we got a turkey

canon digital rebel xsi

I don't know when the grocery stores decided to make the Thanksgiving turkey the loss leader, but every year it is more fun to watch the specials. Some years it is two-for-one turkeys. Other years, $10 off with coupon. There was even one year where you got a free small frozen bird, if you bought a fresh one.

Tonight we found ourself at the local Von's market. They were selling turkeys up to 16-pounds for $8, and over that for $10. Of course you had to spend $25, with some exclusions, but it seemed like a good deal, so we went for it.

Although the $10 turkeys were the better deal, I prefer to work with something on the smaller side. We are fortunate to have two ovens in the kitchen, but that means that they are smaller than most single ovens found under a stove. Plus, we really don't need a 22-pound bird for five people (our current guest count) - that's probably too many leftovers.

So we started looking though the turkey bin. Most of the $8 birds were in the 10-pound range - that's a tad small. We considered a smaller on from the $10 pile, but of course most of those were over 20-pounds. After a bit of searching, we found one just shy of 15 pounds - perfect!

Now all we had to do was buy some groceries. It was late, and we had really only planned on getting what we needed for the morning. I ended up getting a jar of my favorite pickles that were $6.79. Ouch! And of course some bottled water, and the pans for the turkey and stuffing. B found the last bottle of apple juice on sale. We got some eggs, milk, butter, and turkey sausage for our breakfast, and figured we would more than make the $25 minimum purchase. [Oh, and a box of donuts and some ice cream bars - why we don't shop the chain stores too often.]

We got into the express lane, with a full cart, but figuring we were within the 15 item limit. No one was ahead of us, or behind us. This should go quickly, we thought. There was even a friendly bagger ready at the wait. Unfortunately, the cashier rang up the turkey twice.

No worries, right, you just void out one, and all is well. Not quite. Somehow the computer couldn't handle that, and while it removed the extra turkey, it didn't remove the extra discount. So after some discussion with her fellow cashier, it was decided she would void the entire order, and do it again. Did I mention that the groceries were all bagged and in the cart?

Thankfully it went quickly. But still, that was probably more effort than required for a Butterball.


on the night stand :: Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver.