Cranberry Sauce

This is our last market weekend before Thanksgiving to shop for feast ingredients. In polite conversation with a receptionist while waiting for an appointment, she asked if I had all my holiday grocery shopping done.

“I get everything I need at the farmers market I attend each week”, I explained and much to my surprise she reared her head back, opened her eyes wide and said that I most certainly did not. Fortunately, I was called for my turn so I didn’t have to defend myself to her.

However, I began mentally sourcing out holiday menus, ones from Grandma and Pappy’s house and those from luxury resort restaurants. Could I really source everything for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner without stepping food inside a grocery store?

Absolutely!

Thanksgiving was a family affair that began with grandparents, their children and the grandchildren, of which I was the oldest of five. We were as Norman Rockwell as they came only our spread was laid out in the basement as it was the only part of the house where we all fit at one table. Among the jars of put-up fruits and vegetables that lined the painted cinderblock walls, we sat down for our meal shortly after the local volunteer fire company blew their siren at noon.

The turkey was the centerpiece, but we also passed ham, both available at market from multiple vendors. If neither of those are you style, there’s always other luxuries such as duck and seafood. These were often the meals I spied on the plates of travelers who chose a spa and golf holiday over their uncle arguing about politics with anyone who’d take the bait. “If you’re going to go, go all out,” read the brochure expounding on the delights of a massage instead of dishes.

It's doubtful that some of the items on my grandparents’ table would have looked at home on the buffet at the resort—carrot and celery sticks, deviled eggs, pickled red beet eggs, pickles, and my favorite, olives. I’m sure if grandma were alive today, she’d be all about the amazing assortment of olives available at the market. Ok, maybe there’d be olives like the ones at market on the buffet table, they’re that darn good.

There were always white mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. Check out our vegetable vendors and you’ll find white sweet potatoes, too. They make the best mashed potatoes and are totally chef-worthy especially if you add nice artisan cheese. Just say no to the mini marshmallows on top.

If you don’t want cheese in your potatoes, put some out on a board along with other tidbits such as caviar and award-winning charcuterie. Ok, so I started out with cubes of commodity cheddar and deer baloney, but I’ve graduated to bloomy rind chevre and duck breast prosciutto.

You can’t have Thanksgiving turkey without stuffing (AKA: dressing). It can be made in so many different ways, but you still don’t have to hit the cart races down the store isles to find the basic  ingredients. For the tweaks, we’ve got nuts, we got oysters. It’s all here at the farmers market.

Speaking of oysters, for many the holidays wouldn’t be right without the regional staples that define our cultures. A plate of fresh shucked oysters, a bowl of sauerkraut complete with the turkey neck, black-eyed peas, baklava, hummus, salami.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving sides are maple glazed Brussel sprouts and bacon. For those who don’t like maple syrup, there’s plenty of local honey.  If you’re attached to the Cambell’s Mushroom Soup recipe that calls for green beans sold by the Jolly Green Giant instead of one of our vegetable vendors, go for it. But I’d rather source my mushrooms and beans fresh.

We haven’t even gotten to dessert! Pies and pastries galore that will cut down on your kitchen time and delight guests are throughout the market.  For the purists, there’s plenty of apples and pears for tortes and pies. You want a pumpkin pie? We’ve got plenty of pumpkins. Oh, but what about the crust? You’re covered. Look hard enough and you’ll discover locally milled flour and rendered lard which makes the best pie crust ever. If you want butter instead, there’s also butter, but fair warning, get to the market first thing if you want the staples such as dairy products and eggs, especially eggs.

While I’m on the subject of eggs, unfortunately there isn’t any local craft eggnog. But there’s farm fresh eggs (the only kind you should ever use) for making homemade eggnog and cream. If you want to spike up your local ‘nog, there’s plenty of distilled spirits with which to do so. You’ll find wines, beers, hard ciders and good ol’ regular kid friendly apple ciders. Coffee or tea to offer your guest? Check.

The one thing I almost forgot, which was also regularly forgotten over the years at my family’s Thanksgivings is the cranberry sauce. Cranberries aren’t native to our region so don’t look for them in the raw form at the farmers market to make your own. I was assured by the condiments and salsa vendor that there will be a special batch of cranberry sauce which means this year you won’t need to brave the long lines and crowds at the grocery store to pick up a can to complete your traditional Thanksgiving.

So yes, you can get everything you need for an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. I doesn’t matter if you’re feeding two or twenty, Central Farm Markets has you covered.