Escaping the Holiday Hassle

Christmas is less than a week away. Yikes! The to-do list seems to grow longer as the countdown gets shorter........and I have come to the conclusion that much of the attendant stress is of my own making. As usual, this year I decided to make some gifts while purchasing others. But I had other projects on my plate to finish first. So what happened? I found myself running around in circles, trying to find gifts for this person and that person, all the while trying to get sufficiently organized to start on the gifts I was convinced I needed to make.

I do this to myself every year. You'd think I'd learn.

Actually, I did learn something this year about minimizing the holiday chaos: I discovered that it's possible to have a magnificent Thanksgiving dinner without cooking. (And without being a guest at someone else's table.) I discovered I could order up a complete holiday meal, including an honest to goodness whole turkey, from Publix, our local grocery store. Everything was cooked and prepared by Publix. All I had to do was go pick it up the day before Thanksgiving, heat it up on Thanksgiving Day, and place it on the table. No muss, no fuss, no bother. And no, I am not getting paid or compensated in any way to say this. I'm simply recounting my positive experience.

If you think our meal was probably less than stellar, you'd be dead wrong. It was DELICIOUS! Better, even, than anything I could cook myself. The "hardest" aspect of preparing it was removing the wrapper from the turkey so it could be heated in the oven. The rest of the meal -- cranberry orange relish, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing and a decadent ambrosia-type dish -- was equally yummy. I confess I did make one extra vegetable dish for the occasion in order to uphold a family tradition. But that was the only dish I prepared myself.

Ordering the dinner from Publix freed me up to enjoy Thanksgiving as never before. It eliminated the hassles of all that shopping, chopping, peeling, dicing and slaving over a hot stove. It was my Get Out of Jail Free card.

So -- surprise! -- we're having the very same holiday dinner at Christmas. I've already placed my order. In fact, I can declare emphatically that I have cooked my last holiday meal. Having Publix prepare them is the only way to go. Now, if I could just find a way to get my act together when it comes to those Christmas gifts!

©2015 Lynn Edwards