingly. I love making the goodies and the pies the night before. The food is amazing and the company even better!
ReplyDeleteI'm already planning Thanksgiving, and I'm in the US and have til the end of November. ;-) Mike's new job is an adjustment for us, because we've gone from having 4 days off to no days off. He works Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, regardless of what holidays may fall on those days. So for us, because Thanksgiving is always on Thursday, he will always work Thanksgiving. However he also has Tuesday and Wednesday off, and I've *always* done almost all of my prep work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pretty much the only thing that happens on Thursday is things get rotated in and out of the oven, so Mike will be here for the fun part. He is so good and so much fun to work in the kitchen with. He actually can't cook at all, but he loves to be in there with me and he cleans up as I cook and he gets things out of the cabinet and the fridge and empties the trash, etc. So we're learning a new way to enjoy our holidays. It's hard in a way, but we firmly believe that everything is as good or bad as you make it. You know what the hardest holiday for me to deal with has been though? Mother's Day. Because it's Sunday, and it's the middle of our work week and he's gone from 8-4. That one was hard for me, everyone was enjoying their day and Mike has always made that a really nice day and there just really wasn't a way he could this year. That was the hardest one for me. Lol.
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