No TidBITS Issue on 1 December 2025
This Thursday marks the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, when Tonya and I will be helping with our local Turkey Trot and cooking a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat, to quote Arlo Guthrie. (And yes, there will be a playing of “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” while we’re in the kitchen.) To focus on family, friends, and food for the coming week, we won’t be publishing an email issue of TidBITS on 1 December 2025. The next one will ship on 8 December 2025.
Even without the weekly email issue next Monday, we’ll continue to work on and publish articles on the TidBITS website, and the exceedingly helpful TidBITS Talk discussions will continue unabated. To keep up, visit our site, subscribe to our RSS feed—remember that TidBITS members get a full-text feed—or follow us on Mastodon, Bluesky, or Apple News. Or feel free to unplug from the online world entirely and appreciate those around you in person.
We hope those who celebrate Thanksgiving have a happy and relaxing holiday. If someone you know is overwhelmed with cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner, let them know about Joe Kissell’s Take Control of Thanksgiving Dinner, which has all the necessary recipes, schedules, instructions, and real-world advice to ensure a successful holiday gathering.
I think you are just a bit confused about Alice’s Restaurant. It is not a cooking song. It is an after dinner boisterous sing along with much enactment, especially of the 27 8x10 color glossy photographs with lines and arrows and a paragraphs on the back of each one and the scene in the shrink’s office.
But glad that someone else understands the importance of the official song of Thanksgiving.
Cooking is just when we like to listen to it when we’re having Thanksgiving at home. Long ago, when we would travel for Thanksgiving, it was a guaranteed 18 minutes of the trip. Either way, it’s an essential part of the holiday for us!