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Thursday, November 22, 2012

Jersey Jazzman: Have a Reformy Thanksgiving!

Jersey Jazzman: Have a Reformy Thanksgiving!:


Have a Reformy Thanksgiving!

We have a national Thanksgiving crisis.




International comparisons clearly show our turkeys are drier, our mashed potatoes are waterier, and our pumpkins pies have less pumpkin per slice than every other developed country in the world (save Finland). A recent Gates Foundation project, the MET (Measures of Effective Thanksgiving) showed that surveys of students taken at "kids tables" around the country rate Thanksgiving dinners anywhere from "sucks" to "really sucks" to "can I leave the table now?"

Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice recently released a report demonstrating that bad Thanksgiving cooking is a threat to our national security. The primary reason is that our Thanksgiving cooks are not focusing on theCommon Core of the meal: turkey, gravy, and stuffing. Instead, cooks waste time fussing over green bean casserole. Yes, I agree that green bean casserole is important, but I ask you: will our children ever leave the table college- or career-ready simply on a diet of side dishes?

Those who accept the status quo of Thanksgiving cooking seem to believe that allowing Grandma to make the meal, simply because of her "seniority," is a recipe for disaster. (Ha! "Recipe"! Get it?) We need to replace theseentitled, burned-out cooks - who are often in the most difficult cooking jobs - and replace them with our best and