Michele Decoteau
micheledecoteau@verizon.net
Takeout Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving started as a special holiday celebrating a good harvest and new friends. Today, the essence of Thanksgiving remains the same: food and not just a sandwich either. It is all about a huge feast, eating too much, and sharing that with your family.
Over the years, many people, moms especially, have had to start preparing the food before the crack of dawn. Busy schedules, non-traditional families, and an aging population have forced our culture to make some changes in the way dinner is prepared. Thanksgiving takeout comes to the rescue. Many restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores have stepped in to help get folks out of the kitchen and back with their families. “Prepared meals take all the stress out of the holiday. It’s great especially for older people who still want to have the family over, but they can’t do all the preparation,” says Keith Litchfield, Hot Foods Manager at Goretti’s Supermarket in Millbury.
According to the National Restaurant Association, one in ten people will have some or all of their Thanksgiving meal prepared by a restaurant or grocery store. Many of them are from smaller families or those without children living at home.
So what are some of the options for a prepared feast?
Many grocery stores offer Thanksgiving meals that are essentially heat and eat. For example, the meal available at Goretti’s Supermarket serves 10-15 people with a traditional repast of a 10-12 lb turkey and all the trimmings. This includes side dishes like mashed potatoes with gravy, creamy butternut squash, cranberry sauce, rolls and more. The cost is around $50 and it takes less than two hours to heat up.
Brian’s Eating and Drinking Place in Linwood offers a takeout Thanksgiving dinner. You can even call that same day and still get a delicious meal with roasted turkey, potatoes, squash, veggies, stuffing, soup, salad and more. A takeout meal for one will cost around $12. Colette LaRoche says, “We often have folks call us and order five turkey dinners to go. And we offer a full menu that day so if you don’t want turkey, you can get prime rib or seafood.” Like many restaurants, Brian’s is open for business on Thanksgiving Day. So if you not only don’t want to cook, but don’t want to clean up, this is a tasty and relaxing option.
If you are just looking for a delicious dessert to bring with you or your oven is too full of turkey to fit a pie, many local bakeries take orders starting in October! One restaurant, The Pie Shop, begins taking orders three to four weeks in advance. The Pie Shop offers, “typical holiday pies like pumpkin, pecan, custard, apple, and apple crumb,” says owner Betty Skeean. “These are large pies and comfortably serve eight people,” she added. In addition to pies, Betty also offers yummy pumpkin bread to round out your holiday table.
Thanksgiving is really about gratitude; being grateful for the people who enrich our lives. Takeout gives everyone more time to spend together. Regardless of how much or little of your feast is heat and eat, there will always be room at the table for Grandma’s special cranberry sauce or your sister-in-law’s green bean casserole.
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This appeared in November 2006 Blackstone Valley Shopper.
