^^^^Great organization ^^^

we're having steak and lobster so no pre planning would help.

I have the pumpkin pie in the oven already and will soon have the black raspberry pie in the oven. I have already partly prepared somethings. Such as the sweet potatoes and the refrigerator yeast roll dough. The chicken broth is all ready for the noodles with the chicken. I have the cranberry sauce made and frozen and will take it out and put in the fridge. The marinated vegetable salad is also done. The turkey is out back in another refrigerator thawing and my daughter is going to take that home and bake it. She is also doing the potatoes and the ham. We are not having Thanksgiving here, it is at my son and his wife's place. I do have to gather up pie servers, serving spoons and a few other things to take. There is always a lot to do it seems.

Sue

I'm lucky enough to be a guest at tgiving so I'll be making the pumpkin chiffon pies this afternoon. I do Xmas and Easter instead...

Actually I started yesterday, cooked cornbread last night and boiled the eggs for the deviled eggs. Made stock for the gravy over the weekend with some chicken and turkey wings. It’s in the freezer and I may make the gravy today and will touch it up with pan drippings tomorrow. I will also make one casserole today and get the tables ready.

I spent yesterday morning in the ER with DH, so anything I can get out of the way today will be a bonus.

Wow, I feel behind schedule after reading your posts!

Outside - I hope DH is ok? Not that anytime is good to visit the ER, but especially not the holidays. Get better soon!!

I started at the beginning of the week. I put together all the serving bowls, carving board etc to freshly wash. Bring the food up from my pantry that I will need. Do last minute shopping after checking my recipes.

I'm making my pies this morning and I will chop the veggies that I will need. I'm making eggs now for a mock chop liver dip that I will make later on.

Today, I hope to have DH put the extra leaf in my dining table.

DD is bringing the pies & DS bringing rolls & bread. They will all be store bought, but it’s the thought that counts & saves me time.

I agree. Your very organized!

I made the pumpkin cheesecake yesterday. The turkey's stored in the frig, but still a little frozen.

If I was cooking the whole dinner, I would start today with things that can be done ahead, but since we are invited out, I only have to make one thing, and that is shrimp coleslaw. (Yes, I know not very "Thanksgiving-y" but that is what I was asked to bring. I will boil the shrimp and cut up the cabbage, etc. and mix the dressing and put in a jar, but in the morning I will combine everything but the dressing. Will wait until I get there to add it because it can make the slaw weep. Since my husband hasn't shrimped in 6 months, we bought these shrimp and I am a little nervous about how they will turn out. At least they came from a dockside market and not a bag in a supermarket...so I hope they will be okay. I have too many to go in the slaw. I am thinking about making shrimp cocktail with the rest, but it is a recipe given to me by a friend who is Columbian and though it is delicious, there are no exact measurements, so not sure how it will turn out. I may make some anyway.....and if it is good, take it....if not keep it at home.

I feel stressed just by reading what some of you put yourselves through.

I'm not in charge of the feast this year but have been assigned my tasks by the hosts. I'm bringing a cheese tray to our celebration, with some nice hard, soft, and savory cheeses, assorted fruits, and breads/crackers. I have all my supplies to prepare a beautiful display and will make sugared grapes today.

I'll make a carrot/ginger soup base today but will add the cream tomorrow after heating it up before serving as first course.

I made clover leaf yeast rolls over the weekend, let them rise in the muffin pans, then froze them. I'll take them out of the freezer before we go tomorrow and our hosts get to fill their lovely home with the aroma of freshly baked rolls tomorrow.

Hey, wait a minute, you can prep your turkey today, and put it back in the frig for a day before actually baking it? JeCrigler, that's a wonderful idea! The single thing that been stressing me is the possibility of opening the turkey package tomorrow and finding it spoiled. No, it's never happened to me, but it could and then what would I do???

My tasks for today are: browning sausage and cutting the bread into cubes for the bread-and-sausage stuffing, and making gravy. Other people are doing the veggies, breads and desserts.

I started on Monday. I made rolls and froze them. Yesterday I made pie crusts, cranberry sauce, gravy, butternut squash puree, my artichoke crostini appetizer, and prepped all my veggies. Today I will bake all the desserts (pumpkin cheesecake slab pie, caramel apple cheesecake pie, chocolate peanut butter tart, oatmeal pie), assemble all the casseroles (green bean, corn), make the mashed potatoes (regular and twice baked), sweet potatoes (3 kinds - 2 sweet and 1 savory) and stuffing (2 kinds), make onion dip, and prepare the stuffed mushrooms (2 kinds - french onion and brie). All I will need to do tomorrow is heat everything up, make sangria, roast my vegetables, make the salad, and do my bourbon carrots and my green beans with almonds.

I used to try to make as much as possible on Thanksgiving so it would be fresh, but I would run so behind and I'd be so tired and cranky that I wouldn't enjoy it. I do the whole thing myself (dh doesn't help - he doesn't enjoy hosting like I do) except for the turkey, which a guest brings.

If I were cooking, I would have set the table days ago, and all prep is done the day before. Whatever I could do even before that, I would. On Thanksgiving day all I would have to do is figure out the timing and put things in the oven at the proper time. Holidays are when I am most happy to have two ovens.

I'm not going crazy with the side dishes so I think the only thing I'm going to do today is make the cranberry sauce. Oh, I might dice up the celery and onions that I will use for the stuffing. That'll save some time tomorrow but our bird is only 13 pounds so I'll have plenty of time to prep and roast.

Nickel, it’s still frozen a bit but I’m able to pull the insides out, neck & gizzards. Pull the skin back & put the butter in between the skin & meat. Season whole turkey, put in oven bag, put in roasting pan, add 3 can of chicken broth close the bag and back in the fridge.

For many years we have prepared our turkey the day before and taken it off of the bones, then on Thanksgiving, heat it up. The recipe I use is from my cousin in Hawaii and we all love it. Flavored with salt, butter and rum. I am not fixing the turkey but my oldest daughter plans on doing it today. My foods are coming along, I have gathered up the serving things I need to take as my daughter in law did not have enough and those are washing up in the dishwasher along with six or seven big dinner plates. My son was complaining he wanted to eat off of bigger plates, so I rounded up the over 12 inch dinner plates I used to years ago have for all the men in our family to eat from. He will be surprised. They are the blue and white Currier and Ives pattern. The pumpkin pie is finished and I just put into the oven a 12 inch black raspberry pie. The berries were picked this past summer on our place. I have more things to round up but not a lot to finish up today, I am puppy sitting for 3 extra ones while the girls go out and about on errands today. I hope your preps are going smoothly!

Sue

My DD is having dinner this year at her place. My granddaughter insists that I make the stuffing. So I'll be making that tonight along with 2 apple pies and 2 pumpkin pies.

I am not cooking Thanksgiving dinner - just a few sides to take to DD's. But when I did, I would start on Monday.

Monday -

make cranberry sauce

put bread slices out in a pan to dry out

Get out silver and polish anything that needs to be polished

Tuesday -

pick up fresh turkey from market

remove giblets and cook them slowly

make sweet potato casserole but don't bake it - refrigerate

Wednesday -

make dressing, using some of the giblets chopped up in it - refrigerate

make pies and refrigerate

set the table - do centerpiece

Thursday -

get turkey in the oven

bake the sweet potato casserole

dice Brussels sprouts

bake dressing when sweet potato casserole is out of the oven

while turkey is 'resting", make Brussels sprouts with pancetta & cream

quickly reheat sweet potato casserole

heat Sister Schubert rolls in toaster oven

quickly make gravy

If I was hosting Thanksgiving I would have started Tuesday getting table, dishes, serving bowls organized. Making sure turkey was defrosting on schedule. Today would be a busy day doing baking such as pies, usually pumpkin and mincemeat plus making a cranberry torte, pumpkin Charlotte, or pumpkin cheesecake. Sometimes a pumpkin/cream cheese roll up . I would also cook the onion and celery for the dressing for Thursday. This evening the table would be partially set and table decorations would be done. (My favorite job besides eating) After getting turkey in the oven on thanksgiving, any salads would be started such as Champagne Salad....yum! Then peel potatoes and make sure any vegetables were ready for cooking. Coffee maker would be ready to go, just plug in when desired. I liked to have pretty much everything under control before guests started arriving. I am getting hungry just thinking about it but I will be eating out this year which will be delicious too! :). One nice thing was that after the meal I just got the food ready to put in refrigerator and others did clean up.

I don't enjoy all the preps. I'd be just as happy eating takeout. Normally, I keep the meal as simple as I can and just buy the pies and make bread in the bread maker. I recently received my grandmother's recipe for rolls so I made those yesterday. I also made a pecan pie cheesecake. Not sure if I will make an actual pecan pie. We have more than enough food to be happy. I can make a pecan pie this weekend if we decide we need it. I've started making holiday food to enjoy over the entire season instead of just one day. It relieves a lot of pressure.

Champagne salad?? I need that recipe too please.

And pecan pie cheesecake recipe!

Champagne Salad

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

10 oz pkg frozen strawberries with juice (I buy the sliced ones)

1 pkg ( 1/4 oz) unflavored gelatin

2 medium bananas, sliced or diced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts

16 oz cool whip, thawed

In large bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar and mix well with electric mixer. In separate bowl . Mix together the pineapple, strawberries with any juice, and gelatin, making sure it coats fruit well. Mix in bananas, nuts and cool whip. Add fruit mixture to cream cheese mixture , stirring just until combined

the name of it is Champagne Salad but doesn't have champagne....just tastes so good!! :). Enjoy!

I baked my bread using my English flour (I can't eat American wheat products) on Sunday so I could dry out a few slices for the dressing. I baked my cornbread last night and it's sitting out, drying out as I type this.

Other than that, plus boiling eggs tonight), no - everything will be cooked tomorrow.

No, I will pick up the fresh turkey later today. I have made the cranberry sauce and pumpkin tea bread. Sister will bring the dessert and Waldorf salad. So tomorrow I will cook everything else. We eat after 6pm, which also helps allowing the time to make everything fresh.

When I make the traditional meal, I don't do much, if any, pre-prep work. Instead, I start cooking after breakfast. The turkey goes in the oven and while it's roasting, I peel the potatoes, prepare the stuffing and whatever veggie dish is being served. Hubby likes to cook, so he is right at my side helping out with chopping, dicing and whatever else needs to be done. He is also in charge of the gravy, so he gets the giblets going about the same time the turkey goes in the oven.

I've always either had someone make the pies or I've purchased pies from a bakery.

We don't usually have any type of bread because we already have the potatoes and stuffing and that seems like enough. The one thing I do the day before is to make a couple of simple appetizers so that those can be set out while everything else is cooking.

This year we are smoking a brisket and having sides that are typically served with BBQ. I think I'll make the potato salad today, but the coleslaw can wait until tomorrow. We are having Bush's baked beans, so all I have to do with those is open a can and heat them up. I have some homemade bread dough in the freezer, so I will take it out today so that it can thaw overnight and tomorrow I will either make rolls or bread.

I've been thinking about what to do for dessert and have decided to try a chocolate/peanut butter cheesecake recipe that I saved from a box of cream cheese. I've been wanting to make it, but have never got around to it; now seems as good a time as any.

All of your meals sound delicious. Chi, how many people are you having? Sounds like you are making quite a feast!

Turkey wings are on to make broth. Green beans with smoked turkey are cooking now, cornbread for stuffing is in the oven. I'm really going to try to get the stuffing finished this evening, and also try to cook the rib roast tonight. The only thing left for tomorrow will be the turkey, sweet potatoes, and gravy, perhaps deviled eggs, if I have the energy.

Chi,we do the Tupperware thing also. I make too much on purpose so that everyone has a meal on Friday.

We have also had a Must Go party on Saturday. Every one that was not at the main meal and cooked brings their leftovers to consume and clear out the fridges. No fuss with table settings, Thursdays table cloth stays down, and everyday china or paper is used. No dress up allowed.

Chi, leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving!

Isn't anyone brining their turkeys? Then letting them sit, uncovered, in the fridge overnight?

No, mine has salt and some water it is cooked in. A recipe from my cousin.

Sue

Ugh it's only noon and I'm already exhausted and I have so much left to do! I'm convinced there's just enough time each year to forget the pain of preparing all the food!

Here is the Pecan Pie Cheesecake

We're sampling it right now. It's cheesecake with a twist, but it is pretty tasty.

absolutely!!! too much to do on Tday!!

already made stuffing, cranberry and sweet potatoes! i share the load with 2 sisters, so not too bad!!

DS1 already set table!

im not hosting, so PHEW!! i do Easter and looks like Christmas Eve as well

Adellabedella_usa Did you make the recipe exactly as written?

It's just me and DH here for T Day. We're going out for our meal tomorrow. I cooked elaborately-choreographed Thanksgiving dinners for many, many years. I miss setting the table the most and the smells of the food cooking. I don't have much of an appetite and am choosing my meal tomorrow at the restaurant with an eye toward leftovers (not a buffet). I'll enjoy eating what I can and then we'll be happy again in the evening. Especially because of the the bourbon pecan pie.

Just wondering if anyone else keeps/kept a journal of holiday meals? I kept track of who the guests were, what I served, and how the table was set. Actually for anytime I had invited guests for meals. It came in handy looking back so as not to serve guests the same foods. The entries have "kind of" stopped now since husband passed away. It brings back many good memories going through those pages.

That’s impressive Mary!!

I cook the same thing every year and it’s mostly always been family. They know if they want something special (like beer) to bring their own. Doesn’t hurt my feelings.

My mom taught me as her mom taught her. We’ve had the same Thanksgiving menu cooked the same way since 1915. Maybe before. I know it sounds redundant, but we only do it once a year so nobody gets tired of it.

Its a tradition that ends with me. My kids will never continue it.

Fun2BHere I purchased graham cracker crusts and they were smaller than the spring pan would have been so I made two cheesecakes instead of one. I compensated by decreasing the baking time. One of my kids needed a ride at that point so dh was left in charge of the actual baking. I set the timer for thirty minutes and had him check it every ten minutes. It was his final decision on when to turn off the oven. The top browned a little, but isn't bad. I didn't wait the full 60-70 minutes to pull it out of the oven after baking. I knind of eyeballed it and pulled it around 45 minutes. This is my first ever time to bake a cheesecake as I usually make the no bake kind.

I didn't toast the pecans for the topping. I split the topping between the two cheesecakes so maybe isn't isn't as thick as it would be on one cheesecake. We like the end result. I think it would be worth making again. It is more time consuming than my usual desserts.

My daughters just made cupcakes. After supper tonight (soup) I am making deviled eggs, baked mashed potatoes and cutting up the veggies for my stuffing and cleaning the green beans and Brussels sprouts.

Thank you, Adellabedella_usa. Some of the comments about the pecan layer being inedible worried me. Perhaps pulling it out early helped to keep that layer from solidifying as much.

Marylmi, I kept pictures and notes for a few years when we were entertaining more, but I lost easy access to them when my PC crashed. I have them on a back-up hard drive, but I've never taken the time to try to move them over to my laptop.

We go downstate (3.5 hour drive) for Thanksgiving. Every get together I make Veggies and Mulligan Dip. I got the recipe from a lady named Debbie Mulligan back in 1975 and we all love it. Also made a small pan of corn bread.

On Sunday we will go to the Fantasy of Lights and have spaghetti at my sister in laws. Am bring a cake and cupcakes for birthdays that day and some Nutz n Bolts.

Don't look forward to the long drive. We are taking 2 cars down, as DH will head back home after dinner tomorrow. I will go to the Fantasy of Lights and then on Saturday go and visit my 93 y.o. Aunt for the day. Spend one night at a hotel then head back home Sunday morning.

Fun2BeHere, I have 7 fat spiral notebooks filled. I just looked at Book #1 and first entry was May of 1984. Seems like just yesterday! :)

I'm having dinner for only 2, but I assembled the sausage stuffing and made gravy in the same pan today, cranberry sauce yesterday. Tomorrow I'll do turkey thighs, garlic mashed potatoes, some kind of veggie, maybe corn or a medley from the freezer. Egg nog for desert. My friend will bring shrimp. For me it's all about stuffing (dressing) and gravy. For my gravy, I baked my flour for the first time before adding it to the butter, then added fresh thyme and chicken bone broth and pepper, scraping up the sausage remnants. It tastes amazing!

I may take the turkey out of it's packaging and season it and let it dry in the fridge overnight, which I heard is supposed to give it crispier skin. But I am tired. maybe tomorrow morning. Does anyone else do that?

Wow, Marylmi, that's amazing! Maybe you should turn them into a book on entertaining. You could put together a book proposal. I'm guessing that some poster here will have an editor contact they would share with you.

Fun2BHere, thanks! But I think that could be a pretty boring book with only names, menu's and table settings! Lol. I always made little notes too if anyone was allergic to certain foods or had a vegetable preference.

We moved 1200 miles last week, so still unpacking, I spent an hour today searching for the good silver, which I had cryptically labeled for the move and then forgot the label. However, I made the dressing earlier because it freezes well and it made the move still frozen solid in DH's Yeti. DD lives next door and made a carrot soufflé and two pies last night and will make the green beans and Mom's rolls (I'm a pretty fair cook, but that particular skill skipped a generation and besides I haven't located my cookie sheets yet). I made the cranberry orange sauce tonight, along with spiced tea and an asparagus casserole. Tomorrow will be the turkey, ambrosia, mashed potatoes and boiled custard --all easy -- and I'll set the table (just realized the napkins are still MIA). I might also cook a ham to have with leftovers. It still should be manageable because we aren't planning on eating until 2 o'clock. There will only be six or eight of us, plus the baby.

andreap, I asked about drying the turkey yesterday. I've been doing it for over twenty years in order to achieve a moist flesh but an extremely crispy skin. I brine my turkey or chicken the day before, dry it carefully, then place it in the fridge overnight.

I promise you that anyone who has ever eaten a turkey at my table is now preparing theirs the same way. ;-)

Thank you!