Preparedness for when

Cheapskate

Evening all, RL been getting in the way of all sorts of prepping and other enjoyable tasks for the last few weeks, but got a bit of breathing space now

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Farmfoods and Aldi are doing 1kg bags for 59p
It is still 79p in Asda waitrose and Tesco and 80p in Sainsbury's :eek:

Thanks for the heads up on poundstretcher muffin man, but our branch has just been done for mice in the food :eek:

I know this is a few days ago, but have just seen in my local rag that our poondstretcher has been done for a massive mice infestation in their warehouse! :eek:

We are now the proud slaves of a new kittie, during her first week she caught, killed and ate a centipede-type thing that got into the kitchen, so I have high hopes for her as a mouser! :rotfl:

*creeping away quietly to finish catching up*

A xo

Softstuff

Cheapskate wrote: »

We are now the proud slaves of a new kittie, during her first week she caught, killed and ate a centipede-type thing that got into the kitchen, so I have high hopes for her as a mouser! :rotfl:

I'd be happy enough if she continued killing and disposing of things like that frankly :rotfl:

sorryImoved

Shtf situation here next week. My husband is having knee replacement surgery and will be coming home the same day with an IV. To top it off, it will be two days before the Thanksgiving holiday here. Doctor will be on holiday, hospital is 30 miles away and my family is still expecting traditional holiday meal - my husband is too. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and all the extras. I've never cooked a whole turkey! I know it's not a UK holiday but here it's as stressful as Christmas dinner. Not sure how I will do but still hopeful. Thanksgiving here makes me think about people who have made a difference in my life. The strength and wisdom from all of you is much appreciated. Amazing group of people on this website. Thank you all.

GreyQueen

((((((((sorryImoved)))))))) sorry to hear that hubby's surgery is clashing with the Thanksgiving holiday. As you mentioned, we don't have that as part of our holiday traditions, but it sounds essentially like a trad UK christmas dinner but with added extras (I have a vague notion that pumpkin pie is usually involved?)

From bystanding at mum's side when Christmas turkeys were cooked, I can think of a few tips. First off, do you have one oven or two? As in, will the turkey need to be roasted and put to one side and the oven used for other things? Most of my turkey-trauma memories involved timing crises over a single oven. There's nothing particularly scary about a whole turkey (just think of it as a chicken-on-steroids), there's a formula for the amount of minutes' cooking per pound of weight, plus another time element for the bird. This is printed on the wrapper here, probably in US too? Or any cookbook should tell you.

Will you be cooking a bird from fresh or from frozen? And if the latter, do you know the defrosting time, given your climate? Make sure you know that, if thawing a frozen bird, and that you have plenty of time to cook it. The stuffing in the bird can be a problem, have you considered the alternate way, making little stuffing balls and cooking them on a cookie sheet? It's easier than going vaguely-gynaecological things with poultry, doesn't affect the cooking time of the bird, and looks cute, too.

I'd look at buying in as much as possible. If your guests are those who'd feel short-changed by shop-bought stuff, decant stuff from jars into bowls in the fridge and hide the evidence. You can get canned pumpkin in the US, I think, sure I saw a reference to it?

I'd start with a time, plot what you need to do backwards from that to get it on the table, look at every component of the meal and see what you can cheat on, and make a shopping plan to get you there in time.

Oh, and you can give wretched turkeys (or chickens) a bit more flavour by stuffing a citrus or two, with their skins scored to release the zestiness, into the body cavity. Nice use for a Floridian orange or two, takes moments, gives a flavoursome bird and the impression that you are a capital-C cook. (Thanks to pal J who taught me this trick).

I bet that there are cheat sheets to Thanksgiving cookery somewhere on the web.

I have to admit that turkey bores the stuffing outta me (sorry! ) and the getting up at sparrowfart o'clock to wrangle one into the stove was causing Christmas stress. So, in discussion with Mum and her MIL, we segued smoothly into a beef joint instead of a birdie for our family christmas dinner. Much tastier and easier to cook. 'Preciate moving away from turkey for this traditonal holiday wouldn't be likely to be acceptable, tho. HTH.

ETA; years ago, turkeys over here used to come with their giblets removed, packed into a plastic bag, and this stuffed back up the rear of the bird. One year my Mum looked for them in the usual place, didn't see them and assumed they had been left out, which would have annoyed the cats as they got them cooked down for their Xmas dinner. Only they were in the bird, plastic bagged, but had been stuffed down the neck-hole instead of up the rear. They got roasted along with the bird. Ooops!

Frugalsod

I also know of the Butterball Turkey hotline http://www.butterball.com

http://www.butterball.com/contact-us

Nov 3 - 26 Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Nov 22-23 Saturday-Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Nov 27 THANKSGIVING 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Nov 28-Dec 23 Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Dec 20-21 Saturday-Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Dec 24 CHRISTMAS EVE 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Very handy for all US citizens cooking Turkey.

Softstuff

If nothing else in the kitchen, my mother taught me her turkey cooking technique. Spread a couple of sticks of butter over the bird, then cover it in streaky bacon. The bird is nice and moist, the bits of turkey taken off it are the best thing ever.

nuatha

sorryImoved wrote: »

Shtf situation here next week. My husband is having knee replacement surgery and will be coming home the same day with an IV. To top it off, it will be two days before the Thanksgiving holiday here. Doctor will be on holiday, hospital is 30 miles away and my family is still expecting traditional holiday meal - my husband is too. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and all the extras. I've never cooked a whole turkey! I know it's not a UK holiday but here it's as stressful as Christmas dinner. Not sure how I will do but still hopeful. Thanksgiving here makes me think about people who have made a difference in my life. The strength and wisdom from all of you is much appreciated. Amazing group of people on this website. Thank you all.

Assuming you're roasting your turkey (I've known them to be deep fried or cooked in a BBQ/smoker) then cook it upside down for the first half of its cooking time. It keeps the breast far moister. I'd then cover it in strips of streaky bacon (a la Softstuff)this becomes the Chef's perk.
Have you seen this thread although its Christmas, there is some useful advice. Theres a day by day countdown for Thanksgiving prep here.
If you get stuck ask on this board, there's some help folks around.
Fingers crossed everything (especially your husbands surgery) goes smoothly. I always found the anticipation is worse than the doing.

jk0

I am shocked American hospitals chuck people out the same day after having a knee replaced. Is it the same here?

Softstuff

jk0 wrote: »

I am shocked American hospitals chuck people out the same day after having a knee replaced. Is it the same here?

I don't know about England, but here in Australia yes it is. There was a chap in the same recovery room as me last week had just had it done. Heck, a friend I worked with was out 3 days after a triple bypass.

That said, it's better to be out of hospital in most cases (they keep sick people there y'know ), as long as you have the sense to stay still. Ahem .

nuatha

jk0 wrote: »

I am shocked American hospitals chuck people out the same day after having a knee replaced. Is it the same here?

Full knee replacement is generally 3-5 days, half is shorter. Generally UK hospitals don't discharge with an IV in place. I suspect a lot of the American system is geared to reduce the number of overnight stays.