Holiday Recovery Foods

If like me, you've spent too much time finishing off those rich Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge, you might be interested in the post holiday detox suggestions from Food and Wine magazine. Quinoa and veggies do sound good about now. Just in time to start thinking about Christmas and all those holiday foods yet to come, since it's happy December 1st.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Ideas

So now we're done with the feast proper, but facing a mountain of beautiful leftovers, not a bad problem to have. What to do with them? Last week I read a quick essay in the New York Times' Cooking feature from a guy who eschews the prevalent idea that transforming them is necessary, advocating instead that you just reheat and re-enjoy that fabulous feast as it was. There's great merit in that idea, at least for one meal. If you are looking for some other ideas, here are a few guides to help you out: Thanksgiving Leftovers Go Beyond the Turkey Sandwich from the New York Times, Top Thanksgiving Leftovers from the Food Network, and Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes from Allrecipes.com. I usually like to include something from Epicurious.com, but unfortunately their link for Thanksgiving Leftovers goes to something about sweets for Rosh Hashannah, whoops.

Reminder Re Thanksgiving Planners

If you still haven't ironed all the details for Thanksgiving dinner, here's a reminder of the guides I posted a couple of weeks ago, in addition to the ones posted yesterday, just a bit below this.

More Thanksgiving Ideas

If you still haven't made up your mind for some Thanksgiving particulars, here are a couple of excellent guides, in addition to the ones I posted a couple of weeks ago: Thanksgiving 2015 from the New York Times' excellent Cooking source, and Thanksgiving Menus from Whole Foods.

Tasting Fair At Alfalfa's

Another chance to get in the mood for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow the Boulder Alfalfa's will offer a tasting fair from 11 am  to 2 pm, offering samples from their Thanksgiving catering menu. Note that this is in the Boulder store only - the Louisville one got its chance last weekend. Combine this tasting fair with the Boulder Farmers' Market, only a block away.

Happy Friday the 13th!

A Diabolical Appetizer Idea

I'm expecting there will be two, possibly three New England ex-pats at my western Thanksgiving table, and I've just encountered a really tempting appetizer idea for them in the current issue of Martha Stewart Living. It's for baked clam dip, which Martha calls a nod to New England. The kicker is that it is served with potato chips, and I've been looking for an excuse to buy Charles Chips online ever since I heard the company revived in an attempt to recapture its glory days in my childhood. Back then, every family room had the iconic tan and brown tin, which was refilled whenever the Charlie Chip truck cruised the neighborhood (although they are technically Charles Chips they were always known as Charlie). Now I'll have to buy them online, and had balked at the idea of paying $20 for three bags of chips to be delivered. But with this appetizer for Thanksgiving and the New England ex-pats at my table, I just might have to do it.

Thanksgiving Planners

Guess it's time to start getting serious about planning for Thanksgiving. If you are looking for ideas, check out the Thanksgiving guides from Epicurious, Food and Wine, Cooking Light, and Saveur.

Tasting Fair At Alfalfa's

Time to get in the mood for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, the Alfalfa's store in Louisville will hold a tasting fair sampling dishes from their Thanksgiving catering menu from noon to 2 pm. Note that this is at the Louisville store only - stay tuned for one at the Boulder store next weekend. (P.S. I so rarely shop there, but Safeway is also doing a tasting Open House tomorrow 11 am to 6 pm.)

Thanksgiving Leftovers Help

Looking for something innovative to do with all that leftover turkey and other stuff? Check out The Best of What's Left: A Guide to Thanksgiving Leftovers from Bon Appetit, or Thanksgiving Leftovers to Love from Food and Wine magazine. Or send some of that turkey my way. Ours for t-day, followed by turkey enchiladas Friday were both so successful, there's hardly anything left.

Happy Thanksgiving

Best wishes for a splendid day filled with family, friends and fabulous food. Hopefully you have everything under control, but if not, here's a reminder of the Thanksgiving guides I posted a while ago.

Boulder Natural Turkey Prices, 2014 Edition

At least a minimal view. I posted Vitamin Cottage prices quite a bit ago here, and among all those options, the prime takeaway is that a fine Mary's free range turkey with all the assurances that go with Vitamin Cottage meats would be $2.69 a pound (but reservations and deposit required).

You can see all Whole Foods' turkey offerings here by checking their online shopping then clicking turkeys right up at the top on the left (they know what you want to find now). Quick takeaway is that a very fine fresh Diestal bird, the kind we've gotten for a decade or better, is $2.49 a pound

The intriguing thing to me is that Lucky's Market in both Boulder and Longmont is offering a fresh Plainville turkey with Lucky's "never ever" standards for $1.99 a pound. (In keeping with its tendency to also go lower, the Longmont store also has an "all-natural" turkey from Amish Country fro $1.39 a pound, without the "never ever" standards.)

Sprouts' all-natural fresh turkey is $1.49 a pound, probably similar to the Longmont Lucky's one, and they are also advertising an organic option for $3.99, which the other stores also offer if you have the time to look further.

So after years of Diestals from Whole Foods, this year I'm experimenting with the Plainville from Lucky's. Motivation is at least three- if not four-fold. First, it's 50 cents cheaper per pound than my usual, no big deal although with a large bird that does mount up. Second, while I have no prior experience with Plainville, it's the brand Whole Foods has chosen to do its brined turkeys this year, which unfortunately are only available as frozen (confirmed with conversation with a Pearl Street butcher). So while I'll be buying a fresh one from Lucky's, the brand has also seen a thumbs up from Whole Foods. Third, while I could reserve and pick this Plainville bird up from either Lucky's store, the one in Boulder also has its associated Bakehouse, which advertised a pumpkin pie with gingersnap crisp crumble that in effect made me crumble myself. Turkey reservation went in immediately with order for pie at the Bakehouse next door (something in the area of $17). Sure, I'm also thinking about Whole Foods' special on its pumpkin cheesecakes for $19.99, but how many desserts can we eat? Hmm, maybe two. And I don't have multiple hours to spend in the kitchen doing these dessert things from scratch.

With the nearby opening of Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg's Blackbelly restaurant and market, my real hope for this year was to get one of the turkeys he hoped to have pre-brined himself, but when I called about them, was told they weren't able to get the turkeys ordered in time, and they are thinking maybe for Christmas. That won't help me, as two turkeys in the space of four weeks is just a bit much, and we'll be looking towards a rib roast instead.

So good luck in your turkey choice - lots of fine options out there!

Thanksgiving Dinner Guides

Am sitting here wrapped in multiple clothing layers and typing through gloves, waiting for a master electrician to try to revive our furnace after husband's handyman project yesterday had the definitely unintended consequence of leaving us without heat. Good thing it's about 30 degrees warmer than a couple of days ago. In any case, the cold means it's more than time to start planning for Thanksgiving dinner, and here are a few guides to help you out: Thanksgiving Menus, Recipes and Cooking Tips from Epicurious, Thanksgiving Recipes from Food and Wine magazine, Thanksgiving from Saveur, and as they did last year, Cooking Light has an all purpose Celebrate the Holidays that can take you right through New Year's.

Vitamin Cottage Turkeys

Vitamin Cottage (aka Natural Grocers) is taking reservations, with a $5 deposit, for your Thanksgiving turkey. They offer Mary's turkeys, which are fed a non-GMO vegetarian diet, without antibiotics or preservatives, and are free-range raised. They are air chilled to 26 degrees for freshness, with prices as follows:

Mary's heritage turkeys - $6.99 a pound

Mary's organic turkeys - $3.99 a pound

Mary's free range turkeys - $2.69 a pound

Mary's organic bone-in turkey breasts - $6.99 a pound (these are new)

Mary's free range geese - $7.99 a pound (also new)

P.S. Happy Veterans' Day, with many thanks to all those veterans out there, including in my family.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Help

Hope all went stunningly for your Thanksgiving dinner (mine sure did).  I love at least one simple reprise of the basics for another dinner before spinning the leftovers into more innovative incarnations.  For some ideas on what to do with all those leftovers, here are a few guides to help you out:  Global Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers from Cooking Light, Thanksgiving Recipes from Epicurious (scroll way down to the Leftovers section, second from the bottom), and Love Your Leftovers from Whole Foods.

Best Wishes For A Great Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  Hopefully you have everything planned and prepped, but if you're still angsting about some possibilities at this late hour, here's a reminder about the Thanksgiving guides post I did a couple of weeks ago.  Plus, Sprouts will be open from 7 am to 4 pm today, and Whole Foods, at least the Pearl Street store, is open 7 am to 3 pm, not sure I approve of that.  Heck, even my gym is open today.  I haven't checked for this, but Vitamin Cottage has always had the decency to stay completely closed for the holiday.  Enjoy!

Asparagus Near Giveaway, Plus More

A friend contacted me today to let me know that fresh asparagus (conventional, but it almost always is) is only 99 cents a pound right now at the Sprouts store in Longmont.  I called the Sprouts on Arapahoe here, and evidently this is only in Longmont, lucky folks.

Also, no word yet about any customary one-day sale tomorrow at Whole Foods.  One might still come up, as they've been tending to mention it quite late in the day on Tuesdays, but on the day before Thanksgiving, who needs any added grocery shopping concerns.  Also, a warning that the parking lot at the Pearl Street store was already a complete zoo yesterday.  For the sake of sanity, I'll make any last minute purchases tomorrow at the Superior store, which has always managed to stay reasonably calm on the day before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving? There's An App For That

Frankly, I'd rather just cook mostly familiar foods (along with a few new twists) for Thanksgiving and enjoy the time with friends, since family is so far away, but if you really want to be consulting a device for guidance for your Thanksgiving dinner, Bon Appetit has just the thing for you, their Thanksgiving app.  Good luck.  I'll be hoisting a glass of wine instead.

Holiday Tasting At Lucky's Tomorrow

It seems unseemly to post this on such a solemn anniversary for JFK, but if you're in the area, the new Lucky's Market in Longmont will be holding a holiday tasting tomorrow, the 23rd, from 3 to 6 pm.  Yum.

Natural Turkey Price Comparison, the 2013 Edition

And an abbreviated one at that, as there's no time for a comprehensive look.  Here's what I see for the usual in a high grade natural bird, bearing in mind that you should check with the stores/websites for other options.

Lucky's Market:

Diestel Natural - $1.99 a pound (both Boulder and Longmont stores)

Barber's Fresh Natural - $1.27 a pound advertised for Longmont, don't know about Boulder

Vitamin Cottage:

As previously reported,

Mary's free range turkeys - $2.39 a pound

Mary's organic free range turkeys - $3.69 a pound

Mary's free range heritage turkeys - $6.99 a pound

Shelton's free range turkeys - $3.39 a pound

Quantities are limited, and you'll put down a $5 deposit with your reservation.

Whole Foods:

Diestel Natural - $2.49 a pound

Diestel organic - $3.69 a pound

Diestel heirloom - $4.99 a pound

plus a previously frozen brined option at $1.99 a pound.

Thanksgiving Menu Helpers

Thanksgiving arrives rather late this year on the 28th, two weeks from today, so it's time to get planning for the big day.  My table has many traditional dishes (never mess with my Bell's Seasoning stuffing and don't you dare rub New Mexican chile powder on my bird!), that adding in a new side dish with a lighter character is about all the innovation I can take for the day.  But if you're looking for some inspiration to shake up your table a bit, here are some guides to help you out:  Thanksgiving Recipes, Menus and Cooking Tips from Epicurious, Ultimate Thanksgiving Feast Headquarters from Bon Appetit, Celebrate the Holidays from Cooking Light (that one sounds like a multi-tasker), Food and Wine magazine's Thanksgiving Recipes, and Holiday Cheat Sheet from Whole Foods.