My Wife Is Brilliant! Christmas and Healthcare on The Table.

[MineralMan]

Once again, this year, it falls to me to prepare the Thanksgiving feast for my in-laws. It will be the usual turkey and trimmings meal, and everyone will eat until completely sated. Good stuff.

Unlike most years, though, I'll also be preparing the Christmas feast, since budgetary issues keep us from traveling to visit my side of the family. That presents something of a problem. The last Christmas feast was an enormous beef rib roast, which was well-received. I was thinking about a large ham for this year, but my brother-in-law's family won't eat ham, even though three years ago, they enjoyed one very much. That's another story.

So, it looked like I was stuck roasting yet another turkey for Christmas. I ventured the idea of preparing a couple of geese, instead, but was informed that most of the family had never tasted that bird and might simply reject the offering. I was not pleased, since I enjoy a well-cooked goose far more than turkey. I roast mine so it's almost fat-free, and stuffed with prunes, cranberries, and chestnuts, in the old-fashioned style.

My wife, upon seeing my dismay at not being able to cook a goose, suggested that I roast a turkey AND a goose for Christmas. That way, she offered, people could try goose without feeling forced to eat something unfamiliar. She is a genius! I get to prepare my goose and introduce a wonderful food to her family, along with something familiar and non-threatening.

This morning, I'm excited by this terrific option, and it gets me thinking about politics. This being General Discussion and not the Lounge or the Cooking topic forum, I had better get political or risk being thumped severely about the head and shoulders by the DU purists.

It occurs to me that healthcare reform is much like my dilemma with the turkey. Our current system is familiar, if unsatisfactory. Introducing a huge change in the way health care is delivered in this country is bringing the complacent and unimaginative sector of the population to its feet, shouting and bearing signs and pitchforks. Never mind that we have a delicious, economical, socialized medical system already in place. That won't do for the half of the population that fears change more than death.

So, we can't make the switch in one step, it seems, even though, like the roast goose, socialized healthcare is a wonderful choice. It appears that what we must do is to introduce the change incrementally. Let the guests at the healthcare table take a sliver of the goose, just to see if it's edible. Chances are they'll like the juicy, rich goose very much. They might, as I do, end up preferring it to the dry, bland turkey they've grown used to.

Then, we can, perhaps, serve just the goose at the next holiday meal, secure in the knowledge that everyone at the table will enjoy it, having sampled it and wanted more when it was in short supply.

[Blackhatjack]

1. The problem is Repubs are bought and will stay bought by the Health Insurance Lobby...

... it is about MONEY. Period. "Their MONEY... not the hard earned Money paid by individuals and their employers."

So there cannot be any compromise. NONE.

To carry your analogy a step further, they will never touch a sliver of goose(no matter how tasty to the consumers out there) AND They will do everything in their power to make sure the consumer never has the option of tasting a goose either.

Their solution? Sit down, shut up and eat what we give you(even though the portion continues to shrink)--Or you will getting nothing! And you will be happy about it!

[MineralMan]

2. But, if the voters get a taste of the goose,

they may toss a few more of the GOOPers overboard, so they can have it again next year. Perhaps. One thing's certain: the current menu sucks...bigtime.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Ask yourself how much credit Dems have received for bringing us SS and Medicare?

Most people I run into don't even know it was the Dems who did it. They think it was just always like that or something. Most people don't think much at all unless it has something to do with American Idol.

Don

[MineralMan]

5. Yup, we're pretty foolish for not making that as clear as the

opposition makes its objections to everything clear. Education.

[hootinholler]

4. Except the rib roast is off the table

If the rib roast is Single Payer, it's a shame because overall, the roast would be cheaper and delicious.

-Hoot

[MineralMan]

6. Given my choice, a boar's head would be served. However,

there is no chance on this planet that will ever happen. Same with the suckling pig or the crown roast of mutton.

Americans are generally very squeamish people when it comes to both food and politics. They say, "Eeeew!" when confronted with anything they have not experienced before. It's a pity.

Sometimes, I dream about doing an annual multi-course feast , built around foods we used to eat, but no longer do. I couldn't get my family to eat it, but I wonder if I could get a crowd to appear at the festive table at a price that would just cover the cost of the raw food.

I have dreamed about this for years. Maybe it's time to find a place I could rent that has a commercial kitchen and do this once a year for about 16 people. I wouldn't want to make money from it, but I couldn't afford it without dividing the cost up among the 16. I have some strapping young teens and early 20-somethings in the family I could pay to serve and could teach them how do do that. I could handle the entire prep and cooking for that small a group, then eat mine in the kitchen, since nobody wants a sweaty cook at the table.

[hootinholler]

7. I could groove on the suckling pig

But then again I lived in the woods as a teen.

-Hoot