I don;t see why you can add cauliflower but you would have to blanch it first or it will still be very "raw" but Thanksgiving. Not sure what you been by OK by Thangsgiving. Are you thinking that's too long or not long enough? I think it will be just fine. I do a similiar one with sour cream and vinegar and it's good to go the next day.

I've cooked many a meal for large family gatherings. It is so wonderful to have everyone together. Most important thing is to relax and enjoy the day. With that many folk any mishaps will go unnoticed!! There are two ways to approach this. One is to have lots of people bring different dishes, whatever they want from certain categories, ie dessert, veggies, casseroles, pickles, breads etc. The advantage of this is that you end of with a wide variety and people get to bring a favourite dish. The downside is that there is only a little of each thing and some dishes will be gobbled up by the firt 10 people through the line! The other way is to set a menu and then ask people to bring a dish from the menu. The advantage of this is you can control the amount and variety of the food. Must admit this is my preferred method for example here is a menu and ideas on quantities. This is just an example, you can adjust the numbers as you wish, depending on the numbers contributing. People can choose to bring what they want from the menu. Baked Beans, 1 people brings enough for 40 people Squash casserole 4 people bring enough for 10 (fearlessem's recipe is amazing) Green Bean casserole 4 people each bring enough for 10 Dressing, 2 people each bring enough for 20 Rolls, 1 person brings enough for 40 Pickles and cranberry sauce 1 person brings enough for 40 Mashed potatoes and gravy might be best done by the hostess or give that one out too and you do things like pickles and rolls that will take no time and allow you focus on other things. Butternut Squash Gratin With Rosemary Breadcrumbs (fearlessem) Servings 10 1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 4 Cup thinly sliced onions (about 1 pound) 2 1/2 Lb butternut squash peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 Tsp sugar 1/2 Tsp salt 1/2 Tsp ground black pepper 3/4 Cup canned low-salt chicken broth 2 Cup fresh breadcrumbs made from soft whitebread 2 Cup (packed) grated sharp white cheddar cheese 1 1/2 Tbl chopped fresh rosemary 1/2 Tsp dried thyme Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; saute until onions are light golden, about 8 minutes. Add squash; saut 4 minutes. Sprinkle sugar, salt and pepper over vegetables; saut until onions and squash begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes.~ Spread vegetable mixture in prepared dish. Pour chicken broth over. Cover tightly with foil and bake 45 minutes. (Squash mixture can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Reheat in 350F oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.) Increase oven temperature to 400F. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, rosemary and thyme in medium bowl. Sprinkle over gratin. Bake uncovered until top is golden brown and crisp, about 30 minutes. Makes 10 servings. Emily~ NOTE: Can use sour dough bread cubes instead of crums, and Gruyere instead of cheddar, add some diced apples too Here are my "cheater" baked beans , fast and easy but good, especially with the ham. Baked Beans Servings 12 - 15 1 Can kidney beans drained 1 Can lima beans drained 2 Can Brown Beans (like Bush beans) 1 1/2 Cup of chili sauce 2 Tbl brown sugar 1 Tbl Dijon mustard 1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbl molasses 3 Slice bacon cut in half Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium baking dish, mix kidney beans, lima beans, brown beanas, chili sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and molasses. Top with bacon. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until thick and bubbly.

ever since making cranberry jezabel a few years ago, i decided that i actually liked cranberry sauce! not a doubt in my mind that i need to do a test run on that ginger/pear recipe! and what's even more clear is that i am just going to have to try out marilyn's version of stuffing! and you are right, ann--you don't mess with family favorites on thanksgiving and i know that ted's sister would just love that sweet potato recipe of yours and i'm going to make sure she gets it--thank you! and thanx for the "cheater baked beans" chase. i've made annie's several time and i'm sure we'd enjoy your version as well--we both are fans of limas! and of COURSE your family must have those beautiful dills of yours! it just wouldn't be right, otherwise...i'm glad you and elery will be able to share the time together annie, and raise a toast to all that have gone before us. sometimes traditions change long before we are ready for them to do so... i was going to try out one other new dish this year--an apple and cranberry sauce. it smelled so good while it was cooking that i even toyed with the idea of making some little pastry cups and adding in a teaspoon or two of the leftover sauce for later on. well--back to the drawing board. there wasn't room for everything in the fridge and it's been quite cold out so i put the covered sauce pan out on the deck and sort of forgot about it. we had just finished mixing the stuffing last night and time to rearrange things, and i remembered my sauce! so i went out to get it. man, that saucepan was HEAVY! well you boob. we'd had a driving rain the night before and that lid just couln't compete with the wind--my cranberry sauce is now soup! ladle anyone? anyway, a clink of my coffee cup to all--hope you have a wonderful and peaceful day regardless of what is or isn't on the menu this year!

No. The topping will get soft and rubbery, then potentially dried and hard. After the casserole is pretty well heated in the MW, you can add some cheese and zap until it's melted, but it won't toast. Unless it's a fancy microwave with a speed element or a browning element? I don't know if this would work, but you could test it at home with a small portion--pre-toast the bread crumbs on a sheet in the oven, then warm them up with a dab of butter on the stove in a frying pan. You could then top the gooey cheese topped casserole with the toasted crumbs. A powdered cheese, like finely grated parm, might even melt some in the heat of the crumbs. But they might come out sandy or greasy, and not be worth the effort. I haven't done this, mind you, I just think I might try it. The easiest and best bet is probably to just make it the first way and maybe add just a little extra cheese to the top when you reheat it, for pretty.