Turkey-induced Inflation

The American Farm Bureau Federation is reporting that the cost of your Thanksgiving dinner is increasing 13% this year, with the largest cost increase of the meal being the turkey.  I see two possible ways to combat this cost.  First, find a wild turkey on the side of the road, hit it with your car, butcher it, and save a lot of money.  Otherwise, buy a smaller turkey and serve a ton of vegetables that are cheaper per pound than the turkey.

Personally, I'm just in charge of bringing a dessert for Thanksgiving, so a $6.99 pumpkin cheesecake has already been purchased at Trader Joe's, but I'll still make a traditional dinner sometime this upcoming weekend.  I may just make a small bird, my grandmother's stuffing recipe, mashed potatoes, the Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce recipe from Williams-Sonoma, and my mom's cherry pie, for which she was named Cherry Pie Queen of Northern Illinois in 1962.  If money is an issue on Thanksgiving, then maybe it's only worth making those dishes that make you feel wrapped in the flavors of childhood instead of trying to make every harvest-inspired dish under the sun.