Our big Canadian Boxing Day sales that are so common back in Canada, do not exist in the States, similarly the Black Friday sales are an American created event. So unless the area has a lot of Canadian snowbirds, there is no mention of Boxing Day. Boxing Day is a statutory holiday in Canada, but here in America the day after Christmas is a holiday for very few, just a couple states celebrate it as a holiday, and any sales are just the day after Christmas sales. Similar to the Black Friday sales where people line up to get some great deals this happens on the 26th of December in Canada, people are lined up at stores that open early in the morning with door crasher items with heavily reduced prices.

This was the explanation of Boxing Day that I grew up with: Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants and the day when they received a ‘Christmas Box’ from the master. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their families. Whether it is factual or not, this was always the story that we were told as kids and with Canada’s relation with the United Kingdom it would certainly make sense, and I’m pretty sure my grandparents would not have intentionally lied to me as a kid…just saying.

Boxing Day and the sales were never my thing, so it will not be missed by me, in fact the day after Christmas was often a day with extended family as Christmas Day was usually much quieter and more intimate event. We really don’t miss the rush that was Christmas, weather was always a concern, and then there was all the over eating at big prepared dinners for multiple days in a row, oh the food was always good, there was just too much food.

But similar to the Black Friday sales that last a week or longer our Boxing Day has become Boxing Week so the sales lasted into the first of the new year, it was while looking into prices on door buster electronics that have such a cheap pricing that I became aware of the fact that many companies make a special product that while is cheaper than the regular ones and also has less features than the regular product. When I purchased my previous big screen TV I became aware of all the different models, often produced for each seller. The TV you buy at Costco may have a different model number or code than the one sold at your local furniture store, and may have different features, not big differences that most people would never notice unless you were looking for it.

So we are back to if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. It’s usually just minor features not missed by most unless it’s one you really want. So my warning to you is a 50” big screen at one store may have different features that a 50” big screen at the store across the road, even though it’s the same make just check the model code. This is an even bigger concern with computers on big sale events, but this practice is found with most electronic items, so be aware and know what you are buying, and good luck doing your research.

So one of the items that are almost impossible to cook in an RV, is one that is most missed at this time of year, a roasted turkey, the ovens are just too small for cooking a whole turkey. Oh yeah you can cook a turkey breast in our convection oven if you don’t mind the noise of the fan for a couple of hours, and then the real problem is there is none of that succulent dark turkey meat associated with a turkey breast. This was one of the things that we do miss from our sticks and bricks, Miss Laurie always made a great roasted turkey, and there was always lots of dark meat for those of us that prefer the much moister dark meat over the drier white meat of a turkey breast.

Just one of the many little things that are just not easy when living full time in your RV. A few others are warming or cooking a pizza, most are just too big for our convection oven, cheese and garlic bread done under the broiler almost impossible to duplicate, just to name a couple we have became very adapt at using the barbecue to prepare lots of different items. Miss Laurie has adapted well to our life on the road, and still prepares the majority of our meals, I think that she enjoys the gas stove top more than our old electric range, and has conquered baking in the convection oven, although some adjusting of the size of items was required, there are less cookies per batch, but I can verify the taste is just as good…just saying.

One of the other challenges is fridge space, while our fridge is large for an RV, total space available is much less that we had in the house. So shopping is totally different, now we purchase smaller sizes, of pretty much everything, fresh food storage as well as frozen food are always a challenge, planning a weeks worth of meals now means a shopping list…and Miss Laurie would tell you leaving me at home is an asset. I have a tendency of impulse purchases in the grocery store either because of price or just an urge to have something that strikes my fancy at the time, this is not a good combination with a small fridge. It is also the reason I added a beverage fridge in the basement, as Miss Laurie it’s all about fridge space, or the lack there of…so having the little fridge seemed to ease the pressure a little.