Balducci’s Christmas Dinner

As with a lot of people, this year was not the usual for us. We always visit our son and his family for Christmas in central Virginia. It’s a four hour drive, we stay for two days, and come home. So they told us not to get anything for Christmas dinner this year; rather, they would be sending it to us via Balducci’s. The large box arrived on our doorstep on December 23. There was a huge turkey breast, bacon wrapped meatball appetizers, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, cranberry, rolls, and a whole apple pie - probably enough to serve 6 people. So we went ahead and cooked the turkey that afternoon, and sorted the other items for our first crack at the several days of meals in front of us. It was really good! The refrigerator was stuffed with the food and the leftovers. I cut the turkey down to small pieces and froze a bit of it for soup later on. So we had the same meal for two more evenings - except I prefer cold turkey sandwiches after the first dinner. Last night we had turkey soup, and there is still plenty left for another batch in the future. The next time we’ll use noodles instead of potatoes. So it was the gift that kept on giving. And it was delicious! But I think we would have preferred the annual fete - like everyone else. We thought of our family with every bite.