OPINION

The opinions published by The Match are solely those of the author, and not of the entire publication, its staff, or Collegiate School. The Match welcomes thoughtful commentary and response to our content. You can respond in the comments below, but please do so respectfully. Letters to the Editors will be published, but they are subject to revision based on content or length. Letters can be sent to match@collegiate-va.org.

By Katherine Goff

Every year, when the holiday season rolls around, I always look forward to spending time with family, sleeping in, and enjoying the time away from school. But, there is one aspect of the holiday season that I truly cannot stand and that is Thanksgiving food. 

For the longest time, my family has woken up early on Thanksgiving morning to prepare homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, and apple pie to bring to my cousin’s house. Although I love this tradition and spending the whole day with my extended family, my Thanksgiving plate always falls short of my expectations. 

My family typically serves a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, consisting of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, a variety of questionable vegetable dishes, and cranberry sauce. 

Every Thanksgiving I try to convince myself that I am not a picky eater, so I will often fill my plate with vegetables, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. For my entire life, I have always hated stuffing; however, every year I feel inclined to spoon a miniscule portion onto my plate in hopes that my palate has matured. But, to no surprise, I am constantly disappointed and almost disgusted by the texture and strange flavor. After having close to 18 encounters with stuffing, I finally came to the realization that Thanksgiving food is simply not for me.

My least two favorite menu items: turkey and stuffing. Photo credit: Katherine Goff.

My dislike for Thanksgiving food stems from the fact that I hate all food containing soups, such as cream of chicken or cream of mushroom. No matter how many times I explain to my family that I cannot stand these gloopy soups, I always manage to taste them somewhere on my Thanksgiving plate in some version of a casserole. 

Also, I believe that Thanksgiving turkey is always a hit or a miss. Most of the time, it is dry, flavorless, and simply a vehicle for gravy. Unfortunately, turkey always ends up on my plate somehow. I always feel envious towards families who take a different approach to turkey and serve steak, ham, chicken, or even duck instead.

A delicious-looking roast chicken that could take turkey’s place on Thanksgiving. Photo credit: Con Poulos.

Although it is a Thanksgiving staple, I have heard mixed reviews about turkey. For example, Rachel Askinasi from Insider believes, “We should eliminate turkey from the Thanksgiving table altogether.” On the other hand, Ted Berg from USA Today states, “[Turkey] fails to meet your sky-high expectations.” 

It is not just the soups and turkey that fuel my hate towards Thanksgiving food. I despise the crowded grocery stores, the endless amount of traffic in Short Pump, and the ridiculous number of pumpkin items at Trader Joe’s. I have learned to stay out of the West End and to travel to the grocery store a maximum of three times within the months of November and December. 

I found over the past few years that Thanksgiving food can often be a sensitive topic, considering I have a very strong opinion about it, but I am always interested to hear the reasons why or why not someone enjoys Thanksgiving food. 

Brent Hailes (‘22) believes, “No, it’s not overrated. Most of the Thanksgiving items are available throughout the whole year, but they are not prepared with the same love and precision as they are on Thanksgiving.” 

Will Conrad (‘22) states, “[Thanksgiving] is not overrated, because no one is rating it highly in the first place.” 

A traditional dished served on Thanksgiving: green bean casserole. Photo credit: Christopher Simpson.

Pearse Riendeau (‘22) disagrees, stating, “Thanksgiving food is so overrated! I hate pumpkin pie; it’s not good! The casseroles are so nasty. It’s just one of your aunts throwing stuff in a pan and calling it a day.”

Personally, I agree with Riendeau. I believe that Thanksgiving food is completely overrated. I must clarify, however, that the holiday and its food are completely separated. And although I do not necessarily enjoy Thanksgiving food, I enjoy the holiday and spending time with my family. 

Despite our contrasting views, I can appreciate Hailes’ viewpoint. Having food that is dedicated to a certain day during the year makes it seem even more special, but not special enough to the point where I would enjoy it.

In the most recent years, my entire family has expressed their disapproval of Thanksgiving food, so we have started filling up on appetizers before the meal. For example, I do not think I could go to Thanksgiving dinner without indulging in homemade sour cream and onion dip with Ruffles potato chips. Plus, my mom will usually order an entire Chick-fil-a chicken nugget tray for all the kids to snack on throughout the day. 

One of the only other Thanksgiving foods I like besides sweet potatoes: mashed potatoes. Photo credit: Katherine Goff.

These snacks are the best part of my Thanksgiving, and I have found myself looking forward to them more than the actual turkey. The only downside is that I fill up on the appetizers, leaving little-to-no room for sweet potatoes, one of the very few side dishes I like.

This year, my family discussed changing our entire menu and preparing a steak dinner instead of traditional turkey. Unfortunately, this was only a rumor. As I stepped into the kitchen of my aunt’s house on Thanksgiving Day, I was greeted by the unfortunate sight of green beans, stuffing, and turkey. So, this year, I filled up on cheese and crackers a little bit more than usual. 

After seeing the turkey on the counter, I quickly overcame my disappointment and enjoyed the rest of the day with my family. In the future, I hope my family ditches the turkey. For now, I will stick to appetizers to make up for it.

Featured image credit: Williams Sonoma.