do 2 turkeys the day before....cut up and re heat with broth....make gravy the day before.
Mashed potatoes for a gang are easy....just peel and cook more potatoes and use a bigger pot.
have someone bring a relish tray and rolls your mother brings the pies, you do the turkey and gravy the day before, day of you make a simple sweet potato casserole, the green beans and the mashed potatoes and stuffing/dressing, warm the turkey, set the tables and there you go!
Linda C

I'm kinda in the same boat with 18 people too, and have had to revise my initial plan.

Originally, my sis was going to do the turkey and bring it over, but she and her BF are leaving a day early, spending the night in a room at a casino that's on the way to my home, and then driving in on T'sgiving day. She's bringing Italian hard salami and pepperoni and crackers, and putting them in her little ice chest for the overnight trip.

My cousins, who live either 60 to 90 minutes away, are bringing cookies, an appetizer, rolls, vegetarian stuffing/dressing, salad, and pies. One of my friends is making sweet potatoes with candied pecans.

Here's what I'm making ahead of time: shrimp with pesto appetizer, shrimp rillettes with crostini, cranberry sauce, pesto torta, veggies and dip, and the turkey and gravy, and cheesy baked ziti. I'll be cooking the Italian sausage ahead of time too, and then "drain" it and crumble it and store it in the fridge in a ziploc. I also picked up some hummus dip from TJ's as some of my family enjoy that.

On Thanksgiving, I'll be making the cornbread-Italian sausage stuffing/dressing in the crockpot. I'll be cooking up the green peas and the corn, and mashing the potatoes right before serving (or maybe drafting one of the guests to have a go at things with the potato masher).

I double checked to see if my glass pyrex pans will fit in the oven and I can fit four of them in it. This includes whatever bakeware my cousins bring to be reheated. I'll be reheating the turkey, which I will have already sliced ahead of time, in some broth. The turkey and the ziti will both be in the oven, along with a couple of other things. I only have one microwave, and it's small, but I figure I can always steam the peas and corn. Potatoes will be cooked on top of the stove, but I can wash, peel, and cut ahead of time, and keep them submersed in water and in the fridge, until it's time to cook 'em.

I told my DH that he is "in charge" of the beverages. The wine has already been purchased.

I also have a little calendar I use to help me organize things, and on it, I list what needs to be done on what day, and I have a space for my grocery list as well. It helps me!

Hopefully, you'll get lots of good ideas here to help reduce stress and everything, so you can enjoy your housefull of guests!

Smiles,
Sooz

OOPS! Sorry, didn't mean to say you'll have 18 people too... I know you'll have 29 !
Sooz

I would follow Linda's advice. In regard to the Chinese students, we have hosted a bunch of exchange students - they probably are excited about having a real American Thanksgiving. During Thanksgiving have someone play photographer and send the students some pictures via email to remember the event.
For 30 people I would split the food into 2 so each end of the table or tables have their own platters of each kind of food.

And I'd forget about the sticky rice. It's always iffy making an unknown recipe for a guest meal and doing it when you're already stressed out about everything else is probably going to tip you over the edge. I'm sure your students will be so fascinated by the whole Thanksgiving deal they won't care if there's familiar food or not.

Mash potatoes the morning of the day before. Add some warm milk the day of to bring them back to freshness--add some butter to that milk and they will be just fine. pop in the oven or use the microwave. Have done this many times. Set the table on Tuesday night--just dust the plates off if need be. As long as the table is set I feel as if anyone could show up and it will be fine. I also set all my dishes out the way I expect them to be the day of--helps in not forgetting anything. Green Beans I have done in the microwave and just added butter or have made them into a cold salad the day before with balsamic vinegar. It will be great--but yea! that is a lot of folks! Have fun.

I've done T-giving for 20+ for several years. Sigh. I'm hoping to keep it under 20 this year, but we'll see who turns up in the end.

I cook the turkey on the weber kettle outdoors. Oven space is very, very helpful for this endeavor. If you brine a 20+ lb turkey, and allow it to rest for at least 1/2 hour before slicing, it will stay very moist (and hot).

Because you get no drippings from a grilled turkey, sometime before T-giving I make and freeze several quarts of turkey stock. I use this for the stuffing (a traditional sausage bread stuffing with lots of sage and onion) which I make the day before but bake on T-giving itself and for the gravy which is actually a brown sauce which I make the day before. It's not as good as pan gravy, but it's still very good. I bake and puree my pumpkins for pies the day before, but don't bake the pies or rolls until very early T-giving morning. Crusts are made the day before of course. A vegetable like braised red cabbage can be made the day before and reheated without any problem. Cranberries can be done the day before. Mashed potatoes and another vegetable are really the only things left -- the potatoes being the biggest pain in the behind because they simply don't hold as well as other things.

After years as a grad student and then lowly university employee, I'd have to agree that you probably needn't worry about the Chinese (or any other nationality) students. They know what they're getting into! I think they'll probably be happy enough to not be stuck alone in a dank student apartment on the holiday. I'd feel a little awkward if I thought someone had made a special dish for me, actually.

If you live somewhere coldish (you do, don't you?), the grill won't be quite as practical. OK, I HAVE done a turkey on a grill in Detroit at Thanksgiving, but the grill was REALLY close to the door (and the kitchen was gutted). And the spouse had to deal with it.

But toaster ovens, crockpots, and microwaves are good to have. And they can often be borrowed from friends if you need extras. You might want to borrow an extra coffeemaker too.

Would it be possible to get your mom there early, like maybe even the day before? An assistant who will follow your game plan might be what you need the most. Of course, moms can make things much harder too, depending on the mom.

A big crowd makes for a fun day, one you will want to enjoy! I have often hosted 20 + and you really do need to do things in advance. I've done the turkey in advance, sliced and reheated with a bit of the broth it's just fine. Also make the gravy the day before.

I agree that you won't have enough turkey, if you do squeak through you sure won't have leftovers! I'd add a nice big bone in smoked ham to the menu, it can be cooked in advance, sliced and warmed too.... truth is it doesn't even need to be cooked it can just be sliced and heated. I'd delegate the ham to the brother bringing his 4 plus 5!

Sides need to be simple and make ahead as well. I do a cheater bake bean dish that is always a huge hit and takes 5 minutes to put together. Great with the ham.

My guys would have a fit if their were no mashed potatoes with gravy but when you have 29 coming mashed potatoes is a real challenge...thats a lot of potatoes to boil and mash! Reheating that many potatoes isn't so easy , you'd have to do in batches in the microwave and that could get tedious!

Would you consider one of those potato casseroles using frozen hash browns? Many poo poo them but I am always amazed at how big a hit they are. We served them at my nephew's rehearsal party and 50 + people scarfed them down and many requested the recipe. They can be made the day ahead, even earlier as they freeze very well.

Think you need another veggie too. Terrapots has a very nice carrot casserole recipe that my family enjoys but I have never made it ahead. I think you could easily prep the carrots the day before, make the sauce the day before and then throw it together day of.

Only issue is going to be oven space....how well do you know the neighbours! LOL So maybe do a boiled/steamed cauliflower and cheese sauce for the second veg...cheese sauce can be made ahead.

Let me know if the potato casserole, baked beans or carrot casserole interest you and I'll gladly post the recipes.

Good luck and most important of all enjoy!

PS: delegate all the nibblies, rolls, pickles and desserts!

I am a firm believer in the make ahead mashed potatoes. I have done them for 15 years now just like this. I have tested the original recipe and they will keep for over a week if kept refrigerated.
For 10 lbs of potatoes, peel, cook, mash lightly and let cool down a bit. Add in 1 block of softened, room temp cream cheese and 1 carton sour cream. NO MILK. I add a dash of garlic powder as we like it. Mash all together and store in separate buttered casserole dishes. Put pats of butter down into the potatoes when reheating. I've done it in the oven, microwave and in a crock pot to reheat. Crock pot takes awhile so be aware of the time.
My cousin, who is a total from scratch cook tasted these a few years ago and does it this way now. You could do them a few days ahead and have no worries other than the reheating. Having these done ahead has made it much easier for me over the years.

I agree, no sticky rice. I work with international students and they want the traditional experience.

An other thought...one year we had 30 for Christmas and I was panicked about how and where everyone would eat. Dishes, cutlery, glasses etc.....and I really wanted us to sit down together.

My DH suggested we clear out the family room, rent tables, chairs, dishes, table clothes etc. It wasn't that expensive, I was shocked that it was so reasonable, and you just pack all the stuff up dirty and they take it away!

I think your family is very, lucky that you are willing to have everyone into your home and do the lions share of the work. Maybe they would be OK with splitting the cost of the rentals given you are doing the rest....

If you don't mean "sticky rice" as in "sweet or glutinous rice" then, don't do it. Chinese cuisine is very similar to Vietnamese cuisine and we don't normally favor sticky rice as in regular rice with sticky texture. They may not like it.

As for sweet rice or sometimes is also called glutinous rice, that's different. It all depends on how you make them to accompany the main dishes and that's not easy if you're not familiar with Asian cuisine.

You can make this version of rice if you have a rice cooker. I'm quite sure they will like it. Yes, you can make it in advance and heat it up in the microwave when ready to serve.

I do apologize for only giving you the ingredients. I don't normally measure, just eyeballing the amount.

In a rice cooker, cook rice as you'd normally do but substitute water with chicken stock and also add some chopped garlic and fried shallot/onion, like 1-2 Tbsn. of each. Give it a stir and press the button to cook.

In the mean time, thaw some precooked cocktail shrimps and frozen mixed veggies of peas, carrots and corns by placing them in a colander and run them through warm water for a few seconds. Thinly slice some green onion.

Once the rice is cooked, mix in some soy sauce to taste. Add the shrimps and mixed veggies. Mix it well and press the button once again. It should cook for another 5 mins. Before serving, stir in the green onion.

Notes:
If the button wouldn't press down, wait for about 10 minutes and you should be able to press it down.
You may substitute shrimps with any type of cooked meat but cut them to small size.

You can get precooked fried shallots/onion at mostly any asian store or Indian section of the market.

If you're serving the day after, heat up the rice mixture before adding the green onion. This way, the green onion maintains its color.

I even add scrambled eggs and chinese sausage (sliced and heat up in advance in a toaster oven for about 15 mins. 350F degrees).

It has a similar taste to fried rice without all the grease and hassle. You can pretty much add anything to it as you would with fried rice.

FWIW weather is no impediment to grilling. I've done a 15 lb prime rib on the grill for Christmas dinner when it was in the 20s F outdoors. Just need to add charcoal a little more often if it's that chilly. The turkey will also cook significantly faster on the weber. Only about 10-12 minutes per lb -- even for a really big bird.

I've had a something similar to sissyfran's do-ahead mashed potatoes and they really are good. I still prefer fresh mashed, but if you're going to do them ahead (which is certainly easier), then follow her instructions rather than just make regular mashed to reheat.

I know many of you have said you like the reheated turkey in broth, but, golly, I have never had reheated turkey that didn't taste like reheated turkey. I'd put my prepare ahead efforts into sides instead.

You will do fine. You've gotten great advice.

I was going to cook my turkey the day before also but have changed my plans. We were not going to be home at all in the morning of Thanksgiving so I couldn't leave my house with a turkey in the oven. So I'm going to put it in and my husband is going to stay home to babysit. Almost everything else that I am making is being done the day before - house clean, table set, cold & hot dishes to plate & reheat and desserts done. Just need to walk in the door, change my clothes, take the turkey out (wrap) and start making gravy and stuffing.

I make Thanksgiving mashed potatoes which is very similar to the recipe above except the butter goes in with the sour cram and cream cheese. I put it together using a stand mixer and i do not beat it forever.It does not get gummy and can be make a couple of days ahead. I make stringbeans and cook them the day before and put them in ice water right away. Then I dry them and put them in a dish towel in a plastic bag. I prep the stuff for the stuffing before hand so i can throw it together on the day of. I make the stock ahead and freeze it so I don't have to worry about dripping from the turkey. whatever it is it is enough.

Do you have an electric roaster? If you do, do your turkey in it to give you more oven space.

Have two? (I do!) I have made the potato hashbrown casserole in a huge batch in one for a grad party. It came out great.

As I very seldom cook for a large group, that's about all I can suggest to help you.

Tami

I was going to do a separate post for make-aead potatoes, but sissyfran's potatoes are pretty much the same. The recipe I have is from the Southern Junior League cookbook, which calls them "a wonderful do-ahead dish for company." I've made them for Thanksgiving for quite a few years now; it's a huge help not to be cooking & mashing potatoes at the last minute. They don't get gummy, either.

PARTY POTATOES
serves 8 - 10

8 - 10 medium potatoes
1 c sour cream
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp butter
1/3 c chopped chives or green onions
salt & pepper to taste
additional butter
paprika

Boil potatoes until tender. Beat sour cream & cheese together. Add hot potatoes & beat until smooth. Add butter, chives, & salt & pepper to taste.

Pour into well-greased 2-quart casserole or baking dish/pan, dot with butter & sprinkle paprika on top. Refrigerate here if making ahead.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I always make mashed potatoes in the morning and then keep them in a crockpot on low for hours. It helps to put a piece of paper towel across the top to absorb steam. They are perfect.
Jo

I roast the large turkey on Thanksgiving but for the last couple of years I have made 2 to 4 turkey breasts in addition. I roast them the day before. I leave them a bit short of the final cooking temperature. Then I take the meat off the bone but do NOT slice it. Put it in a zip bag filled with canned broth and refrigerate.

On Thanksgiving I slice, arrange in the pan, and heat just enough of the broth to keep the turkey moist and pour it over the sliced turkey. Cover with foil and roast long enough to make sure it is cooked all the way through.

I can't tell which is made ahead. Heating the broth before putting it over the sliced turkey seems to limit the additional roasting time and keep it more moist.

Lots of great advice above already. I agree that one 15 pound turkey is not enough, even with the addition of the breast. I would do a couple of birds the day before and add a ham as suggested.

Coming from a large family and hosting TG and other events over the years all I can say is plan and make as much as you can in advance. Rolls and extra stuffing/dressing can be made in advance a frozen for sure. Those big roasters are great too. You can cook a turkey in them or use them for a back up oven. Mine will hold a 10 x 15 casserole dish. Toaster/counter top ovens are also a great help if you want to serve everything fresh and hot out of the oven. I remember a couple of years ago we had six or seven of them lined up in my DS garage along with a couple of roasters when we had around 40 for TG. If you can borrow a few from friends or neighbors they are a big help.

I've kept mashed potatoes in a crock pot for a couple of hours on low without much trouble...there may be a thin layer that sticks to the bottom..not a big deal for our group. We make another batch the next day to go with the leftovers. Pies can be made ahead of time and frozen, just pop them in the oven and cook or reheat.

I love the idea of renting most of the stuff and packing it all up for some else to wash and clean. Just might do that for our next big one. Our TG is happening over two weekends this year due to travel challenges and other things going on in the family. The main event will only be 20 plus as it stands now.

Man, I know it's a lot of work and prep but the time with family is so worth it...for me anyway. I sure hope you have a great holiday no matter what or how you take this on!!

David

Thank you for the ideas!!!!

I'm going to use lvmadison's process on two turkey breasts the day before and the reheat method for that then do the regular turkey in the oven the day of.

I'd love the carrot casserole recipe Chase!

I never thought about the crock pot to hold food so I am wondering if I could do Party Potatoes in the oven early then dump them in the crock pot? I hope to borrow a 2nd crock pot as well.

While I do live in Minnesota, I was thinking I could do sweet potatoes on the grill with lime cilantro to dress them up a bit.

Again, thanks so much I'm much less in a panic!

I feel you pain I have 28 too!

Here you go! Thanks to Terrapots!

Carrot Casserole - Terrapots

12 carrots sliced, cooked (make sure still firm)
3 Cup buttered bread crumbs
½ Lb grated cheese
Sauce:
1 chopped onion
2 Cup milk
¼ Cup margarine (butter)
¼ Cupflour
dash of pepper
dash of celery salt
1 Tspsalt
1 ¼ Tsp dry mustard

Arrange layers of carrots, cheese and crumbs twice. Pour sauce over and sprinkle with crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

You do have great advise here. Beg, borrow or steal crock pots. Potatoes, veggies and stuffing can be kept warm in there, even after you cook them in there. Do 2 full turkeys, you may be surprised at how the dark meat goes and do consider a ham too.

If you think you will have to many leftovers, tell those closed in heart to you to bring some plastic containers and send them home. Be sure to keep some for you too. You will be tired on friday and a buffet re-heat dinner is always the best for the cook.

Yes, you can do the potaotes this weekend and store. The do-ahead keep very well.

Rent if you can for seating. If you have time and you think this may be an annual event, you may want to rush to Ikea. They sell plain white plates/bowls/cups for about .79 cents each or less. Grab a dozen or more and store/share for the next few years.

And one tip for you. If you are making something that you really really love, hide a plate of it for late that night when all are gone and the fuss is over. Then enjoy in peace and no stress.

Well, Dancingqueen,
Minnesota is a good place to live for entertaining a large group on Thanksgiving. Think of all that extra refrigeration space you have available for all of the beverages! We live in Wisconsin and our screen porch gets as much use as our refrigerator!

Good luck & Happy Thanksgiving!

Those roaster ovens are great. If you can, borrow one! I use mine as a second oven to cook side dishes. Mine has a rack and I can make two layers of dishes. I also use disposal aluminum pans that can flex if necessary to fit in the roaster (I transfer to nice dishes for serving).

Another nice item is the Showtime rotisserie oven. I make my turkey in that and it turns out great.

Regarding turkey size, the rotisserie can only handle a 15 pound bird. This has always been plenty of turkey for my crowd (between 12 and 22). I make several side dishes and have things like cheese and crackers and several different types of olives out when people arrive. Given the total amount of food I serve, if I was expecting your crowd, I'd feel comfortable with 20 to 22 pound bird.

I also make a second turkey the night before that we use for the evening sandwiches.

DancingQueen,
you don't need anymore advice; already have tons of good tips to read through, but above all, enjoy yourself, whether everything goes 'right' or not.
I would love to be cooking for a gang like that.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cream