Ready for Thanksgiving?

Target was out of the $1.39/lb. turkey breasts and was actually out of turkey in general.  They said it would be after Thanksgiving before any more came in, if then.  I was shocked by that, since I went on Sunday!  It seems they were ill-prepared for the holiday.

So on Monday, while I was doing my regular grocery shopping, I figured I’d just go ahead and grab a turkey breast there, regardless of price, and get it over with.  It was $1.59/lb. there.  But then I saw signs saying you could get a Honeysuckle White whole turkey or just 59 cents/lb. with an additional $35 grocery purchase!  I was definitely spending that already, so after comparing the two, I realized it would cost much more to buy an 8 lb. breast vs. under $8 for a 13-lb. whole turkey!  So I got the whole turkey.  Now I personally only eat white meat, but I figured between our dinner guests and my kids, they could probably polish off the dark meat, too.

The only downside is that getting a 13-lb. turkey means I can’t cook it in my Ronco Compact Rotisserie as I normally do, because it has a 10-lb. limit.  That’s a bummer, because it’s nice to put it in there, set the timer for 3 hours, and keep both my oven and my stovetop free for other things while the vegetables simmer in a special pan made for the top of the rotisserie.  Too bad.  Now I’ll have to juggle the timing of everything else, but there’s nothing to be done about that now.

I can still cook my potatoes in the electric pressure cooker, and I will do the stuffing at the end.  I’ll have to time my homemade dinner rolls so that they can go in after the turkey comes out.  That will be a challenge, because if they sit out too long after they’ve risen, they can end up falling or drying out.  After all that work, that would really be a shame!  And I’ll have to probably bake my pumpkin pie tonight and warm it tomorrow, as well as bake the gingerbread cake for the dessert tonight so it can cool and be ready to crumble for the trifle.  It’s gonna be a late night!

Sigh.  Best laid plans!

Here’s my menu:

• turkey
• ham
• mashed potatoes
• turkey stuffing
• gravy
• whole cranberry sauce
• organic cut green beans
• organic sweet corn
• fruit salad
• pumpkin trifle
• pumpkin pie
• 3 flavors of sparkling cider
• warm spiced cider

I also got my Christmas tree and decorations down from the attic today.  My son had to go to physical therapy, though, so I didn’t have time to get to it today.  It’ll have to wait for Friday, I think. 

How are your preparations coming?  I hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends!