This past Thanksgiving saw a change for us. Instead of doing the massive overindulgence of a Thanksgiving dinner, we opted instead for a simple snack tray.
Of course, the kids didn’t starve to death, oh no. Son&Heir went to his mother’s family (guest count: “over 20 FFS!”) and Daughter went to her newly-acquired in-laws (guest count: “about 10 or so”) so they arrived at our place early last Thursday evening groaning with gluttony.
So for New Wife and I to have gone Full Thanksgiving with a turkey and the whole catastrophe could have been classified as child abuse. Well okay, the “children” are all in their mid-30s so maybe not, but you get my drift.
The chances are that the kids would barely have touched our meal anyway — and with the cost of food nowadays…
Then just yesterday I saw this little snippet:
Nearly six in ten Brits would rather have a takeaway than a traditional Christmas dinner, according to a survey.
A staggering 59 per cent of the nation say they would prefer to order a takeaway than cook up a roast dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas Day.
…and I can see where they’re coming from, just based on my own experience.
Of course, I plan on doing a proper Christmas feast for our lot:
… but as usual, this will take place on Boxing Day rather than on Christmas Day proper, so the kids can do Christmas with the other family branches just as they did on Thanksgiving.
The reason I’m hosting Boxing Day dinner at all is partly tradition — we’ve always celebrated Christmas that way — and partly because I can eat roast beef leftovers for days afterwards. (I can’t do that with Thanksgiving turkey because it can cause a gout flare-up. Beef, however, is a safe bet.)
The only slight bummer is that I’ll be on my own over Christmas, as New Wife is off to Seffrica for most of December and early January to bless the New Grandson — cost thereof will be most generously met by her #2 Son — so I’ll be doing the dinner myself. (No big deal: I’m debating whether to do roast beef or leg of lamb — the kids are agnostic on the subject, they love both.)
Hell, I might just get the butcher to slice the raw beef/lamb really thinly (a.k.a. “shabu shabu”), and do a “table roast” on a hot steel plate, Mediterranean style, with Greek salad, hot pita bread and hummus, and dessert of baklava or cheesecake. They love that idea as well.
Tradition? I don’ need no steenkin’ tradition. But I draw the line at takeout, tempted as I am by the thought of a no-hassle huge dish of fish ‘n chips supplied by the tavern across the road.
I need to get something to eat, now. Excuse me.
