Thanksgiving food---where to find it?

So you want to make a Thanksgiving dinner? Well, there's no such thing as "one-stop shopping" here. You need to visit several stores to get everything you need. Here's the official "Food for Foreigners" guide to Thanksgiving shopping.


TURKEYS
Costco (best deal, I think)
Wellman's
TAS (you need to know a TAS parent)
American Club (not a good deal...waaaay too expensive)

STUFFING
Jason's Marketplace
(as of 11/17, Wellman's didn't have any stuffing)

FROZEN GREEN BEANS
Carrefour

FRENCH FRIED ONIONS
can't find them anywhere. But you can try the Chinese version of fried onions...I think City Super carries them

MUSHROOM SOUP
you can find this anywhere...even at Wellcome

PUMPKIN PIE
Costco sells them for about NT$300 each and they're big.
If you want to make your own, you can get frozen pie crusts and pumpkin pie mix at Wellman's.

PECAN PIE
you can get big bags of pecans at Costco.
The dark or light corn syrup can be purchased at Jason's Marketplace or Wellman's.
Also, the best brown sugar can be bought at Wellman's. Don't bake with the Chinese brown sugar. It's not the same.

MASHED POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES
visit your local vegetable vendors. Marshmallows for sweet potato casserole can be found at Wellman's. Sometimes Carrefour carries marshmallows, but they're not the Jet-Puffed ones, and they don't melt as well.

JELLO
Jason's Marketplace, Carrefour

Am I missing anything? Of course, this list isn't comprehensive...but hopefully it will give you a good start with your holiday cooking!

EEC Filipino Store bargains

Today I found something I've been looking for for several years now---caramel syrup. And now it's here, and it's cheap---only NT$75 at the Filipino store. Can't wait to try it on some vanilla ice cream! Also, have you noticed that peanut butter has really gone up in price lately? The ever-popular jar of Chinese "Skippy" is now NT$169. (It used to be NT$88 when it was on sale at Carrefour). But, have no fear...the Filipino store sells the Planters variety for NT$95. What a bargain!


Also, make sure you get your Thanksgiving essentials here. The evaporated milk is only NT$35/ can, which is HALF the price of the same stuff in Wellcome. And you can also get cream of mushroom soup and cheap cream. This is the easy stuff...just chill it and pour it on your dessert. No whipping required.
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Two other products worthy of mention: You can now find small tubes of BATH and BODY WORKS lotions, which make any American gal a little nostalgic for the red and white checkered store.

And right now, the store is selling TWO big bars of dark chocolate Ritter Sport for only NT$59.

Thanksgiving food at Wellman's

Wellman's (in Tianmu) carries pretty much everything you need for a Thanksgiving meal. Some of the prices are cheaper than what you'll find at Jason's Marketplace. So go ahead and get a few things there...but save things like evaporated milk, chicken broth and cream of mushroom soup for the Filipino store or Wellcome.

A 10-lb. turkey is around NT$1,000 at Wellman's. I'm going to price Costco's turkeys later this week.

I'm not sure if you can get French Fried Onions anywhere else...so if you're determined to have green bean casserole, you'll have to buy them here.

Stove Top Stuffing is definitely cheaper at Wellman's. You can get two boxes of it for around NT$200. One box at Jason's is NT$150.

And the pumpkin pie mix is cheaper, too. It's NT$120 at Wellman's.

They also sell a frozen pie crust you can use if you don't want to make your own crust, as well as frozen tubs of whipped cream. But both are expensive, so I recommend attempting a homemade crust and buying whipping cream at Carrefour or Costco.

I think Wellman's also sells Cranberry sauce, although I forgot to look for it today.

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If you want evaporated or sweetened condensed milk, visit the EEC Filipino store on Jhongshan Road. It's quite a bit cheaper there.

And you can get chicken broth for NT$29 at Wellcome.

For rolls, try Costco, if you don't mind buying them in bulk.

And, of course, there are the mashed potatoes...visit your local vegetable vendor for the potatoes. If you want sour cream, the best deal is at Costco. You'll have to buy a big tub of it, but it will last you awhile!

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More ideas to come...