ROUSES_Holiday2018Magazine-FINAL.indd

For those weekend-long Thanksgiving extravagan- zas, where the family rushes at midnight to the mall for doorbuster deals, Rouses also sells Thanks- giving party trays with items like finger sandwiches, egg rolls, muffalettas and cheeses. What makes the Thanksgiving offerings from Rouses special is an attention to local cuisine and culture. “Most traditional sellers don’t sell shrimp and mirliton,” says Michael Westbrook, Rouses director of deli cold cuts and sushi. “We sell oysters Bienville, which is an oyster dressing. We sell lots of rice dressing, and that’s also very unique to this part of the country, and we try to make sure our meals are geared toward what our customers would be eating for Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter. Our comfort food.” Ordering for holiday meals begins on November 10. Stores will have tables with order forms set up near the deli sections. Holiday sides will be avail- able for customers to sample, and if you like what you taste, you can place your orders on the spot, or later by phone, and pick up the meals just before the big day.The two busiest days for pickup are the day before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving morn- ing (yes, the stores will be open). The meals are completely prepared, and the customers need only heat them in the oven or on the stove when they get home. The meal boxes come with instructions for how to heat each item. In recent years, many Rouses customers have chosen to pick up their dinners much earlier — not for Thanksgiving Day, but for special meals called Friendsgiving feasts. “It’s where friends come together to have a celebration separate from Thanksgiving Day, where people generally already have family traditions. It’s an interesting new phenomenon.” Anyone who would like Rouses to prepare a dinner specially timed for their own Friendsgiving celebration need only request the earlier day and time to pick up their meals. But let’s say it’s Thanksgiving Day, and you’ve tried to prepare the dinner of your dreams. The family is all around, plates in hand and ready for round one, but when it comes out of the oven, dinner is an inedible mess. The turkey tastes like tree bark. The sides are watery bowls of despair.The rolls can double as baseballs. Rouses will do what it can to help. We absolutely do our best to not turn away an order,” says Westbrook. “We have had customers who walk up on the day of Thanksgiving, and in all circumstances our stores go above and beyond to help. We know it is an important holiday for fami- lies.” If you turn up an hour before lunch without having pre-ordered, there’s no guarantee, of course, that a prepared turkey will be available. But the team will do what it can to save the day. “We go out of our way to make sure we take care of you.”

Make turkey bone gumbo with the leftovers. Get recipes at www.rouses.com .

17 everyday NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018