That title may be a bit deceiving because in truth, the turkey was a struggle for me. But Thanksgiving and turkey dinners go hand in hand, right? While we’ve opted out in past years (pizza!), this year we decided on a full-on traditional stuff your guts spread. Here’s how it’s going to shake down:
Turkey: I did not raise my own bird as author Laura Grace Weldon did. As far as I know, there’s no place to get a locally raised turkey on this island. Next stop: grocery store. Here, my choices range from the familiar Butterball to obscure brands that seem to appear only during the Thanksgiving shopping week, along with several organic and free range options. Everything’s equal as far as packaging (plastic), but what’s inside? Some were injected with solutions containing water, salt, modified food starch, sodium phosphate and natural flavors. Others were “minimally processed.” I couldn’t bring myself to fork over nearly $5/lb for an organic bird, so I opted for a “free range” bird who lived the good life and didn’t have needle tracks along its wings.
Mashed potatoes: I didn’t grow potatoes this year. Organic potatoes are unheard of here. I figured I’d be stuck with the usual brown plastic bag of russets, but was happy to discover some “volcano potatoes” grown right here on the island. Trying those for the first time.
Stuffing: All of the stuffing packages I checked contained high fructose corn syrup. (Seriously, what is UP with that?) They also came in plastic packaging. My mom always used to tell me that my grandma made her stuffing with actual loaves of bread without even toasting the bread. Hunh. So I stopped at the local bakery and picked up a couple of loaves of bread. I’ll probably toast the bread a bit in the oven, since the moisture in the air here eliminates the possibility of “stale” bread. I’ll saute Maui onions to add to the stuffing, but the celery and parsley came from a distance. (Must plant celery and parsley!)
Sweet potatoes: I’m no fan of those marshmallow topped sweet potato casseroles. I’m not even sure if I’ll put them on the menu – I mean, how many starches do we really need? But if I do, I’ve got some purple sweet potatoes that I picked up at the farmers market. If I decide to use them, I’m tempted to try this recipe for sweet potato and smoked cheddar gratin.
Kale salad: I just tried a great kale salad that a friend made, and I’ve got a bag of island grown kale in the fridge. I think I’ll add that to the table for the people (ahem) who will be avoiding a carb load.
Cranberry sauce: My eldest son’s contribution to the meal, he’ll make his famous recipe that starts with whole cranberries. Not local, by a long shot. And the berries come in a plastic bag. But we are avoiding the BPA-lined cans.
Pumpkin pie: My 16-year-old is making dessert this year. The homemade pie crust is my grandmother’s recipe and what we always use. But this year, instead of canned pumpkin, I picked up a couple of kabocha, or Japanese pumpkins, that were grown locally. We’ll cook those up and use the flesh in lieu of the canned pumpkin.
So, what about you? What will your holiday meal look like? Have you managed to make some more sustainable choices this year, or are you throwing caution to the wind since it’s just one meal a year?
Photo: Library of Congress
Oh, this sounds fabulous! Ours … will be traditional gut-wrenching horrible non-sustainable things that I don’t wish to talk about. I’m not in charge (and I don’t want to be, so I can’t complain). Your needle-track-free turkey made me laugh. Have a happy holiday, my friend! I can’t wait to hear what the pie is like!
You are correct. Not cooking = can’t complain. Enjoy, Shelly!
I traveled from Cape Cod to Southern California to spend the holiday with my son and his family. I brought a bag of organic cranberries so we can make BPA-free sauce. When home, I would buy a local turkey. I also loved your description of the popular supermarket type. We bought a couple pieces of turkey at Sprouts, a chain store I had never visited. I really enjoyed it, but was horrified to see the check-out folks liberally distributing plastic bags. What’s up with that? At least they could ask if customers brought their own …
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Oh, don’t get me started on the bag thing!
Sounds great! I can’t get over stuffing having HFCS in them. Why on earth…..????? Anywhoo, one year I had saved up bread for WEEKS, tucked in the back of the fridge, which I toasted and then turned into large bread crumbs. That year I had sage and parsley growing in the yard…but I had to go to the store for the onions and (small amount of) celery.
This year I have the sage and parsley on hand, but the onions are long finished. We have a couple carrots still in our plot…
Patricia @ Ground Control to Major Mom recently posted..Sweet Potatoes — Veggie or Not Veggie? Take My Poll!
Well, an awful lot of the bread we have available here has HFCS, so it stands to reason that the stuffing mix would, too. It’s crazy. I didn’t mention, but I do have fresh sage for this year’s stuffing. I’ve saved bread ends in the past, but these days my waste-nothing teen uses them for his PB & Js.
Have a great holiday, Patricia!
Since I’m not American and my kid is a staunch vegetarian, we simply make a favorite, seasonal meal and call it a day. No cranberry sauce from a can, mushroom-green bean casserole, or weird jello-fake-cream dessert for us. Works for us.
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Sounds like a great menu. I always make my cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries, and no stuffing out of a box for me…only the real thing, using biscuits instead of bread. In fact, I’m (still) so stuffed I don’t think I can think about food for a long, long time!