The turkey is in the basement freezer, wrapped in its orange netting, 12.1 pounds. I bought it Tuesday at Kroger for $11.98 with a $35 grocery order, and when I set it in the freezer next to the bags of zucchini I laughed out loud. For years I bought a 22-pound bird and borrowed Patti Henderson's oven for the second casserole.
We used to have fourteen at our table, counting the card table that went in the living room: Greg's brother and his family, Mom and Dad while Dad was living, cousins, and a couple of strays from Greg's work who had nowhere else to go. Over the last few years that group has scattered, the way families do. Greg's brother hosts his in-laws now. Mom told me in October that she'd rather have a quiet day at home, and we'll bring her a plate on Friday and play cards.
So this year it's five: Greg and me, Josh, and Emily and Nate driving down from Columbus. Emily works three twelve-hour shifts that week and is trading to get Thursday off. I'm not taking that for granted.
What I'm making
A 12-pound turkey is about right for five people with leftovers, figuring roughly a pound and a half per person on the bone and some for sandwiches. Here's the menu I settled on:
- Roast turkey, with gravy from the drippings
- Stuffing, the way my mother makes it, with celery, onion and sage
- Mashed potatoes, five pounds of russets
- Green beans with bacon
- Cranberry sauce from a bag of fresh berries
- Store-bought rolls
- One pumpkin pie, made by me, and one apple pie that Emily is bringing
What I'm not making
This was harder to decide than the menu. I'm dropping the sweet potato casserole, which only Greg's brother ever really ate. I'm dropping the green bean casserole because we're having green beans already, and nobody will miss having two. I'm not making rolls from scratch, which takes most of Wednesday. And I'm not making three pies. Two pies for five people is still more pie than anyone needs.
Greg asked, very carefully, if we could still have the relish tray. We can still have the relish tray.
A frozen turkey thaws in the refrigerator at about 24 hours for every four to five pounds. Twelve pounds needs about three days. I'm moving it to the fridge on Sunday night, on a rimmed sheet pan to catch drips, which gives it a full extra day of cushion. Never on the counter. I'll roast it at 325 and start checking with a thermometer around the two-and-a-half-hour mark. It's done when the thickest part of the breast and the inner thigh both read 165 degrees. I'm baking the stuffing in a separate dish rather than inside the bird, which makes the timing easier anyway.
What the whole dinner costs
I've bought about half of it already and priced the rest from this week's ads, so this is close:
The turkey, $11.98. Potatoes, $3.49. Butter and milk for the potatoes, $6.20. Stuffing bread, celery, onions and broth, $7.85. Green beans and bacon, $9.40. Fresh cranberries, $2.99. Rolls, $3.79. Pumpkin pie ingredients plus a frozen crust, $8.60. Relish tray (olives, pickles, a block of cheese, crackers), $12.75. Whipped cream, coffee creamer and a bag of ice, $8.40. Two bottles of wine Nate likes, $19.98.
That's $95.43, or about $19 a person, wine included. Our 14-person dinners ran close to $260 by my notebook, though Greg's brother always brought the ham.
I'll admit the planning made me sad for an evening. A smaller table means people who are gone, and people who are grown and busy. Then Josh texted asking if he could bring his laundry, and I felt better. Some things don't change.
I'll write afterward about how the 12-pound bird held up, and whether there was enough gravy. There is never enough gravy.
