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
Peach stuffed Pork Roast
Hasselback Potatoes
Garden Salad
Dinner Rolls
Tuesday
Fried Chicken
Red Beans and Rice
Sweet Potato Fries
Biscuits
Wednesday
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
Chili with all the fixing
Green onions
Corn Chips
Cheddar Cheese
Black Olives
Chopped Jalapenos
Saturday
Turkey Soup
Beer Bread
Sunday
Brunch
Waffles
with Pecan Maple Sauce
or Strawberries and whipped Cream
Assorted Fruit
Dijon Mustard Ham with Biscuits
Seriously, you have the best menu of all!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving. :)