A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the United States, and a happy end of November to everyone else. ^_^
(I was watching Love Actually the other day, and it starts out “5 weeks to Christmas”; it struck me that in the States we all complain if there are Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving, but in the UK, the only holiday before Christmas is Halloween. Cultural differences are fascinating, but that’s neither here nor there.)
Last week it was pretty dead around here, mostly because I was trying to get as many hours of work in before the holiday to keep my income at an even keel. The upside of working for an hourly wage: you get paid for every hour you work. The downside of an hourly wage: You don’t get paid for when you’re not working (like you do when you are salaried). So I let my posting schedule slip, but we’re back to it this week. I’m sure you’re very excited. I know I am.
I was also busy preparing my part of Thanksgiving dinner, which is what inspired this post. I shared Thanksgiving with my extended family last Thursday, which was delightful for many reasons, not least of which was that we all saved a bit of money by pooling our resources.
The Spread
Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce were provided by my cousin, the host.
Mashed potatoes were provided by the hostess’ sister (not actually related to me)
Apple and pumpkin pie and 3 bottles of white wine were provided by their mother and father.
Bread and green bean casserole were provided by my cousin and her fiancé.
Rolls and butter were provided by our Grandmother.
Cherry pie, sweet potato casserole, and asparagus were provided by yours truly.
All told it was quite the delicious spread, and it cost each of us a fraction of what it would have cost for one person to provide the whole meal.
What did it cost me?
Cherry pie:
- 3 cans of pitted cherries (in water), $8.50 (2.39, each)
- Sugar, 4 lb bag, $4.50
- Flour, all purpose, $2.50
- Tapioca, $5.00
Sweet potato casserole:
- Pecan halves, 0.5 lb, $4.00
- Brown sugar, $1.50
- Sweet potatoes, 5 lb, $2.00
Asparagus:
- 3 bunches, $7.00
Total spent: $35.00, less if you only count the fraction of flour, sugar, and tapioca that I actually used.
Not bad for 1/6th of a meal to feed 12 people. It wouldn’t have cost me nearly as much if I’d had flour and sugar on hand, which I usually do, but Ben made biscotti the other day and that completely killed my reserves. Not that I minded, of course; the biscotti were delicious.
