As I finalized our Thanksgiving dinner menu for my guests, I flashed back to memories of the Gallo Family Thanksgiving extravaganzas all those years ago.

There was jumbo shrimp cocktail, an antipasti platter the size of a sled, my mother’s famous lasagna, followed by the turkey, several vegetables, bowls of shiny black and green olives, two kinds of potatoes, roasted chestnuts, a mountain of fresh fruit, and at least four homemade pies. We practically needed a crane to hoist ourselves out of our chairs when it was over.

We didn’t act like the Sopranos. We just ate like them.

As a busy professional who has a family (and guests) to feed, I could take the easy way out and buy prepared foods for Thursday’s dinner. Some might applaud me. But what blasphemy that would be, for me.

I love tradition. It connects me to my past and honors my NJ childhood. I need to cook this meal. Though I won’t replicate the dinner from my youth, I will include some tasty favorites.

Tradition is also what weds me to print in so many holiday situations.

To wit…

– Hand addressed cards and letters start to arrive in late November. These get opened first and are always read. Many are saved.

– I choose holiday wrapping paper with care. I’m partial to the old fashioned kind, with Santa designs from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

– As much as I like searching for recipes on sites like Epicurious.com and the Food Network, I have bonded with my favorite cookbooks. Many fall open to oft-used recipes, complete with penciled-in notes and stains of ingredients that got away.

– More than the cookbooks, I love my folder filled with hundreds of recipes gathered over 25 years, many torn from magazines and newspapers. Honestly, these tattered old materials speak to me.

– As dozens of retailers’ catalogs shoot through our mail slot, I page through them methodically, taking note of perfect holiday gifts for family and friends. Reading these catalogs is a relaxing activity after a full day of work on my computer.

– Call me crazy, but I love grocery shopping this time of year. I can spot my favorite brands from 30 feet – if the packaging hasn’t changed, that is. I suppose packaging is the ‘safest’ category of print: imagine looking down a grocery store aisle with blank packages. Good luck with your list.

– We aren’t extravagant gift givers during the season, but one thing we do a lot is give the gift of books. PS: ours is not a Kindle-free house, but books remain a favorite and always will.

What about your holidays? Does print still have a seat at your table? I’d love to hear about it.

Off to bake pies. I think we need four. Happy Thanksgiving!

© 2010 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. Your comments are encouraged. You’re free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.