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Take-out turkey Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell While more families are turning to prepared Thanksgiving dinners from businesses to help them through the holiday, some are still on the hunt for the makings of their own dinner. Here, 2-year-old Christopher Carson grabs a gobbler while shopping at Ray�s Food Place with his aunt, Angie Banks of Central Point. For $49.95, Ray�s offers a complete turkey dinner. By Jessica Smith Think about what it takes to make Thanksgiving Day dinner. There�s turkey to roast. Bread stuffing to prepare. Potatoes to mash. Then there are vegetables to cut. Yams to candy. And pies to bake. The Dickinson family can think of better ways to pass the time. Like other Rogue Valley families with little time to spend in the kitchen, they�ll leave the cooking to someone else. "It�s a way to free us up to enjoy Thanksgiving and do the things we like," says Ross Dickinson, who works with his mother, Barbara, managing the family�s dog kennel in Sams Valley. Rather than juggle dinner-making with chores at the kennel and visits with family and friends, the Dickinsons ordered a pre-cooked Thanksgiving meal from Safeway Food & Drug, one of a number of restaurants and grocers offering fast holiday fixins� for busy families. When it�s time for dinner, all the Dickinsons have to do is warm up the turkey and re-heat the trimmings. Seems easy, Dickinson says. It�s the convenience of such prepared meals that makes them more popular each year, says Safeway corporate food manager Brad Barger. "People want a party, but they want a party quickly," Barger adds. "We�re finding that they want a lot of the leg work done for them." Although restaurant owners and grocers can�t give statistics about the growth of the fast-holiday-food industry, they say modern living and hectic schedules make it difficult for families who want traditional holiday meals to create them from scratch. "Everyone is in such a hurry these days. They�re running around, they�re working, they�re taking care of their families," says Eddie Stiffler, general manager at Marie Callender�s Restaurant and Bakery in Medford. "We slave over that kitchen all day so customers can come in and just pick up the food." Unlike most grocers where the pre-cooked meals are shipped in from warehouses, cooks at Marie Callender�s will spend most of Tuesday night preparing turkey and ham dinners from restaurant recipes. "It�s like we�re cooking for an army," Stiffler says. So what about taste? Stiffler says his customers can expect the same home-made flavor they get in any Marie Callender�s entree. The Safeway meal may not taste like Mom�s, but it�s a decent substitute, Barger says. "If you�re a good cook, this doesn�t match what you can do in your oven. But for what you get in an hour-and-a-half in the kitchen, you�ll be satisfied." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.