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One year I allowed one pound of turkey per person, and baked a 14 lb turkey for 14 people. One person was a baby, and didn't eat a bite. We had NO leftovers, in fact some people didn't even get seconds. Our family isn't obese, either. I've always heard you should allow one to one and a half pounds of turkey per person. Of course that will vary, especially if you have some big eaters who love their turkey, or if you want leftovers. Also, some of the weight of the bird is bones, it's not all meat.
...I'm cooking a 20 lb turkey for 8 people (all at least teens...incl 2 teen aged boys). I expect leftovers but with the teenaged boys who knows LOL!.
Last edited by maciesmom; 11-21-2010 at 12:42 PM..
Of course the extras such as wine and Table dressings and a fancy ceterpeice is going to drive the cost of a dinner up much more.
For feeding family and close friends that visit often not just for a Holiday meal all the frilly extras would be (for me) Like Showing off or something.
I'm not speaking for anyone but myself and what I do for my family.
If someone wants to spend 300 bucks on a home cooked dinner that includes a poultry product so be it..
Then again, In the total cost of a dinner, consumable products should be talked about only,
unless of course you plan on eating the table cloth and place settings and having the centerpiece for desert.
You could do that if your getting an edable arrangement type thing..
For 300 bucks I want Prime rib.
Everyone looks at entertaining differently. I will be hosting family that rarely visits. They will be flying in to spend the holiday with us. Making the extra effort/expense to have a pretty table and dishes that we don't often have (and better wine ) along with standard family favorites shows that I appreciate the effort and expense they went to to visit.
Laugh away. I said earlier that my Thanksgiving dinner for six cost about $120, but that will leave us with lots of leftover through the end of the week. I'd also rather make my own food than eat some oversalted, greasy crap from Denny's--thanks anyway--with no leftovers.
Denny's.........??????????/
No Denny's in my area.
The restaurants advertising the $8.99 Thanksgiving meal are all family restaurants.
Evidently they can feed people for under $10 on Thanksgiving and still have a profit in the cash register.
Maybe you folks who are crying how expensive it is ( hundrish for feeding 8 people ) could learn from those experienced cooks.
Someone asked about turkey prices here. I visited 5 stores. The cheapest was Piggly Wiggly where I had to buy $25 worth of groceries in order to get an off brand turkey breast for .99/lb. That was sad because I'd already bought the other items I needed for the next few weeks. Most turkeys in my area were $1.50-$2.00/lb. Every turkey I looked at was well over 20lbs. It wasn't like this last year. I really don't know what happened.
I ended up getting a small ham for .99/lb. I didn't have to buy anything else.
Oh yeah! It wasn't even that long ago...seems to me, if we spent like $100 in the month of October or November, you could get a free turkey (up to 20 lbs IIRC)....
Our Butterballs are also at .98/lb....Can't remember what the Jennie-Os were....I think there were some "generic" or off-brands for .55/lb...
That's just it! There were none of those deals around this year except for Piggly Wiggly. Even there it was a off brand turkey breast.
The restaurants advertising the $8.99 Thanksgiving meal are all family restaurants.
Evidently they can feed people for under $10 on Thanksgiving and still have a profit in the cash register.
Maybe you folks who are crying how expensive it is ( hundrish for feeding 8 people ) could learn from those experienced cooks.
I'm not crying. And sure, I can thaw out some frozen mass-produced processed food just like any restaurant. And I know many people grow all their own vegetables and hunt turkeys for free. I do pay for store-bought turkey stock and apple juice and vegetables and butter and cream, so if that's your point, okay. Cooking with good ingredients costs money if you don't make everything from scratch--I wish I had MORE of a budget so I could afford more organic produce, free-range meat and things like kosher turkey.
I don't get what you're gloating about anyway. It's like laughing that someone spends $10 on quality cheese to make macaroni and cheese from scratch, instead of buying a box of it for 33 cents at Walmart.
I'm not crying. And sure, I can thaw out some frozen mass-produced processed food just like any restaurant. And I know many people grow all their own vegetables and hunt turkeys for free. I do pay for store-bought turkey stock and apple juice and vegetables and butter and cream, so if that's your point, okay. Cooking with good ingredients costs money if you don't make everything from scratch--I wish I had MORE of a budget so I could afford more organic produce, free-range meat and things like kosher turkey.
I don't get what you're gloating about anyway. It's like laughing that someone spends $10 on quality cheese to make macaroni and cheese from scratch, instead of buying a box of it for 33 cents at Walmart.
If it were only about cost, I could go get 8 frozen Banquet pot pies, get some instant mashed potatoes, and dump a couple of cans of generic canned green beans into a dish, and call it a day. Could probably feed all 8 for under $20...including the box of wine...
If it were only about cost, I could go get 8 frozen Banquet pot pies, get some instant mashed potatoes, and dump a couple of cans of generic canned green beans into a dish, and call it a day. Could probably feed all 8 for under $20...including the box of wine...
Lets turn this into who can make the nastiest Thanksgiving Dinner ever thread..
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) along with standard family favorites shows that I appreciate the effort and expense they went to to visit. 
