Wild turkey near the tOcean Grove tents in May 2019. Never seen again. Paul Goldfinger photo
4 members of the Goldfinger clan: L to R. Stephen, Michael , Eileen and Noah. I took the photo. (pg). 11/27/25
For years Eileen entertained small armies of relatives on Thanksgiving, making everything from scratch. But this year the star of the show–the turkey–was obtained from Whole Foods in Wall Township. (south Rt 35). And their catered event was magnificent. We had to heat up the already-cooked bird, and their instructions were perfect. They also supplied mashed potatoes, string beans, gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing.
But Eileen also prepared her family versions of vegetable stuffing, green bean casserole, and mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows.
Having Whole Foods take care of the turkey saved some work, but we still had lots to do for our “crowd” of 6. Next year we will persuade her to make her home-made cranberry sauce and gravy. But to cater dinner from Whole Foods, you had to buy the whole package, not just the turkey if you want them to cook the bird.
For dessert we had apple and pumpkin pies from Allenhurst Cravings bakery on Main Street. Those pies were the best, topped with ice cream. I drove there on Wednesday at 7 am to pick up the pies. They were surprisingly heavy.. Here is a photo of Cravings which I took while waiting for the baker to show up at 7 am.
Paul Goldfinger in-the-dark at Cravings in Allenhurst. Just opened at 7 am. I was first. They were expecting a large crowd pick up pies. 11/26/25 Click once to enlarge.
Here’s a turkey song from Promises, Promises.