Thank goodness for Thanksgiving’s timing. It’s perfect now that we’re officially in a recession. Thanksgiving is the ideal hard times holiday. No gifts are expected. The feasting is relatively low-cost. The food is traditionally simple. And even though it can be an over-eaters’ holiday, Thanksgiving can be good practice for the belt-tightening ahead.

You have your economical big bird centerpiece and some root vegetables. Nothing fancy is expected. There is no item on the menu that would break the bank, were there any banks left to break.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that suits commoners and budget-minded people who know that with a small outlay you can feed the family plus the in-laws and if, if you throw in a couple of extra yams, the neighbors, too.

It is a day to remember that our ancestors, the first American foodies, cooked what they could hunt down in the woods and find in the ground and were grateful. On Thanksgiving we also honor those who came later and discovered the casserole as a way to get the most from a little as long as you mix it with cheese.

On Thanksgiving we resist the trend to tiny foods on little plates with big prices. We stay home and cook big in the name of leftovers, so that Thursday’s turkey becomes Friday’s enchiladas and Saturday’s soup.

Thanksgiving is the ideal hard times holiday.

Thanksgiving asks only that its celebrants get together and share. All contributions to the table are welcome, including Aunt Julia and her jello salad with cream cheese.
Thanksgiving is a humble collection of peasant tastes. The bread we break together does not have to be artisan. The potatoes need only be boiled and mashed. There’s little exotic on the menu, although someone may slip in the special green beans that have been in the family since her grandmother discovered canned mushroom soup in a Ladies Home Journal recipe.

As for that irresistible indigestible menu item called gravy, what could be more of a hard times concoction than flour and water and meat scraps?

Beyond the eating and the talking, and maybe imbibing in a a jug or two of cheap wine, Thanksgiving demands no special entertainment. No karaoke, no tango dancers. Only the free and natural pleasures of TV football, maybe a little nap on the couch, a long walk before pie, perhaps some political give and take as long as the guests are of like mind and stay away from the knife drawer.

Thanksgiving, the least commercial of holidays, has always been a time to remember that true wealth, success and happiness are measured by family and friends. This year, more than ever, we need to keep telling ourselves that.

It is a sentimental time, a nostalgic time, a time to give thanks for what we have been given and are about to receive, and, holy-guacamole, let’s pray the pension fund holds and Obama hurries up with health care. Because this time next year we don’t want to be carving up the Spam.

Tags: Juicy_Tomatoes, recession, Susan_Swartz, Thanksgiving

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under Family, Misc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.