Christmas Grocery Shopping

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KayTheCurler said:
This year I have been working hard to let go of my love for traditions. My adult young have decided to take over the season and I'm feeling a bit 'lost'. At no point will my kids and grands be at my house. One is making the big meal at their home and hosting the travelling sibling. I was outvoted on the gift giving arrangements, so, for me, that is some lost fun (apparently only one of my adult kids gets pleasure from giving and receiving gifts around the family!). For hubby and I the decision was to continue having the foods that say Christmas to us - cake, pudding with Bird's Custard, sausage rolls, mince pies, lefsa etc., but over several days. Preparation time is much reduced and way less money will be spent. The little guy will be getting a gift from us, and the school aged grands will get a cheque (I did this for the older ones and want to be 'fair'.) The whole thing feels weird but there are obviously some advantages too. I'll practise keeping my mouth shut and not compare my personal 'wants' with the reality. The bottom line is - we will see most of our kids and grands over the season, and that will be great..
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If you enjoy getting gifts for others, there are other options. London Drugs has the tree for seniors, there are adopt a family programs (although those can be pretty expensive) and numerous options for gifting to kids. Not the same as doing it for family, but might help to swap that tradition a bit.
 
For those of you who do a bunch of heated sides with turkey dinner - how?
We have done stuff in the slow cooker before, plus just some reheated in the microwave but years where we did go big I found that to be the limiting factor - the oven timing.
 
Chemgal, a turkey should sit for a bit, after it comes out of the oven, then you have the time for carving.
A ham often wants to be taken out, and tented with tinfoil for a bit...it will keep warm, you may want to pop it back in for a glase for a bit...either way, it will sit warm for a bit tented with tinfoil, then, you need time for carving.
So, get your stuff all ready to go into the oven, and have it pop in as soon as you take the turkey or ham out.

For casseroles, I do things that are precooked.
Sweet potatoes are in the freezer, having been cooked already, so they will come out, and be ready for the casserole, which then doesn't take long.
Caaulifloer gets cooked on oven, then, put in the oven with cheese to melt, so gain, not that bad.
Corn in microwave (or pot. I prefer pot
I will have two slow cookers going: carrots and acorn squash
 
I make use of the second rack and do as much as I can in the microwave or on the stovetop.

-One stuffing in the bird
-One stuffing in a casserole dish in the oven beside the bird
-Mashed potatoes done the day before and warmed in the oven on the bottom rack close to the end of cooking time
-Brussels sprouts stovetop
-Gravy stovetop
-cauliflower microwave
-cheese sauce stovetop
 
who knew there would be a run on ......corn syrup.
Two stores were sold out -- wasn't on sale at either, either.
Odd.

Did a bunch of shopping today, love when I find things on sale as "end of date" which I need to be stale.
Today's find was pound cake for trifle. Best if it is dried out. Was 50% off. yes!
 
You deserve a lucky shopping day once in a while Pinga. I think there are quite a few of those 'squares' that require corn syrup. Drawing a bit of a blank on it as I can't remember the last time I used it for anything at all!
 
Thanks. I was using it for caramel corn, and it goes into the breakfast that we make at Christmas, and also was in squares, so I ran out.

Made rice pudding for dinner tonight. Yum. Well other stuff too.
 
ChemGal said:
For those of you who do a bunch of heated sides with turkey dinner - how?
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I like to keep it simple. First I roast my turkey (with 1/2 cup of butter smooshed under the skin). I put lots of veggies in my stuffing: grated onion, carrot, celery, and apple, along with chopped parsley and chestnuts (if I can find the peeled-in-the-vacuum-packed-bag kind.)
When the turkey is done, I take it out, cover well with foil, then an old towel, and then an old blanket. It will stay hot for about 2 hours (although I only need about 70 mins. for the veggies to roast.)

So I cut up veggies for roasting: potatoes, carrots, squash, beets, zucchini, pasnips, brussells sprouts. I toss them in oil and salt, and spread on one large baking tray. Potatoes, carrots, and beets take the longest at 375F. (about an hour.) I start them off first, and then add the other veggies to the baking tray. Veggies are delicious roasted, and you can put a huge variety on a large tray - something for everyone.
And then I'm not fussing with multiple stove rounds, crockpots, etc. While the turkey rests and the veggies roast, I can turn my attention to making gravy from scratch, and putting frozen corn in the microwave. (My family has to have corn.)
 
My crowd is usually 4, but has been as big as 7.

But if I were cooking for a larger crowd, I;d keep the same principles:
-I'd cook a larger turkey

-I'd pack as many veggies as I could on the roasting tray

-I'd probably need more for a larger crowd, so then I'd prep a soup (cream of carrot) a couple of days
before. (Soup's flavour is often improved by chilling for a day or two before reheating.) I'd make it
with Carnation milk so it wouldn't curdle, and then reheat in the crockpot, so it would be ready for the
first course.

-I would also prep a salad for a larger crowd: get fancy bagged salad greens, and a high quality vinaigrette.
Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds for a festive look. (Get a rambunctious child to get the seeds out of the pomegranate
with a toothpick: a novelty experience that will keep them occupied for a while.)
 
Hmm, I'm trying to think what we have done in the oven in the past, it's not that nothing went in after the turkey. Stuffing for sure, that takes a while. I think carrots were the other thing. I should probably experiment more with 2 racks, I think usually one ends up in the garage or something when doing the turkey - need to keep it more accessible.
Ideally I would like brussels sprouts done in the over, it's how we usually do them for non-holiday meals. Way less effort than on a stove top. Never did it for a big meal though due to lack of a free oven plus I would need to figure out how to flavour them that way, usually I use garlic and there's too many who can't have it.
 
Buttering up is popular in Paris or even in isolated pairs in the spring ...

Tis a seasonal thing like Ecclesia ...
 
ChemGal said:
For those of you who do a bunch of heated sides with turkey dinner - how?
Click to expand...

Most veggies are steamed. Steaming time for the toughest root veggies is 30 min. They start when the bird comes out of the oven to set. Most instant pots can also be used as steamers though they can be very quick and I haven't got the timing down so precisely.

We also have an actifry which can roast some veggies quite well.

Apart from that stove top handles veggies that will be mashed at some point.
 
I am happy these days, because I have a proper 30" range and oven. During all of my childhood years, and many of the adult years that I struggled with cooking in this house, we had a 24" gas range. Not only does this limit your size of bird, but it also makes side dishes very difficult to sort out. I did a lot of it by pre-cooking, then warming up once the turkey had come out of the oven. My 30" range, with a five-burner top, has made me inordinately happy after those years of "size-juggling", and one rack, and no room, and...
 
@BetteTheRed , I had a gas range, with the 4 burners and a centre long burner. It also had two ovens.
When we moved, there was no gas in the kitchen or laundry, so using the electric appliances.
The stove has one of the glass stove tops. Getting used to it, but, not the same as gas.

I miss my gas.
 
I have a ceran top (like the glass pinga speks of) stove with a 3 rack convection or regular oven, 4 burners plus a keep warm burner on top. I added it when we moved here. And so for the turkey I take out a rack . I add "Yummy yam" or sweet potato to oven, and perhaps a cookie sheet with brussel sprouts even later-bacon and maple syrup are good flavors on the. Premake the cranberry sauce, cook potatoes on stovetop, sometimes another vegetable, sometimes some stuffing in oven-not in bird-sometimes stove top stuffing (yes from box) make gravy, mash potaoes and serve.
 
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