Shopping for the Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner

The holidays beg for traditions.

Traditions passed from father to son, generation to generation make holidays special.

My family's Thanksgiving tradition starts the Tuesday before the big feast, when my father and I travel to the heart of Canton to Ostrowski's for their fresh Polish sausage and then trek to Richardson's Farm in White Marsh to pick up our preordered fresh young turkey.

I feel that to produce the best tasting finished product you must work with the freshest ingredients possible, and there are few places where you can get better polish sausage (maybe Poland) and fresh turkey.

We get our Ostrowski's sausage from the Ostrowski's Famous Polish Sausage of 524 Washington St., not to be confused with just a few blocks away, a completely separate operation.

The Bank Street Ostrowski's sells Polish Kielbasa, Italian sausage and smoked kielbasa while the Washington Street branch of the family deals only in fresh sausage made in-house.

Why the family split has been the subject of speculation, rumor and local legend for more than 34 years. The Washington Street Ostrowski's has a sign that clearly states that they do not sell their product to local grocery stores.

My father and I arrived to find a line of about 20 people long waiting outside to purchase sausage.

We watched in anticipation as customer after customer left with their arms loaded down with grocery bags full of sausage. We had to make room for a meat delivery, there was a rumbling from the front of the line, they had run out of sausage.

Not to worry though, they were making more.

Finally, our turn had come and we entered heaven, the aroma of garlic and fresh herbs wafting about us as my father gave his large order.

The lady behind the counter wrapped our three rings of sausage as big around as my wrist in butcher paper, the meat straining the natural casings. She wrote out a bill on a brown paper bag, $92. My father peeled off five twenties, Ostrowski's does not accept credit cards, and stuffed the change in the tip cup.

We then returned to the car and headed north on Eastern Avenue. My father told me stories of when the Highlandtown section of Baltimore City was the premier shopping district for the city.

We cut over to Pulaski Highway and turned right on Ebenezer Road in White Marsh, then we pulled in to the newly-opened grocery store of Richardson's Farm. A third generation family-owned-and-run farm, this is the best place to buy a turkey.

Every Thanksgiving Richardson's sells 4,000 fresh-never-frozen turkeys.

Here we run into another line, this one about 15 people long. You better have ordered your bird about 2-3 weeks prior. No ticket, no bird.

Luckily, we had ordered our turkey and my father had the ticket.

While there, I picked up the supplies for my wife, Kristina Stotler's, famous and side-dish.

Now Kristina can make her famous .

The next time you are looking for something special to make for dinner keep these two local gems in mind.

Where do you shop locally for Thanksgiving dinner?