A Thanksgiving Care Package - for my cousin

[StarryNightDave]

I can't invite my cousin down for Thanksgiving, so I want to visit with him this weekend. And I want to give him a Thanksgiving "package" so he can make a turkey and have several meals during the week.

Any ideas of what I could include in the package? Here's what I'm thinking so far . . .

A turkey - maybe 18 to 22 pounds?

A few Yams - our local supermarket has some wonderful shrink-wrapped yams that you microwave for 8 minutes. They come out fantastic.

A few cans of cranberry jelly. (A necessity!)

Some onions, celery, bread cubes, and a pound of butter for making stuffing. Maybe some spices too. Fresh Sage and Thyme.

I also want to get him about a dozen Zatarain's boxes of Dirty Rice Mix for other meals. This is amazing stuff! Cheap too.



Now that the weather is cold, he can't go to the flea market to sell KetchHot. So I wanted to get him stocked up for at least a little while with some food. I just thought the holiday would be a good excuse to do it.

Can you think of anything else easy to make I could take to him? Maybe a pumpkin pie.

[tattulip]

Will he actually make stuffing or would it be better to buy the stuffing mix?

Someone was just telling me how good these are:



How about a package of gravy mix?

[StarryNightDave]

Very good suggestions. I'll get some tubs of mashed potatoes. (I really like those!)

Have you used any good stuffing mixes? I've only seen Stove Top Stuffing. Is there anything better you can actually stuff inside a bird?

[ConsrvYank1]

Very good suggestions. I'll get some tubs of mashed potatoes. (I really like those!)

Have you used any good stuffing mixes? I've only seen Stove Top Stuffing. Is there anything better you can actually stuff inside a bird?

Save your money, I tried that once, it was terrible. You could get him a bag of the flavored cubed bread, then he can take it from there. He can add sausage, basically anything he wants. I would prolly buy him 3 lbs. of butter. Between the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. he may need it.

[tattulip]

Very good suggestions. I'll get some tubs of mashed potatoes. (I really like those!)

Have you used any good stuffing mixes? I've only seen Stove Top Stuffing. Is there anything better you can actually stuff inside a bird?

I don't know if you can actually use Stove Top for stuffing the bird. I guess I don't why you couldn't! Don't know of any other brands. Nothing will be as good as homemade. I don't know how much he cooks so I didn't know if he would actually make stuffing. If you think he will, you could include a recipe for stuffing?

[Pixie]

Very good suggestions. I'll get some tubs of mashed potatoes. (I really like those!)

Have you used any good stuffing mixes? I've only seen Stove Top Stuffing. Is there anything better you can actually stuff inside a bird?

I don't know if you can actually use Stove Top for stuffing the bird. I guess I don't why you couldn't! Don't know of any other brands. Nothing will be as good as homemade. I don't know how much he cooks so I didn't know if he would actually make stuffing. If you think he will, you could include a recipe for stuffing?

I was wondering about this too.

[Pixie]

Very good suggestions. I'll get some tubs of mashed potatoes. (I really like those!)

Have you used any good stuffing mixes? I've only seen Stove Top Stuffing. Is there anything better you can actually stuff inside a bird?

Save your money, I tried that once, it was terrible. You could get him a bag of the flavored cubed bread, then he can take it from there. He can add sausage, basically anything he wants. I would prolly buy him 3 lbs. of butter. Between the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. he may need it.

If he does like to cook I think the flavored bread cubes is a better idea and I agree 3 lbs. of butter. Also, whether he wants to make stuffing or not make sure to get him a few cans of chicken stock... for the stuffing and for soup with the leftover turkey. he can heat up the chicken stock throw in all the leftover turkey and some vegetables and make a great soup that will last days.

[StarryNightDave]

Well, he does love to cook, which worries me a little. He was telling me how he was frying cheese slices one day. And another time he was frying chicken skins.

It's funny how two people can be related, but have such different upbringings.

I think he would make stuffing. So maybe I should get more butter.

[Pixie]

I have relatives that I wonder how they can be related to me.

Maybe you should get him some frozen rolls too.

[StarryNightDave]

I have relatives that I wonder how they can be related to me.

Maybe you should get him some frozen rolls too.

Thanks!

[Fatherducque]

Since he is by himself, a couple of high quality canned hams would be good and would keep him supplied for a while, as he could open them as needed. Add some cans of pineapple rings that he could place on them before baking. Maybe some nice glaze too.

[StarryNightDave]

Since he is by himself, a couple of high quality canned hams would be good and would keep him supplied for a while, as he could open them as needed. Add some cans of pineapple rings that he could place on them before baking. Maybe some nice glaze too.

Never thought of that. I'll get some canned hams and pineapple.

[Fatherducque]

Since he is by himself, a couple of high quality canned hams would be good and would keep him supplied for a while, as he could open them as needed. Add some cans of pineapple rings that he could place on them before baking. Maybe some nice glaze too.

Never thought of that. I'll get some canned hams and pineapple.

Add a can of cloves too. And a couple of aluminum foil baking pans to bake the ham in.

[Pixie]

This thread is full of excellent ideas!

[LandLover]

What about dessert!?

[StarryNightDave]

What about dessert!?

I was going to take some pumpkin pies.

[StarryNightDave]

Stouffers makes a really good frozen mac & cheese. My kids love it. Bob Evans makes a microwavable mac and cheese, too. They also make a sweet potato casserole.

I don't know if you've already been out to buy something, but http://catering.wegmans.com/

That would be the EASIEST thing for him.

I'm all about practicality. If someone gave me a care package, I'd rather it be something I could easily store than something I had to worry would go bad before I could assemble it.

And unlike CY1, I really love stovetop stuffing mix, especially if I add fresh ingredients.

I guess I'll need a cooler. He's about 4 hours drive from my house, so frozen foods would not stay frozen.

And I'll have to try that Wegman's site. I'm only about 2 miles from our Wegmans.

[Pixie]

He is very blessed to have family such as you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LandLover]

He is very blessed to have family such as you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto, very!

[StarryNightDave]

He is very blessed to have family such as you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto, very!

Well, mission accomplished. I just now got back from Altoona. I spent the day with him yesterday and dropped off all of the groceries. He should be set for quite a while. He was very appreciative of what I had done, which made it all worth while.

[Pixie]

Good job, buddy!!!!!!!!!!

[StarryNightDave]

I'm still worried about him. He was doing OK selling KetchHot at the flea market. But that's closed for the winter now. He's 2 months behind in his rent. He's very poor with money and tends to spend it all before he pays bills. He really has a mental disability. Plus his only pleasure in life seems to come from either food or booze. I just hope I haven't taken on too much. He lives 4 hours away, and I have my own family to think about. He hasn't asked for any money. But he does tell me about his problems.

I'm trying to think of something "crafty" he could make and sell on etsy.com. The "girl" in my group (she's 23) is a little entrepreneur. She has an etsy shop and makes almost an extra $1000 per month selling stuff she makes there. And that's working nights and weekends. She told me she spends almost $200 per week at the post office mailing packages.