My turkey cost more than $50!

That statistic is HORSES. JUST our turkey, and we got a small one, was 19 dollars. I CALL BULLSHIT!

 We're serving nine and probably spending around $100 not counting the turkey.  That includes appetizers, dessert, and wine; and is split between three households.

I'm counting the turkey separately because while we could get a standard frozen 25-pounder for $12.50 (stores in our area have had 49cents/lb sales for the past ten years or so), my sister opted for straight-from-the-farm this year which was several times more.

I guess we could have done it all for $50, but we would have had to go strictly with basics and have no leftovers.

My shopping list was about a quarter of that.  I'm feeding 6.

Very serious question:  Why, in the name of the FSM, would you want to buy canned asparagus? 

The liverwurst and chicken livers also make me wonder a bit.  What do you do with them?

2 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

My shopping list was about a quarter of that.  I'm feeding 6.

Very serious question:  Why, in the name of the FSM, would you want to buy canned asparagus? 

The liverwurst and chicken livers also make me wonder a bit.  What do you do with them?

Canned asparagus is my daughters favorite food - bar none.  Couldn't keep it in the house unhidden when she was young as she's eat it for snacks before the holiday.  I much prefer real asparagus now that I've learned to roast vegetables but it's one of those kind of awful things left over from my childhood that I still have a weird fondness and nostalgia for at the holidays.

liverwurst goes on little cocktail rye for me to eat while cooking  .

chicken livers go in what my family calls German dressing because it was my grandmothers recipe from her family in Germany  (not clever at naming things in our clan.). Base of beaten eggs, breadcrumbs, finely chopped then sautéed chicken liver, and nutmeg.  When it comes out of the bird it's firm like a meatloaf kinda...sliced and it hands down my favorite food.  

Its not for everyone but if there is one food that is home and family to me it's that stuffing.

Ive never seen this anywhere and looked at one point to see if there was a name but couldn't find anything.  Maybe she made it up when food was scarce and you had to stretch?  

And mini me will pick at all the chicken lovers before they go in because she loves them so much so have to make extra for her to eat straight...little weirdo.

@HerNameIsBuffy I remember your thread on the liver stuffing from last year but I don't think I commented then. I just found these two recipes online which seem fairly similar to yours and list the stuffing Hungarian and Polish. 

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/pz2y40el/hungarian-turkey-stuffing-joltott-pulyka.html

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/sy2rk97a/chicken-polish-style.html

Ooh I like the polish chicken recipe - bookmarked that for later.  

Siimilar, but I think the texture would be off as mine is much more like a leberknodel -liver dumpling.  In fact minus the chicken livers it is my fast dumpling recipe.  When I have more than can fit in the bird which is always I roll them in balls and boil in chicken broth like dumplings.  Think much firmer matzo ball.

great, now I want matzo ball soup.

i meant to prep tonight but have done nothing.  Zilch.  Tomorrow should be fun.

Oh @Palimpsest asparagus thief strikes again.  she stopped home for an hour or so while no one was home and now I'm missing a can.  She can't help herself and I don't think there is a 12 step program to get her off the asparagus.

We are only feeding 5 adult eaters.  I think I spent a tad over $100.  I got an 11 lb turkey for $13.  Someone is bringing a salad and a dessert- the rest is just turkey, gravy, mashed taters, yams, stuffing, rolls, canned cranberry.

I would have gladly spent another $100 to have someone else clean the house, though...

ETA to add we also will have pickled herring as a munchie option, along with black olives.  (The herring is new to my world, but I am rolling with it.)

@HerNameIsBuffy,

I just reread my questions and I'm sounded really rude.  Sorry!

Oddly, and completely unrelated to you and FJ, the subject of canned asparagus came up over our TD dinner.  Everyone at the table made gagging noises as we had all had it forced upon us as children.  Your daughter must be keeping canned asparagus makers in business single-handedly.

I'll skip the liverwurst except as a last ditch effort to get pills down dogs, but the chicken liver recipe, minus the bread crumbs and with the addition of a dash of brandy, sounds like a pâté recipe I have made in the past.  I love it but no-one else will touch it.

Well, we survived the holiday without any quarrels.  We have lots of leftovers and I'm putting my feet up today.  No Black Friday shopping for me.

Hope everyone else enjoyed themselves.

@Palimpsest I didn't think you sounded rude at all - and if she's keeping them in business I'd like a kickback.

Little thief admitted to her burglary.  She should be declared incorrigible and locked away from society, but too cute for jail so I let it go.  I'm such an enabler.

I honestly refuse to look at the receipts for Thanksgiving. I won't. When BlackBerryBoy and I were just starting with this change in careers, and money was super tight I would buy non perishables for Thanksgiving year round. Some stuff I would freeze. some I put away.  Now, though, I put on a feast and fuck the cost.  He has a good job, we are near retirement and we've earned it. we fed 8 this year (and 6 for supper tonight) yesterday  DIL brought a pie, kids other gramma brought cake and cheesecake.

Turkey.. 22 pounds for about  $11.00 

Stuffing, $ 5

veggies for crudites  and cooked  $10

nice cheeses $15.

special local ring bologna $13

soda and cider $20

pie crust mix and apples $5

pumpkin pie $6

rolls $8

bread bowl   $15

crackers $7

broth $3

cream $8

butter $4

cranberries $2

olives $2

potatoes $5

whipped cream $3

I dont count flour, spices, milk, regular bread,  coffee, creamer. since we would eat that anyway.  We don't drink alcohol so that is a big expense we don't have. so  about 130$  give or take. virtually everything is on sale though, except the ring bologna and the cheeses. by the way, I LOVE canned asparagus, and it is a go to snack here.  Mom grew it in her garden and I could never stand fresh asparagus..  Give me the soft spears that  can make lovely soup if you like.

Canned Asparagus! Well that takes me right back to my parents parties when I was a kid in the 70s. I LOVED the little cocktail sandwiches my mother made by rolling up a little piece of brown bread around a spear of canned asparagus and a bit of cream cheese.  Haven't thought of those in years. 

And, yeah.  $50?  Where the fuck are these people shopping?  

@HerNameIsBuffy, do you have a really big table, or do you do your dinner buffet-style? Your menu is bigger than mine, so I was curious how you did it at your house. 

I can't see doing dinner for 10 for under $150

On 23/11/2016 at 2:56 PM, Destiny said:

That statistic is HORSES. JUST our turkey, and we got a small one, was 19 dollars. I CALL BULLSHIT!

We've never paid for a turkey. Nor have my parents. Mom always got one free from her employer, probably because the company was too "profit-driven" to do annual bonuses, thought I don't know that for sure. SO gets one every year now from his boss. And I'm sure if I told my boss I didn't have a turkey, she'd be like "oh, we'll give out free turkeys this year as part of an employee retention program" or something. 

All that to say: wow, I had no idea that turkey would be so pricey. How big was it? 

Many of the stores in my town will give a 10 to 15 pound turkey for free if you spend enough on the same shopping trip, so my sister tells me our turkey was free this year. (She can easily hit the required purchase amount when all 6 of her family members are home and eating everything in sight.) I guess some people might prefer a different variety than the free or discounted turkey, so that wouldn't work for everyone.

One of the big manufacturing businesses here gives their employees free turkeys or hams, but many of the employees turn around and donate theirs to the food bank. (With cameras from the local news filming while they unload their group donation.) I hope none of the employees feel "guilted" into donating because so many of their co-workers do. I only ever had 2 turkeys  given to me as a work bonus, but I mostly worked for small businesses with small profit margins. 

My mom fed six. Her turkey was free from points on a frequent shopper card at her regular grocery store. The total bill for her groceries for the day was $63. That does not count my bringing tow kinds of veggies, one pie and dinner rolls which was probably another $15 or so. Add back the price of the turkey and the total was probably around $100. 

The only way they are getting an average of $50 is including people who cook for one or two people and don't do a traditional meal. We stayed home last year and I probably spent about $25 to have a totally non-traditional (and last minute--bad weather prevented us from traveling) dinner. 

Maybe they're averaging in little kids. My niece and nephew ate a small slice of ham, a deviled egg, a roll, and a slice of pie apiece.

I could see (maybe) getting a bunch of food things cheaply at Aldi's or Wally World, but all of the above for only $50? Maybe 100 years ago, perhaps, but certainly not nowadays; well, maybe unless you grow/make everything yourself, perhaps?

Shop Rite has a promotion a few times during the year that if you buy $X amount of groceries, then you can earn either a free turkey, ham, lasagna or Tofurkey. I think that's a cool thing, & I wish more stores would follow suit.

ps: I think that $50 my ass needs to be added as a post count title