My Strategy for Thanksgiving Week and Menu Week Ending December 1, 2013

Thanksgiving is almost here and it is so exciting to enter into the Holiday season. My favorite meal is Thanksgiving to either make or cook. My strategy for Thanksgiving is to make as many dishes I can ahead of time. Since I am lucky enough to have a double oven, I can heat or cook dishes in the oven while the turkey is roasting. Desserts are almost all finished and in the freezer. Cheesecake gets made on Tuesday to give plenty of time to chill and set.

My family will be here for three days so my meal preparations do not only include Thanksgiving but two other dinners and three breakfasts. We will have leftovers for Friday lunch so no worries. I have already made and frozen the chili I am serving on Friday dinner. Most of the breakfast items are prepped and ready to serve. Wednesday I am cooking a beef brisket in a throw away foil pan, the potatoes and cheese sauce are already done.

So my week is planned, I have a daily schedule of last minute dishes that need to be whipped together.

Simply put, my strategy is plan very carefully.

1.    Cook ahead of time absolutely every dish you can.  

2.    Build a battle plan of all dishes or a time line, when does a dish go into the oven and at what temperature.

3.    Group as many dishes together as you can based on the cooking time and temperature.

4.   Ask your guests to bring a side dish. I have 15 coming for dinner and everyone is bringing a dish. Very helpful.

5.    Relax and enjoy the day. I spend most of my day with family, not cooking. I stay in the kitchen monitoring everything but not actually cooking. We all help to clean up, making light work of the dinner clean up.

Monday

 

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Peach stuffed Pork Roast

Hasselback Potatoes

Garden Salad

Dinner Rolls

Tuesday

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Fried Chicken

Red Beans and Rice

Sweet Potato Fries

Biscuits

Wednesday

 

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Beef Brisket

Twice Baked Potatoes

Blanched Broccoli with Cheddar Cheese Dipping Sauce

Fried Onion Rings

Ice Cream Cake

Thursday

Thanksgiving Brunch

Banana Bread

Scrambled Eggs

Hash Browns

Cheese Grits

Sausage Balls

Assorted Fruits

Thanksgiving Dinner

Roast Stuffed Turkey

Smoked Turkey

Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing

Wild Rice and Corn Casserole

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

Green Bean Casserole

Roasted Carrots

Crescent Rolls

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Souffle

Mini Pumpkin Pies

New York Cheese Cake

Apple Pear Galette

Friday

 

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Chili with all the fixing

Green onions

Corn Chips

Cheddar Cheese

Black Olives

Chopped Jalapenos

Saturday

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Turkey Soup

Beer Bread

Sunday Brunch

 

Waffles

with Pecan Maple Sauce

or Strawberries and whipped Cream

Assorted Fruit

Dijon Mustard Ham with Biscuits