Company coming?

Thrifty shopping, 1948

On the Menu:

Carrot curls

Celery, date and nut salad

Fruit cake with vanilla sauce

Glazed onions

Dinner rolls with margarine

Scalloped potatoes with "meat"

Speaking of thrifty meat, time to buy a frozen turkey. I can get a free one at Safeway if I spend $100. Spending $20 at Krogers gives you the option to purchase their "Private Selection" bird for a mere 47 cents a pound.

We like turkey, but we're not really connoisseurs so I just buy a big cheap one. Turkey sandwiches, turkey curry, turkey enchiladas, turkey nachos, turkey soup.

Good turkey is all about the roasting technique and I guess you can ruin a $100 one as easily as a cheapo. My convection oven does a dandy job browning the skin, and leaves a wonderful dark glaze in the roasting pan for making gravy. All cooks have a love-hate relationship with gravy. I feel like I've made a thousand turkey dinners in my lifetime, but of course that isn't possible.

The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is the cheapest in five years. The Farm Bureau tracks a shopping list of 12 stables, including stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, green peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie mix and pie shells, whipped cream, milk and miscellaneous items.  The average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $49.12, a 75-cent decrease compared with last year.  What a country, huh?

Amanda, Tom and the kids are coming, so this year a gluten-free feast:

Roast turkey
Mashed potatoes

Gravy (thickened with cornstarch)

Some kinda green vegetable 

Trader Joe bread stuffing (gluten free)

Baked yams glazed with maple syrup

Roasted brussels sprout salad (sorry, John and Dave)

Cranberries

Pumpkin cheesecake
Wine

Have a wonderful weekend!