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Chippopotanuse t1_ixltd0g wrote

> The Boston metro area, which includes Cambridge and Newton, tops the charts at $170 for Thanksgiving dinner. The meal includes a 10-pound turkey, several sides that include mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, peas and corn, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Drinks include orange juice, cola, and coffee…

What? Who the hell wants to eat peas and orange juice on Thanksgiving? Have I been doing it wrong all these years?

I live in one of the most expensive Boston burbs.

Here’s our dinner for 10:

  • Got a 20lb Turkey at Wegmans for 0.49 a lb. ($10)

  • three cans of cranberry sauce. ($6)

  • bag of potatoes ($4)

  • two boxes of stuffing ($5)

  • gravy made from whatever the hell drops off the bird with some flour (basically free)

  • Turkey bag and disposable pan ($5)

  • my wife’s parents got a pie from a farm stand ($17).

$47 for 10 people. Done. (And most of that is spent on a bougie rhubarb blackberry pie.)

The old standard T-day dinner is still super affordable in my book.

If you want your a meal fancier than that, if you want a few bottles of $20+ wine, if you want all sorts of bullshit sides…that’s cool. But don’t blame it on Thanksgiving meals being “expensive”.

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Honclfibr t1_ixlz8j7 wrote

Y'all need veggus.

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twowrist t1_ixmdjry wrote

I was going to say something like that, but then I realized it still wouldn’t bring the cost up to the range given in the Yahoo or Moneygeek articles.

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Yak_Rodeo t1_ixmap3d wrote

you have one turkey and two sides for 10 people?

you are very much an outlier

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ooolooi t1_ixmycal wrote

This mf eating unseasoned turkey filled with no-additions box stuffing

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Chippopotanuse t1_ixnegr2 wrote

I’m sorry - I didn’t know I had to add the nickel for the spices that we all have in our cupboard. But feel free to add that if you’d like.

And as for “no-additions” box stuffing?

You’re goddamn right. Get off your high horse and try some. The water is fine in that end of the pool.

It’s not that I don’t like fancy stuffing or can’t afford it…it’s just that I also am fine with the cheap stuff. Same goes for my taste in wine and beer. Two buck chuck and PBR have their place as well.

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donkadunny t1_ixm0xg3 wrote

Lots of little things off in your anecdotal calculation (you left two groups of multiple products off your list), but most importantly, no one said it was unaffordable. Just that the average prices they used in their methodology (which they spell out) make it the most expensive out of the major US cities.

As someone who lives in the metro area that isn’t a suburb, my figure looks a lot more like theirs and nothing like yours.

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twowrist t1_ixm3yu9 wrote

Something’s bogus in Moneygeek’s analysis. I bought a kosher turkey from Trader Joe’s and even it was closer to $3/pound. It certainly wasn’t over $4 like they predict for Boston.

Edit: in case anyone cares, here’s the Moneygeek article that I think Yahoo was using.

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BuckyWunderlick007 t1_ixlvq26 wrote

Believe it! When you’re more expensive than Hawaii and NYC, you might have a serious cost of living problem.

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hankintrees t1_ixnzvrw wrote

This website is BS. I'm a masshole transplant in Maui paying much higher grocery costs than MA.

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Dontleave t1_ixlzx0w wrote

My bird was 49 cents a pound ($6.50) at stop and shop, paid $3.50 for a brining bag, $8 for an apple pie, a sack of potatoes is $5, frozen corn was $1.50 a bag and cranberry sauce was $2 a can. My family is bringing additional sides like stuffing and green bean casserole but for the most part the whole meal was less than $30.

I also bought a bougie cranberry curd pie from a local baker on Facebook and that was $32 or more than the whole meal itself.

Toss in a couple bottles of Kirkland wine and you’re at $75 with most of it being a fancy pants pie and wine from Costco.

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twowrist t1_ixm7e0i wrote

Brining bag? I’ve been looking at a handful of turkey videos, and they all say “dry brining”. Maybe it’s because I’ve only looked at spatchcocking videos.

Maybe it’s time to start a new trend and you can save the $3.50?

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Dontleave t1_ixmbvqi wrote

I was actually going to do this but Tuesday the turkey was still half frozen so I thought the wet brine would help to work on thawing it out some more which did work. Hopefully it’ll work out well in the cook but only time will tell. I’m smoking it this year on my pellet grill

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twowrist t1_ixmcxpl wrote

I don’t know what I would have done if I had to buy frozen, because I only found out late last week that we would be hosting Thanksgiving, and defrosting a turkey in the refrigerator is so unpredictable. But yeah, any sort of water bath should speed up defrosting.

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Dontleave t1_ixmd6s7 wrote

I knew I was cooking and planned ahead buying the turkey two weeks ago and taking it out of the freezer on Saturday but I guess my fridge is set too cold lol

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addhominey t1_ixq7e0c wrote

Dry brining and spatchcocking is really superior to any other method of preparing and cooking a turkey that I've personally used or had from friends. Cutting through the bones on the turkey to do the spatchcocking is very difficult though.

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BeerLeague_Biznasty t1_ixp9qd3 wrote

All I can tell from these comments (while that article is still wrong) is some of y'all have Thanksgiving like you're rationing for the Great Depression. FFS scratch stuffing is like $10 to make, splurge a touch.

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Justtryme90 t1_ixo6kkw wrote

Groceries in Boston cost basically the same as they do elsewhere. This article is bullshit.

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