Even though Thanksgiving dinner is traditionally an at-home affair, many people let others do the cooking. Takeout from a great place like Balducci's is one thing, but some folks go all the way with a full-on dining out experience. We see the merit of that choice, but we also can't help but relish this day where we are supposed to stick around our home, or someone else's home, and break bread with the people we love (sub in "like" or "tolerate" here as needed).

In keeping with the meaning of today, and all, Hot Plates is going to risk getting all serious with you and say this: We feel truly lucky. Many Americans did not choose their unhappy lot in life, and a significant chunk of our country's population has no place to call home.

We don't mean to be gloomy; we just love a little perspective, and we loved this profile of the Los Angeles Mission's executive chef, Chris Cormier. Formerly homeless himself, Cormier now cooks for the 3,000 who are expected to come sit at his tables today. He makes great food and enjoys the perspective of someone who had it all, lost it all, and got it all back again. Read it to see what we mean. What's on the menu: a smoked turkey leg, "accompanied by homemade mashed potatoes with country gravy, candied yams, mixed vegetables, cranberry relish and buttered rolls."

But the papers have not gone bleeding-heart on us; there are plenty of articles about sinfully indulgent places on the other side of the economic spectrum. For example, isn't it "essential to know where to eat alone" in Las Vegas?? This is a fabulously fun article in the Washington Post highlighting good solo-dining joints in this naughty city. Hot Plates thinks it is fabulous not because we love or have even been to Vegas, but because anything about that place amuses (and slightly frightens) us to no end. The excess! The addictions! The pleasure-seeking! Thank you, Catholic upbringing.

Frank Bruni does not skewer this new place, Tailor, in his review; however, he doesn't exactly make you hungry to try it. You might notice Bruni's use of these adjectives: ambitious, interesting, experimental, eccentric, provocative, unusual. It is one of those places with an indie spirit that does so well with the foodie crowd in New York. The chef, Sam Mason, is demi-darling of the food blogosphere; his city loves an artsy maverick.

Also from The New York Times we have a handful of mini-reviews -- two new spots, one Mexican and one Australian, and one "revisit" of a place called 5 Ninth which was started by Zak Pelaccio (but he left, and it sounds like he took the quality with him).

There's also a roundup of what's opening this week and what's upcoming; besides an uptown branch of Mr. Pelaccio's Fatty Crab, Florence Fabricant also reports on South Beach and Dallas.

Here's a "gee-whiz" one for you: a "scent dinner" created by a journalist who, among other things, critiques perfume for the N.Y. Times. Chandler Burr has been touring luxury hotels and presenting these insanely creative meals centered around scent. It stinks that we have not been invited to one of these. (Sorry.)

Speaking of stuff that stinks, the writers of the first-ever Los Angeles-area Michelin Guide apparently can't write their way out of a high-end takeaway container. "It's amateur hour Chez Michelin," the headline sneers. And writer Leslie Brenner backs this up with many an example of shameful, careless writing and research. This is a rant, through and through. It is perplexing that the guide people are content to dismiss this debacle by saying they are in the business of "rating," not "writing."

We will end on an up-note with a story about technological progress: Portable credit card machines may be coming to a fine-dining establishment near you. Actually, they are already in use at some places. Hot Plates experienced one recently at the Apple store, where on a crowded Saturday it was a treat to shop with an associate on the sales floor, choose our product, and pay -- all without standing in the long line. How this will play out in restaurants, however, is another matter. As Danny Meyer points out in the story, these gadgets do save time, but "people might be uncomfortable having the waiter lurking right there while the host calculates the tip."

Technology is always lurking, isn't it? Nothing is really sacred. There will be more Blackberries and iPhones sitting alongside their owners at Thanksgiving tables than ever before. Be grateful you have one, and then turn it off. It's a good day to remember how things used to be. Now, pass the turkey; could we please have a leg?