genuinegirly

Thanksgiving is pounding on our door!
And many of us are cooking a full spread for the first time.
Will disaster ensue? Not with the help of our TFP friends!

Spill it, experienced Thanksgiving-meal-cookers!
Birds, pies, sides, stuffing, cranberries, etc.
We need to hear all of your tips.
Or maybe you can critique the plans that we beginners present.

A few questions to get people started:
What preparation do you do the day before?
Do you prepare any sides or pieces of meals in advance?
What time do you recommend serving the meal?
What time should guests arrive, so they're not sitting around watching you cook?
How do you serve the meal - does everything go on the table at once, do you set up a side table with a buffet, or do you serve courses?
If you serve your meal in courses, what's the order?


Also -- Share any funny T-day disasters or otherwise applicable stories.
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I've been helpful for many T-day meals, but I've never been responsible for everything. I have no idea where to start. Well, other than stuffing. I can make the bread and chop the celery, onions, and walnuts the day before.

To top it off, we're cooking cornish game hen this year (yes, I'm a clueless veggie). I've been looking up recipes and advice. Tt will most likely do that part of the cooking, but I want to make sure we're well-equipped with a plan so we don't serve a dry, nasty bird. If something has to die to feed people in my house, it's going to at least be done right. Hopefully as pretty as these guys:

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

ColonelSpecial

What preparation do you do the day before?
My family goes to my aunt and uncle's for dinner. My family is in charge of desserts. We make the pies and dirt cake the day before. We also make cranberry salad (cranberry sauce, mandarin oranges and walnuts) the day before.
What time should guests arrive, so they're not sitting around watching you cook?
Watching the cooking is part of the appeal to me. We usually get there about 1 and eat about 6. Around 4:30 the finishing cooking starts. We cook and mash potatoes, make the creamed corn in a crock pot and put the rolls on the pan. When we take the turkey out about 5ish, one of us finish the potatoes, one of us makes the gravy, one of us puts the rolls in. More hands help in this case.
How do you serve the meal - does everything go on the table at once, do you set up a side table with a buffet, or do you serve courses?
We start by passing everything around at once and the put it on the buffet. One of us, usually me, is the designated passer of seconds.

The easiest way to a stress-free Thanksgiving is having your guests help. Have them bring a dish, appetizer, drink or dessert. This is what my family does and that means my aunt and uncle only have to make the turkey, stuffing and potatoes. It isn't too bad then! Plus, cooking is a good way to socialize.

Also, we all help clean up after dinner. That way, things are done and we can get on with playing poker without having to look at a mountain of dishes.

The one good story I can think of is when my cousin was mashing up something like 5 pounds of potatoes (large family to feed) with a hand mixer. This mixer was very old. It was a wedding gift for my aunt and uncle who were celebrating 30 years of marriage that year. My cousin was adding milk and butter and all of a sudden the mixer starts smoking. It did that for a minute and then tripped the breaker. We unplugged everything, turned the breaker back on and had to mash all 5 pounds of potatoes by hand. Fun times!

Not cooking related but several years ago, we were having Thanksgiving the day after because one of my cousins had to work at the hospital on Thanksgiving. I was working at a catalog data entry job and worked the day after. I got off work and started to drive the hour to dinner. I must have been going very fast and singing along to the radio because I saw red and blue lights in my rear view mirror. I was pulled over by a very nice highway patrolman. He said he clocked me going 95 when I pulled around him. I didn't even realize my car could go so fast! He asked where I was going and let me off with a warning and told me to have a good holiday. It would have been awful to show up to dinner with a ticket.

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"Mommy, the presidents are squishing me!"

"Using the pull out method of contraceptive is like saying I won't use a seat belt, I'll just jump out of the car before it hits that tree."

Sara

genuinegirly

Thanks, ColonelSpecial!
That cranberry salad sounds tasty. We might need to try that one out.
Cleaning up together sounds much better than leaving a pile of dishes.

That's a lot of potatoes to mash by hand!

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

Charlatan

Though real Thanksgiving is in October (I would lose my Canadian citizenship if I didn't point this out), the event is pretty much the same.

What preparation do you do the day before?
I do a bunch of prep in the week leading up to the dinner. This year I am making all of my pastry the week before and then making my pies and tarts (pumpkin, tarte au citron, pecan and flourless chocolate) a few days ahead. The day before, I will be prepping my vegetables (blanching my green beans, chopping onions, etc), making casseroles that can be reheated, making mushroom gravy, nut loaf and savory bread pudding (I have vegetarians attending).

Do you prepare any sides or pieces of meals in advance?
Yes. See above.

What time do you recommend serving the meal?
Usually we do Thanksmas on a Saturday so the guest arrive around 7ish and we are into the meal by 8ish. This year will be a Sunday so we are starting earlier at around 4ish as people have to work the next day.

What time should guests arrive, so they're not sitting around watching you cook?
I like guests to show up about an hour to an hour and half before the meal. We have cocktails or champagne and appetizers for everyone. I spend most of that time in the kitchen finishing the meal while my wife entertains. I am not one to fuss about people showing up on time. I make sure there is at least an hour before eating so late arrivals are not "late".

How do you serve the meal - does everything go on the table at once, do you set up a side table with a buffet, or do you serve courses?
When the numbers are small enough (five to 10) I have plates ferried into the table from the kitchen. When the numbers are 10 and up, I do the buffet. There are no courses other then meal and dessert. Appetizers, if any, are served off platters as people mingle and not at the table.

If you serve your meal in courses, what's the order?
In a buffet style, the buffet is cleared and then set up with the desserts. If we are all sitting, I will take orders and serve after clearing the meal dishes.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

World's King

Drink. Watch football. Pass out.



I'm good.

__________________
heavy is the head that wears the crown

Starkizzer

The food scientist in me has to say this:

Don't cook the stuffing inside your bird!

Meh we do anyway and I still eat it even thought all my professors would stone me if I told them...I'm a bad food scientist in that way. hehe

__________________
Frivolity, at the edge of a Moral Swamp, hears Hymn-Singing in the Distance and dons the Galoshes of Remorse. ~Edward Gorey

Charlatan

I've decided that this year I will listen to the voices that say Stuffing is EVIL. I am making dressing.

Last year, I noticed that my stuffing was still quite wet but my Turkey was cooked perfectly. It's because in order to get the stuffing to the temperature where it is no longer a health hazard and properly cooked, you have to overcook the bird. I never over cook the bird (thermometers are your friend).

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Willravel

What preparation do you do the day before?
Normally I've got the bird thawed already so I can get it in brine, but this year we're doing a Thanksgiving breakfast instead (some folks have to work on Thanksgiving, wtf?!) so nothing other than making sure I've got all my ingredients.
Do you prepare any sides or pieces of meals in advance?
Nah.
What time do you recommend serving the meal?
Dinner? I like to have it between three and four. Breakfast? I'll probably have everything ready by nine thirty.
What time should guests arrive, so they're not sitting around watching you cook?
I like having people around to do dishes, so as long as it's not like 5 a.m. I'm fine.
How do you serve the meal - does everything go on the table at once, do you set up a side table with a buffet, or do you serve courses?
I like courses because they make me feel fancy, but this year it's everything on the table.
If you serve your meal in courses, what's the order?
Ideally (as in it's only worked once)? Some kind of light squash soup first, probably acorn squash because it's really autumny. Then comes the tiny cranberry/raspberry salad. The classic entrée would be baked turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and peas, along with home made rolls and maybe some olives. Occasionally I'll throw in a green bean casserole if there are a lot of people coming. If there's any room left whatsoever, there's home made pumpkin and sweet potato pies.

This year there won't be courses, though, mainly because I'd have to get up too early. Pumpkin pancakes, two kinds of breakfast sausage (pork and apple chicken), my special scrambled eggs, and danish served with sparkling apple cider will be my breakfast menu.

dlish

this makes me want to become an american..ok maybe not, buts a pretty cool video. i love the trick he did with the butter under the skin

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An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

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- Filthy

Charlatan

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke