From scratch

On Thanksgiving (and most every other day of the year), my mother makes absolutely everything from scratch, from pie dough to stuffing/dressing. Fresh herbs in the turkey, homemade whipped cream for the half-dozen pies we made. Even the cranberry relish in later years was from scratch (my sister makes a cranberry-orange relish).
For foodies like us, dear readers, this is the norm. It's from scratch because we don't know any other way. We wouldn't dream of buying the pumpkin pie or (gasp!) plopping a tub of Cool Whip on the table. (Read the ingredients on that stuff. Ick!)
This year I'm not going home because I have to work today, the day after Thanksgiving and Saturday. I'll be at a new house where I know things will be different, perhaps some things a little less homemade.
For my mom and me, Thanksgiving is about the cooking. We stay up late the night before finishing pies, then rise early on Turkey Day to start the bird. It's nothing fancy, just good, from-scratch homemade food.
I was riding on the elevator today, and I heard people talking about letting the grocery store make the turkey or the dressing -- even the whole meal! To me, Thanksgiving is just not a day for shortcuts.
What do you think?