What's on your Thanksgiving menu this year? We'll share the preparation task with family members this year. One loved one is bringing the appetizers, another is in charge of the drinks and a third is managing the vegetarian dishes. So, what is left for me?
We'll have the traditional turkey, butternut squash, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, good bread and apple and pumpkin pies with ice cream. Pacing the preparation is always part of the Thanksgiving puzzle.
The turkey
I liked this article and this article about how to cook the turkey. I'll buy a 20-pound turkey so I have lots of left overs for turkey sandwiches the next day. I'm buying a frozen turkey, so I'll begin defrosting in the refrigerator five days before the brining process--that means I'll move turkey from freezer to fridge the Friday morning before Thanksgiving. I'll start preppring and cooking the bird at 10ish that morning and I'll cook the turkey in my giant cast iron pan. By 1 p.m., I'll be ready to let the turkey rest and make the gravy. I'll keep both warm while enjoying the appetizers.
The sides
Since oven space will be limited, I'll make most of the sides ahead of time, in the crock pot or on the stove top. I'll make the butternut squash the day before and keep that heated in a crock pot on Thanksgiving Day. I'll make the mashed potatoes on the stove top, and I'll try a crockpot stuffing with good bread. I may try to find a vegetarian stuffing recipe since we'll have some who do not eat meat at our dinner. I'd like to add sweet potatoes too and I'll likely simply cook those in their skins in the oven.
Breads
I'll make a few sweet breads such as cranberry and pumpkin breads ahead of time. Then I'll buy or make yeast rolls ahead of time.
Pies
I'll make the pies the day before and purchase some good quality ice cream as well.
Coffee
I'll take out the big coffee maker, grind the beans and make a good pot of coffee to enjoy with dessert too.
The table
While it's nice to have the food on the table, it is a lot easier to set up a buffet with all the fixings. I'll set up the buffet in the kitchen and the table in the dining room. I'll keep the set-up bright with cloth napkins, colorful table cloth, candles and our nice china for the celebration.
Activity
We'll start with a noon time hike, appetizers around 2 p.m., dinner at 3 p.m., games and then dessert.
It has been a long time since I've had a small group of people for a Thanksgiving Dinner--a more intimate group gives you the chance to make the celebration a bit more special with lots of extra details. I'm looking forward to that.
Celebration Time Line
Thursay 11/18
- buy turkey
- clean house
- buy veggies at local farm stand
- buy sour dough bread for stuffing and bread mix for sandwiches
- Make pies: apple and pumpkin (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23439/perfect-pumpkin-pie/) (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/448-pie-crust)
- Make sweet breads
- Prepare squash
- Set tables
- Iron napkins
- 7 a.m. Prep turkey (https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/easy-no-fuss-thanksgiving-turkey/)
- 8:30 a.m. Put turkey in oven at 325 degrees.
- 9 a.m. make veggie/non-veggie stuffing
- 10 a.m. Put squash in crock pot
- 12 p.m. put sweet potatoes and stuffing in top of oven
- 12 p.m. prep/cook mashed potatoes, place in crock pot
- 1:30 p.m. take turkey out at 160 degrees, tent in tin foil, make gravy - add additional dishes to oven
- 2 p.m. appetizers
- 2:30 ish - Slice turkey
- 3 p.m. serve dinner - put pies, apple crisp in oven to warm them up
- 5 p.m. games/dessert