BeeZee

It is ironic, I was thinking how easy this Thanksgiving was going to be. I left early for work today to hit up the supermarket on the way to the office. Bought another can of cranberry sauce (I don't fight that battle😁) and other odds/ends I needed at Shop Rite. Not a single boneless turkey breast to be seen. OK, next stop, Wegman's which is 1/2 mile from my office, they always have them. The only boneless was the pre-brined/flavored bagged variety. Thank you, no. Called DH from the car..."um, can I ask you do do me a big favor" and sent him to Wegman's which is 20 minutes from our house with very specific instructions, which praise be, he actually followed, and got a fine one from the guy working in the meat department who had to get it from the back. We will have 13 people, which for my little house is really the max I can fit - our dining room and living room are connected, so we wind up moving some furniture to fit more tables.

I borrowed Ever-Green Vietnamese (Andrea Nguyen) from the library to give it a once-over, what’s nice in her instructions is she will, for example, tell you to dice something the “size of blueberries”, rather than “small”. There are ways to make recipes easier to follow for people of differing skill levels/confidence.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I may have an additional 2-4 people at the table. My idea of making a second turkey (roulade) is looking pretty genius right now. The bigger issue is finding sufficient cutlery and dishes. Not to mention chairs (Mom has some nice padded folding chairs I can borrow).

Rice cakes with avocado and furikake. Smoked salmon would have been nice, if I had any.

Trader Joe's organic creamy mushroom soup (vegan). Includes kale (not much) and carrots, the creamy broth is from coconut milk. It has a good earthy flavor, I'd buy it again. Found it in the refrigerated section, $3.99 for the container. I had it for breakfast at the office, if I wanted to make it a bit more substantial, I'd add some cooked barley or farro.

Nobody in my family likes dark meat, so I always cook a bone-in breast and manage to keep it moist (probably because it doesn’t stay in the oven as long as the whole bird). This year I am also going to make a roulade with a boneless breast, as well. I have decided to offload the stuffing to my sister this year. Veg will be roasted butternut squash with apples.

@Kim Shook, I bought the Dominos last year, I liked them. I meant to get the Almond Spiced Cookies (I think they will be perfect with a cup of hot tea) so those will be on the next trip, along with some mini stollen bites. Love me some marzipan!

The mass produced chocolates taste like wax to me, they are worse than ever. On a monetary note, our local supermarket chain offer a free turkey with a purchase of $400 accumulated from 10/15 to 11/23, it used to take us up until the week before Thanksgiving to hit the number; this year we hit it last weekend. I would bet that minimum purchase will increase to $500 next year.

Lidl has their seasonal items in stores from Favorina, I get to stock up on marzipan and gingerbread cookies. I tried their Honey Gingerbread cookies with Almonds and Chocolate, which I don't remember seeing last year. They are star-shaped, the cookie is coated first in dark chocolate, then in milk chocolate, and chopped almonds are embedded in the coating. They have a subtle orange flavor, which is nice, these really grew on me as I ate them.

Bought a bag of small avocados, perfect single serving. Tiny tomatoes (marketed as "Sprinkles"), a bit of salt-free seasoning, a dash of grated parm instead of salt.

Toasted TJ's sandwich thin (ate the other half already). Mini avocado wasn't quite ripe, so I put a very thin smear of cream cheese to hold it onto the surface better. Sprinkled generously with a salt-free seasoning that is pepper/lemon/garlic.

Not a bad item to keep in the pantry at work - I had this flaked over salad today. Cost was $3.69. One solid chunk of salmon, very lightly smoked. The oil was a medium for storage, not worth eating.

I'm contemplating making dressing with apples instead of mushrooms. Other than that, haven't given the menu any serious thought since we have a LOT of serious health issues swirling around immediate and extended family so it's hard to know what we'll be doing in 3 weeks. It may be a last minute scramble.

This is the very reason I don't use the silicone gloves that I have, plus the fact that they turn into a sauna if worn for more than a minute. I've used the new textile+silicone gloves that I recently bought, and like the dexterity they offer. I seem to rarely have dry towels in the kitchen so I appreciate a safe option for myself and my husband who has small hand tremors.

I cut off the two ends, cut them in half lengthwise, and use a teaspoon to scoop the flesh out of the skin. Otherwise, if you want to keep them whole (to make round slices), a small paring knife works really well after cutting off the 2 ends.

Kicked off soup season with a simple butternut squash soup, used 1/2 can of coconut milk I had in the freezer, along with chicken stock. Minced red onion, ginger, and spices. The squash was incredibly sweet, I halved/roasted it first.

I ordered a pair of the knit gloves with silicone strips similar to what @blue_dolphin and @palorecommended, thanks!

For those knitted gloves with the silicone dots or whatever, have you ever had a time that you got one wet while carrying something hot - do they soak through quickly (transmitting heat) or do you have time (10 seconds) to set the pan down? I've got an over-range microwave and it is nerve racking (as a fairly short person) to take a pan out and get it down to the counter.

I have some Cuisinart brand oven mitts that I like, they come up to mid-arm, quilted fabric with silicone type material lining the "mitten" area. However, I'm getting burned sometimes because the silicone must have a hairline crack, hole, or is just deteriorating on one of the mitts. I like having the "non-slip" function with the fabric for comfort (I have a pair of all silicone gloves and they are too sweaty). I don't have large hands, so I don't want something too bulky. As far as length, a few inches past my wrist/mid-arm is good. What gloves have you had good experiences with? I definitely want mitts/gloves vs pot holders.

I can’t provide a recipe, but I have had lemon thyme shortbread, which is good for gifting.

I bet you could make a gelato sandwich, much like how they do with brioche in Italy!

My Sicilian BIL had bought one several years ago for our holiday get-together, warmed in the oven before serving. I am sure it was an authentic imported brand (I remember a box, so not from a bakery) and it was good. I don’t think it had dried fruit (there are different flavors). The ones we see in the local drugstore/grocery are mostly preservative-laden dreck. Like a lot of other traditional foods, it’s beneficial to sample “real deal” versions to evaluate.

Goldfish Limited Edition pumpkin spice grahams - I just tried them yesterday. They are not overly sweet, which makes them more addictive. The goldfish are a little larger in size than the standard crackers.

Pop-tarts appeared regularly in our house when I was a kid. The two flavors I remember being in regular rotation were frosted strawberry (colored sprinkles!) and frosted apple (a little cinnamon flavor). I think they were a weekend breakfast treat, definitely not an everyday food.

Simple recipe using pan seared chicken breasts that are then simmered in a mixture of sauteed onion, garlic, soy sauce and honey, so a pleasant sweet and savory flavor. Made broccoli rabe as our veg and it turned out to be a great combo of sweet/salty/bitter on the plate.