Plans for the turkey, ham or something else.

beertons · 21-12-2019 11:12pm

Yeah, that turkey sauce wasn't the best. Wont be doing that again anyway.

L1011 · 22-12-2019 12:56am

Doing my veg/herb shopping tomorrow - the local greengrocer is open Sunday for the occasion. Meat is ordered in for pickup Monday, butcher open til 8. Will save the queues on Christmas Eve.

Have reached the point where luckily I can afford to pay the premium (tiny in the case of the greengrocer; far from tiny for the butcher) for the knowledge that they probably aren't screwing the producers over quite as hideously as the supermarkets are; but if you can't you can't.

I might have to do the vegetarian main for 1/3rd of those attending; which my sister was going to bring but might not be able to - which will be an interesting last minute drop in! We do a fair few veg*n meals ourselves but none of them are really Christmas Day suitable.

drunkmonkey · 22-12-2019 2:42am

Butcher was saying a big increase in vegetarians this year, one man came in looking to get meat for 1 Christmas day as the women had all stopped eating it to help save the planet. Glad to have a Pãthé loving 5yr old in the house, don't ever want to end up in that man's situation, nearly brought a tear to my eye.

SlipperyPeople · 22-12-2019 9:53am

question for people who have their christmas dinners at lunch between 1-4.

what time do ye stick on the bird?

christmas eve night?

obviously depends on the size of the turkey but we usually have a decent sized one that goes on around 6 am christmas day. We don't eat our dinner until 7-8. granted that's also a choice with other things going on and the bird is cooked a decent time before we sit down.

Posy · 22-12-2019 1:25pm

I'm hoping to get my turkey today- off to do the 'big food shop'... yelp!

Tammy! · 22-12-2019 1:38pm

Posy wrote: »

I'm hoping to get my turkey today- off to do the 'big food shop'... yelp!

Good luck! I'm doing mine tomorrow

I still haven't decided what to do yet. Tbh I feel like beef this year. We had beef two years ago so I think I'll make it as a tradition every second year for a change.

Postgrad10 · 22-12-2019 4:53pm

Was meant to do the big shop this morning but I kept on sleeping instead. Why i’m so exhausted, I don’t know.

ZX7R · 22-12-2019 5:57pm

We're having pork neck filled with wild mushrooms from Poland,peppers onion crushed garlic with a mix of herbs and spices,
Then rolled and slow roasted occasionally basted with polish hunny mustard.

Posy · 22-12-2019 7:56pm

I usually get a 4.5 kg turkey. This year I'm just getting a turkey crown, but the only one Aldi had was 2.4 kg.
Now I'm having 'I won't have enough turkey' anxiety.

On the plus side, the Big Shop is done!

Princess Calla · 22-12-2019 8:00pm

Posy wrote: »

I usually get a 4.5 kg turkey. This year I'm just getting a turkey crown, but the only one Aldi had was 2.4 kg.
Now I'm having 'I won't have enough turkey' anxiety.

On the plus side, the Big Shop is done!

How busy were the shops? I procrastinated too much, so tmw early it's looking.
Once I get parking and a trolley it will be fine (hopefully)

22-12-2019 8:04pm

Princess Calla wrote: »

How busy were the shops? I procrastinated too much, so tmw early it's looking.
Once I get parking and a trolley it will be fine (hopefully)

Christmas Eve morning first thing is normally a good one I’ve found the past couple of years. I was leaving Tesco last year around 9:00 and there wasn’t even a big pile around.

Posy · 22-12-2019 8:14pm

I was in Tesco about 5pm and it was alright- not too busy.
The drinks aisles were the most packed, unsurprisingly!

Princess Calla · 22-12-2019 8:38pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Christmas Eve morning first thing is normally a good one I’ve found the past couple of years. I was leaving Tesco last year around 9:00 and there wasn’t even a big pile around.

That's abit close to the wire even for me

Last year it was Sunday at 5 and not too bad, expected worse.

I've gone early on the 23rd and got followed back to the car for my trolley

Just hope tmw is ok, just really need milk and veg, meat is the butchers so hopefully I'll survive

mirrorwall14 · 22-12-2019 9:35pm

SlipperyPeople wrote: »

question for people who have their christmas dinners at lunch between 1-4.

what time do ye stick on the bird?

christmas eve night?

obviously depends on the size of the turkey but we usually have a decent sized one that goes on around 6 am christmas day. We don't eat our dinner until 7-8. granted that's also a choice with other things going on and the bird is cooked a decent time before we sit down.

6am until near 5pm?! What temp are you cooking at? I’ve done a massive bird in nowhere near that time! I use an in oven meat thermometer with two probes for it

L1011 · 22-12-2019 9:42pm

Dunnes Maynooth today was suffering from being relatively small/tight - its a full size Dunnes wedged in to a smaller size than usual. Difficult to navigate the aisles and you had to queue with the trolleys sideways

Only need to collect the meat and get the makings of the fryup from the shop at the end of the road now; everything else is bought.

22-12-2019 9:43pm

L1011 wrote: »

Dunnes Maynooth today was suffering from being relatively small/tight - its a full size Dunnes wedged in to a smaller size than usual. Difficult to navigate the aisles and you had to queue with the trolleys sideways

Only need to collect the meat and get the makings of the fryup from the shop at the end of the road now; everything else is bought.

That car park is vile at the best of times too.

L1011 · 22-12-2019 9:47pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

That car park is vile at the best of times too.

Weirdly today there was no exit queue - once you got on to the main aisle you were out in one light sequence - but getting around and getting spaces was horrible. People were stopping in the aisles if they saw you going near your car with a trolley so you could be stuck for minutes at a time.

Last couple of years I've been used to a five or six light sequence exit, or worse.

Rubberchikken · 22-12-2019 9:50pm

our turkey is never dry.
i baste it every 20 mins or so. and its perfect, if i do say so myself:)
and from tesco. always happy with it.

22-12-2019 9:52pm

L1011 wrote: »

Weirdly today there was no exit queue - once you got on to the main aisle you were out in one light sequence - but getting around and getting spaces was horrible. People were stopping in the aisles if they saw you going near your car with a trolley so you could be stuck for minutes at a time.

Last couple of years I've been used to a five or six light sequence exit, or worse.

I hate anyone doing that when I’m packing my shopping in, though I can understand it in a way.

22-12-2019 9:55pm

Rubberchikken wrote: »

our turkey is never dry.
i baste it every 20 mins or so. and its perfect, if i do say so myself:)
and from tesco. always happy with it.

I’d be raging if my turkey wasn’t fairly dry as that’s the way I’ve always had it I love it that way. As the mother always said, if I wanted moist turkey I’d have bought a couple of chickens.
That’s why there’s no brining, no basting, no upside down cooking, no butter, etc for me.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 22-12-2019 10:12pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

I’d be raging if my turkey wasn’t fairly dry as that’s the way I’ve always had it I love it that way. As the mother always said, if I wanted moist turkey I’d have bought a couple of chickens.
That’s why there’s no brining, no basting, no upside down cooking, no butter, etc for me.

Same here. We want dry turkey. We baste, for flavour, but cook until dry. Sacrilege to many, I know, but we like it.

drunkmonkey · 22-12-2019 10:33pm

Just looking at Jamie's olivers turkey he only bastes the once. Looks perfect. Lashings of butter my kinda chef.
Don't want to get this wrong....it's our first turkey at home. Want is nice and moist with lovely crisp ediable without cracking skin. I always love the skin off the turkey, usually get it all to myself.

22-12-2019 10:35pm

Francis Cuddly Theorist wrote: »

Same here. We want dry turkey. We baste, for flavour, but cook until dry. Sacrilege to many, I know, but we like it.

Definitely blasphemy but I’ve tried the moist one and wouldn’t like it at all. Just what you get used to over the years I suppose.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Just looking at Jamie's olivers turkey he only bastes the once. Looks perfect. Lashings of butter my kinda chef.
Don't want to get this wrong....it's our first turkey at home. Want is nice and moist with lovely crisp ediable without cracking skin. I always love the skin off the turkey, usually get it all to myself.

Is that this years one that he rests unwrapped for about 3 hours?

drunkmonkey · 22-12-2019 10:44pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Is that this years one that he rests unwrapped for about 3 hours?

Well spotted I just checked it's the 2015 one, he says rest for 2hrs, Mrs not into it reckons the turkey will be cold. We're debating about a meat thermometer, she reckons no need and I'm the one thought her cook a whole chicken.

22-12-2019 10:47pm

I wouldn’t mind the resting, though the length seems a bit like overkill, but I’d throw a clean tea towel over it or wrap it in foil to retain a bit of heat.

mirrorwall14 · 23-12-2019 1:20am

L1011 wrote: »

Weirdly today there was no exit queue - once you got on to the main aisle you were out in one light sequence - but getting around and getting spaces was horrible. People were stopping in the aisles if they saw you going near your car with a trolley so you could be stuck for minutes at a time.

Last couple of years I've been used to a five or six light sequence exit, or worse.

They’ve definitely changed the light sequence this year because getting into maynooth from the kilcock side takes forever at the moment

Plans for the turkey, ham or something else.

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