Attention, turkey shoppers

I just got back from the grocery store. An ordinary enough outing, really, until you consider this: Today was the first time EVER that I’ve finished the Thanksgiving grocery shopping before sundown on the day before Turkey Day. What a difference a couple of days make.

When our family gathers for any big food-centric occasion, I am in charge of desserts. On Thanksgiving this always means I bring a couple of different pumpkin-pie variations … double-layer pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, turtle pumpkin cheesecake … as long as it’s big, sweet and ready to be slathered in Cool Whip, it’s fair game. A few years ago we had to settle for a chocolate cake because I waited too damn long to make my supply run and the only necessary ingredient left on the shelf was a lonely box of cream cheese that’d been run over by a shopping cart and left for dead. And still, every year I tempt fate and wait until the last possible minute to fill my cart.

Today’s shopping list  was long and varied, and I wasn’t looking forward to schlepping through the aisles in search of all the grocery goodness requirements. But – miracle of miracles – my couple-days’ head start resulted in astonishingly pleasant results. I reached for a 4-serving box of instant Jell-O Vanilla pudding, and  found an entire shelf filled to the gills with box upon box of just what I needed! Orderly stacks of Keebler graham cracker crusts gleamed under the overhead lights, just waiting to be taken home and transformed into after-dinner bliss. There were potatoes a-plenty. And an ample supply of sparkling cider. Good gravy, there were even mounds of glorious turkeys chilling in the meat department.

Gawd, I wonder what might happen if I start my Christmas shopping before Christmas Eve …