The biggest dinner day of the year still means hours in the kitchen for cooks who love to cook a turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, gravy, and pastries. But in a fast-food country, most Thanksgiving dinners now include something, whether it’s a cake or a full meal, that is made in a supermarket or restaurant.
“With such a large turkey, most people were afraid to cook or cut it,” said Margie Longo, whose family has likely been running the Hincks Turkey Farm in Manasquan, New, since 1938.
Hincks is one of the many food companies that offer not only cooked and sliced turkeys, but also Thanksgiving toppings, gravy, cakes, and other cornerstones. A full dinner for 10 costs $ 97.
Some people buy turnkey turkeys because they are concerned about not cooking well and because they are concerned about salmonella. The main selling point today, however, is convenience.
“If you spend weeks preparing and sitting down to dinner, it will take 10-15 minutes, and you have two hours to prepare the dishes,” said Steven Anderson, president of the National Restaurant Association.
Anderson’s organization says that more than half of Thanksgiving vacations in recent years have included at least one dish cooked by a restaurant, caterer, or other food professional. And around 10% is consumed in restaurants. Both numbers are increasing.
However, the rise of packaged and prepared meals doesn’t mean the country’s cuisine doesn’t smell like roast turkey on Thursday.
A few days before Thanksgiving, many people in Hinck bought raw poultry and prepared meals.
As in previous years, Nora Leibman bought two saucepans to help her shave differently overnight.
Buying the labor-intensive sauce at the store means a little more time for the other final preparations for Thanksgiving. People who eat at home, waiting 17 years this year, will not complain about the shortcut, he said.
“My husband wants us to make the potatoes,” said Leibman, 59, of Sea Girt.
Businesses benefiting from the demand for MyWegmansConnect simpler Thanksgiving dishes range from turkey farms like Hincks to Boston Market, McDonald’s Corp’s 600-story supermarket chain.
Cherry Hill, NJ The trip to Wegman, a northeast grocery chain known for its meals and cooking classes, sold around 400 full Thanksgiving meals, including cooked turkeys, and started at $ 70.
One went to Susan Ganzer, a busy teacher who lives in Cherry Hill and no longer has to show her cooking skills to her family. The food served here is the best possible, he said.
This year, Ronnie Borsich’s celebration is at home with her parents, but she was responsible for the cake and the icing.
She made her appointment by going to Wegman instead of spending a day in the kitchen.
He said he would not disturb his family if he chose the easy path. “They don’t care as long as everything goes well,” said Borsch, a retiree who lives in the Collingswood suburb of Philadelphia.
More and more chefs across the country seem to realize that the more time they spend in the MyWegmansConnect kitchen, the less time they will be with family and friends.
Hy-Vee, a supermarket chain in West Des Moines, Iowa, has served Thanksgiving dinners that are ready to eat for a decade, spokesman Chris Friesleben said. Every year more and more products are sold, driven by beginning cooks who prefer to be with the family.
What woman wants to spend the day that she and her family spend in the kitchen while everyone else just checks the parade in the living room?
