topic Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store in Kitchen

Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

coffee drinker — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:29:47 GMT

For those of you who may have purchased ready-made turkey and all the trimmings from the grocery store, what has your experience been? I'm seriously considering doing it this year. The turkeys come already cooked, but frozen. You have to allow 2 days for thawing. I forget how long it takes to heat up. Cost is about $50 for a 10-12 lb. bird, stuffing, 3 lbs. mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (forgot the quantity), string bean casserole and 2 lbs. gravy. They say it'll serve 6-8 people. Shall I go for it?

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

lolakimono — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:37:42 GMT

I would be more inclined to go with someone like Boston Market, or a hotel buffet.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

ahoymate — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:40:50 GMT

Grocery store will be very mediocre at best

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

DiAnne — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:41:08 GMT

I have done this twice many years ago. The first time I ordered from a high end market and it was very expensive and good. A few years later I had to do it again and I ordered from a chain market and it was horrible. Almost too salty to eat. Never again for me.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

ANewHue — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:41:20 GMT

I have never done it myself but a family member we were visiting with did. Also, from a high end market.It was good and we enjoyed everything but there wasn't enough of the side dishes. She had about twelve people. I would have either ordered more sides or made my own. Especially since many of her guests were staying over it would have been nice to have the extra.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

coffee drinker — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:41:45 GMT

We went to a buffet last year and it was the worse experience of my life. Swore I would NEVER go to that restaurant again -- NEVER!!! Crammed, crowded, sort of expensive and the food was awful as was the service. It was a shame, too because that was the first time we ate out on a holiday.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

SouthernBee — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:27:16 GMT

No! My brothers wife was ill and I was stressed out from work also. Went to the local very popular chain store and purchased the whole meal ...... did not like the turkey or any of the sides and the pumpkin pie had mold on the bottom! I now start in mid november: I make my dressing for Thanksgiving and Christmas and put it in the freezer. I make the sweet potato casserole and put it in the freezer. I cut and clean my collards and put them in the freezer. The Wednesday before TG : I smoke my turkey and ham. I cook the collards and bake the dressing and sweet potatoes. I bake my pumpkin and pecan pies. The morning of I warm everything up! I get to enjoy my company and food without being extremely tired and irratible. We clean the kitchen up and play board games previously I just wanted everyone to hurry up and go home so I could go to bed! At first every one objected to the precooked but now agree it is better than the store purchased meal or eating out. We also tried eating out and that was horrible. Please find what works for you and your family and celebrate and enjoy. I plan to cook and have different people over this year because my SIL passed a few years ago and my only sibling and brother died this spring. I refuse to order food or eat out.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

terrier3 — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:31:47 GMT

One year we did this from Wegman's. The meat wasn't frozen though.

It came with a great minute by minute list for heating up everything.

The food was tasty - but not exactly home cooking.

My uncle was seriously ill and it was a great timesaver.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

Sabatini2 — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:31:56 GMT

I think meals like that serve a purpose, so it's not my intention to knock them, as I've only had one experience with a holiday meal prepared by a grocery store. I'm sure they're a godsend to older people, or for anyone who just isn't up for it anymore.

It was at Christmas time, and my sis and I had a great menu all set to go. Two of the guests decided to gift us w/ an entire turkey dinner from the grocery store to 'pad' the meal. Yes, they had good intentions, but admittedly it was a PITA to run around, heat everything up and find platters and bowls to accommodate it all. But it was pretty bleak fare, and I felt bad for anyone having that meal, and only that meal, for their holiday.

OP, maybe your local store does a great job, and you'll end up with a yummy Tday dinner!

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

millieshops — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:33:05 GMT

I did it once. The turkey itself was excellent. I prefer all my own sides.

I don't often cook holiday dinners any longer, but were I to want to again, I'd look for a turkey only sale at a specialty meat market and organize myself around that.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

jlkz — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:34:30 GMT

Friend's daughter a few years back ordered the whole meal from Wegman's: too SALTY.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

jlkz — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:38:38 GMT

For several years my elderly Aunt & Uncle hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at a quasiFrench / Chinese wonderful restaurant. When going out got too difficult for them, we picked up all the entrees from this restaurant and took it to their home. Excellent food, great variety of entrees. If you live in the Norristown area of Montgomery County, try LaiLai. Elegant and excellent. Happy stress-free holidays.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

Krissie22 — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:43:18 GMT

We did this from Whole Foods a couple of years ago. Expensive but good, though like others, I prefer my own sides.

Another option is restaurants that are now selling Thanksgiving meals. I have a Mimi's Cafe nearby, and you can buy a whole dinner with sides for as many as you want, and it's delicious, so maybe you have a restaurant or two near you that offers this.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

HonnyBrown — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:03:48 GMT

Before I got married, my single friends and I would get together on holidays. One year, the guy hosting did a fried turkey and his house caught fire.

Another friend offered to host and was able to get a Thanksgiving dinner ready to eat from a nearby market last minute due to a cancellation and good timing.

It was fine. Some of us brought sides and desserts and that saved the dinner.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

RickyRocky — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:08:17 GMT

A few years ago, my mother-in-law passed away right before Thanksgiving, leaving me no time to grocery shop or cook the Thanksgiving dinner. I ordered the whole dinner from Bob Evans. It was delicious.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

SuesCat — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:09:17 GMT

I did this one year when the in-laws invited themselves over at the last minute (two days before T-day.. their other offer fell through!). I ordered the meal from StopNShop (turkey wasn't frozen, but already seasoned, cooked in shrink wrap, just required reheating).

We have a tiny galley kitchen and MIL is always my shadow and there's just not room for that here when cooking a big festive meal! Day before TG i picked up the dinner in a nice neat box, brought it home. Transferred all sides into my serving bowls. 'Got rid of all the packaging and boxes to the trash! On TDay i just had to reheat in microwave, "cooked" the turkey prior to their arrival, and had it on the cutting board just in time for dinner! 'Needed no "help" in the kitchen . No one was the wiser and 'said everything was delicious! The mashed potatoes were weird, though.. too many preservatives, kind of watery. Everything else was good enough. I made extra (boxed) stuffing and homemade gravy from boxed broth.

It was great we all got together, and saved me a lot of stress and strain! Our best to you this Holiday!

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

Kachina624 — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:09:46 GMT

On 10/26/2014 Skylands said:
Grocery store will be very mediocre at best

I've had several experiences with this food and mediocre would have been a step up from what I got.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

Mary Bailey — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:13:51 GMT

MIL bought dinner from a grocery store twice and at best it was tolerable.

My sister does the turkey(s). Everyone else brings siides & deserts. Home cooking but nobody does everything.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

Marimsw — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:15:24 GMT

I would try ordering from a restaurant in your area. Many restaurants now offer the complete meal for 10, for example, that you pick up the day of Thanksgiving. I am near a large metro area though, so not sure if this is widespread. I found this out a few years ago when my daughter worked at a restaurant. She had to work on the holiday and said so many people had ordered the dinner package or multiples of the package. This was a nice steakhouse type of restaurant so I'm sure the meal was probably delicious.

Re: Thanksgiving From The Grocery Store

ciao_bella — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:18:13 GMT

About 8 years ago, I had had knee surgery about a week before Thanksgiving. I couldn't hobble around with crutches trying to make a turkey dinner so was planning on just ordering Chinese food and calling it a "Chinese Thanksgiving..LoL) My daughter was listening to a local radio host and the radio station was giving away..complete Thanksgiving dinners..which included a 12-14 pound cooked turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, two vegetable side, spaghetti squash and a pumpkin and a pecan pie. All you had to do was call the radio station when you heard the "word of the day".. which was pumpkin. If you were the 7th caller (or whatever number they chose) you win the prize. Since I couldn't do much but sit with the knee elevated, I listened to the radio while I read, etc. A few days before Thanksgiving, I was listening and heard the host say the "word of the day".. Without hesitation, I dialed the station number...and YES, I was the lucky winner. The entire meal was made at a well-know, much frequented diner. All that you had to do was go and pick up the meal between 12-3pm which my son did.. The radio station gave you a confirmation number that had to match the number at the diner. Several winners were picked (one each day for about a week before Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, the turkey was delicious and even the sides were very good. It turned out to be the one time I hadn't cooked for Thanksgiving. To this day, we often chat, laugh and remember that one Thanksgiving that mom didn't cook..