Tag Archives: fresh

Free bird: Acme or ShopRite?

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Every year as Thanksgiving approaches I ponder an important question regarding which turkey is best for the feast: fresh, frozen or free?

90de03d299f49b637bab83ef14e66fd7For my money, give me a free bird (and a round of Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s Free Bird, the rock anthem blaring on my 1969 Impala Super Sport when a West Virginia state trooper clocked me driving 92 mph. He gave me a break and wrote me up for driving 5 miles over the speed limit. After all, it was my 20th birthday).

Regarding the turkey, my only decision is which promotional offer is the better choice.

This year, ShopRite is ponying up a house-brand turkey weighing up to 21 pounds with cumulative purchases of $400 through Nov. 24. Acme will hand over a Jennie-O bird with a weight of up to 22 pounds with a one-time purchase of $100. (Update: the offer ended Nov. 18).

ShopRite’s offer kicked off in October, so I figured I had plenty of time to rack up the required tab. But I soon realized that I was going to fall short thanks to ShopRite’s great seasonal promotions and my personal zeal for clipping coupons.

So this Thanksgiving, Acme wins out with its more accessible price point. I’ll stock up on holiday fare, toss in coffee and other non-perishables, check out for $100 and change and bag a bird for our holiday repast. I’m always grateful for a great deal.

 

Trader Joe’s slices the hassle of making fresh pizza dough

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We love home-made pizza. Frozen pies tend to taste like the box. And takeout isn’t always consistent.

But making our own dough? Not so much fun.

Then my former Courier-Post colleagues Trisch and Brian Ferreira turned us on to Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough. The dough is priced at a mere $1.19 for a 16-ounce bag. It’s easy as pie to roll out and it tastes great. So why knock yourself out making your own?

Just take the dough out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you are ready to roll it. I lightly flour a large wooden cutting board, then roll out the dough with a rolling pin, also lightly dusted with flour. You can coax the dough into a perfect round pie, but I usually make an oblong crust, more like a flatbread.

So what to top it with? The possibilities are limited only to what is in your fridge, pantry, garden or freezer.

I’ve made flatbread with dollops of fig jam, goat cheese and caramelized onions. The whole wheat dough was the base for a rustic pizza with red peppers, tomatoes, kalamata olives,  rosemary and manchego cheese–essentially bits and pieces from the refrigerator that might otherwise have gotten the heave ho into the garbage within the next day or so.

You also can grill the pizza. Lightly oil the rolled out dough and place it oil-side down on the grill. After it cooks on that side, oil the other side and flip the dough. Top with whatever you have a yen for and finish cooking.