Monday, November 24, 2008

My Thanksgiving Food Timeline

Last week, I didn't realize that Thanksgiving was so close! I started a "Food Timeline" early on in my life, when I was still working full time at Nordstrom. The first Thanksgiving meal I made, I didn't do anything in advance, including the pies, and was more exhausted after making Thanksgiving Dinner, than I was working a 12 hour shift on the sales floor. After that, I got smart and decided to do stuff the night before, and then I had more time to "relax" and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade :) Now, I do as much as I can 2-3 days before, and it really makes for a less stressful day. I am going to write this as Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs, because, this is how my brain works.

Monday: -Finalize Menu-compile your list for shopping.
-Clean the Fridge out, go shopping.
-If I have a small fridge, buy Ice for Coolers to leave outside on back porch.

Tuesday: -Cook potatoes for Company Potatoes.
-Make Cranberry Sauce
-Take Turkey out of freezer (and thaw out in fridge).

Wednesday: -Assemble Company Potatoes, and put in fridge.
-Make Cranberry Sauce (if it wasn't done on Tuesday)
-Steam Sweet Potatoes and put into an oven proof dish of your choice.
-Bake Pies.
-Clean house
-Feed the hungry children that you have ignored most of the day.
-Chop up onion & celery for stuffing, and put in the fridge.

Thursday: Turkey Day!
-Wake up at 6:00am (or earlier depending on size of Turkey & what time dinner is).
- Make stuffing, stuff the Turkey, turn on oven, put Turkey in oven. Go back to bed.
- Peel potatoes for mashed potatoes and leave in pan with water until ready to cook.
-Watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
-Make Roll dough.
-Set table. Threaten children that if they come within 5 inches from the table....

The rest of it is a blurr. I manage to get everything out on the table, warm. I microwave sliced Turkey, if it's cooled down too much-so it's not cold. But I slice the Turkey last. I put in Company Potatoes RIGHT AFTER I take out the Turkey. I also take out the Company Potatoes out of the fridge, about an hour or 1/2 an hour before I take out the Turkey. I put in the Sweet Potatoes (recipe will come tomorrow) when The Company Potatoes are almost done. The potatoes for mashed potatoes are cooked and ready to be mashed, and the gravy is made. We also have Honey Glazed Carrots too. That will also be happening at the same time the potatoes are cooking on the stove. After the Sweet Potatoes are done, I put in the rolls to bake. Everything is out on the table, waiting 1-2 minutes on the rolls. Making sure people are sitting at the table. And then we say a blessing on the food, go around saying what we are grateful for......and then eat. Then there is the clean up and putting the left overs away. And that is always fun. This is where to cooler is handy if you run out of room in the fridge. I put things in the cooler that we don't use on a regular basis like condiments, extra butter or margarine, left overs of something else from earlier in the week, etc. Stuff that I know is safe and won't spoil if the ice melts to quickly, but it's winter, so it won't. If you are blessed enough to have a second fridge in the garage, then you don't need a cooler. I'll post more recipes tomorrow and Wednesday.

1 comment:

32 Flavors said...

I am seriously tired just from reading that! I'm glad I only have to prepare the stuffing this year. Good luck!