Do you have all the recipes doubled or halved based on your need?
Have you figured out which serving dishes & utensils are needed?
Have you kept up with the daily chores?
We’re getting close.
Now that you know you have an idea of the amount of food you will need, it’s time to write out the grocery list. -This is where I found that spreadsheet incredibly helpful.- I wrote the title for each recipe in the header of each column and listed the ingredients. From that list I was able to easily assemble a shopping list organized into two lists. One contained all of the shelf-stable or frozen ingredients, the other had all of the perishables.
It’s also time to figure out where the turkey will thaw safely. Remember all meat needs to thaw below other foods. This way, if the packaging leaks there is no risk of cross-contamination. Don’t forget to be creative, an ice filled cooler could be quite useful in a temporary situation like this.
I won’t lie. My hands down favorite way to cook turkey is to head outside and plop that bad boy into peanut oil. However, that’s not an option for many of you. Since turkey is running at $0.69 lbs and my 6 year old has a hollow leg, I call that a bargain I can’t pass up.
When it comes down to it, a turkey isn’t much more than a giant chicken, don’t be intimidated. About an hour before cook time set the turkey out to begin coming to room temperature. You do remember our recent conversation about not jumping food past a temperature stage, right? While the turkey is getting comfortable find a long piece of cooking twine, a large square of aluminum foil, 2 – 3 TBSP of butter, and Cajun seasoning. You’ll also need a large roasting pan with either a rack, or in my case an inverted 8″ cake pan. While you’re at it grab:
a carrot
an onion
2 cloves of garlic
a rib of celery.
Double check to make sure the giblet packet has been removed from the flap of skin where the head used to be and that the neck and tail are no longer in the body cavity. Crank the oven to 500F. Just as a warning, you’ll get a little bit of smoke with this method, but it’s only the butter dripping onto the super hot roasting pan, NOT the turkey burning. I promise. Leave the door shut, I’m not making this stuff up.
Scout’s honor. I was one, once.
Wash, but don’t peel the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. Cut the vegetables into large chunks (except the garlic, leave that whole) and toss them loosely into the cavity of the turkey.
Truss the bird. I thought about doing a tutorial, but I found my hero Alton Brown has one that can’t be beat.
The point of trussing the bird is to ensure the most even roasting possible.
Now you’re going to give the turkey a rubdown before putting it into the oven. Grab the 2 – 3 TBSPs of butter and grease it up.
Excuse the blur, pretend it's artsy and I meant to do it like that.
Generously rub the bird down with the Cajun seasoning, too. Be sure to rub under the skin where possible, get into all the nooks and crannies.
Place the seasoned bird in the roasting pan, on the rack or cake pan and place on the lowest level in the 500F oven.
This works best if you have a thermometer you can leave in the thigh of the bird, but I broke mine. . .
Set a timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, place the large square of aluminum foil over the bird, but do not tuck it into place, this just keeps the breast from getting too brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and cook for a total of 2 – 2.5 hours for a 14 – 16lb bird. If your turkey is larger than 16lbs, it will take approximately 20 minutes per lb longer, but begin checking the temperature 30 minutes prior to the expected time. And if your turkey is on the small side, begin checking it 20 minutes early for each pound under 14lbs.
Remove the bird from the oven when the temperature reaches 161F. The temperature will continue to rise for a while after removal. Let the turkey rest, covered and undisturbed for 30 minutes before carving.
Yay! It’s time for boring announcements. Woo! Ok, I’ve improved the print function. I found a new plugin that allows a reader the ability to retain pictures or delete them. The best part is you can also delete specific paragraphs of text. So now, if you want to print say the Garlic and Soy Chicken Thighs, you don’t have to keep my rambling narrative in your recipe folder. Fabulous, no? Next up, I have a new badge for the site. If you are a blogger and enjoy 125 x 125 badges instead of a traditional text blogroll, I finally have one to share.
There’s no heavy lifting today, only some more planning.
How are you serving your meal? Is it family style around the table or are you setting up a buffet where everyone helps themselves? Now it’s time to take a look at your menu and take an inventory of your serving dishes.
Next to each menu item write down a brief description of the dish it will be served in ie glass 9 x 13 or white oval casserole. If these dishes aren’t in every day use, place a post-it or 3 x 5 card with the menu item’s name in the bottom of each dish. Now if people want to be helpful on Thanksgiving they will need less direction. I know I don’t communicate very well when I have a bunch of dishes cooking, each in a different stage of completion.
If you don’t have enough dishes, check thrift stores and yard sales this weekend. Otherwise the foil pans work well for buffet style, but I wouldn’t trust them to be passed around a dinner table. No one wants grandma to get a lap-full of scalding hot macaroni and cheese. If you have family coming to eat, it’s ok to ask if you can borrow a serving dish for the big day. Just don’t return it dirty.
Here’s a point I forgot when planning this year’s event: serving utensils. Match a serving utensil appropriate to the planned menu item and write that down next to the serving dish description or on the 3×5. Make sure each of these utensils is present and accounted for. I’ve lost quite a few to the sandbox in the backyard or points unknown.
Since you’re already looking at your serving dishes also give some thought to the look of the table overall. This year was the first year I gave any thought to decorating and I brought in my friend Heidi for guidance She’s the creative soul behind the candycorn centerpiece. I’ll post a quick tutorial this afternoon. Also a quick thank you to Leigh Ann Garrett for a few other decorating ideas.
Heather says:
This autumn side dish is nearly as easy as the sweet version. Use herbs that best complement other elements of the meal. Consider using thyme instead of rosemary or stick with black pepper if neither seem to complement the main course.
Ingredients:
Butternut squash, halved & seeded
water
Turkey stock or chicken stock approximately 1/2 cup in a small, square container, more in a wider, shallow container
pinch of kosher salt – fresh ground pepper to taste
approximately 1/2 – 1 tsp fresh rosemary or thyme
Preheat the oven to 400F. Lay the halves of butternut squash open side down and bake for 1 hour.
Peel the squash and cut into manageable pieces (approximately 1″ thick). You want pieces large enough to serve, we’re not going to mash the squash.
Place the pieces in a casserole dish, add the stock, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt, add a generous amount of fresh ground pepper and top with the fresh herbs.
Cover tightly, either with the lid of the casserole or aluminum foil.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes (this is flexible it can be as low as 325 and as high as 400) to allow the flavors from the stock and herbs to infuse into the squash.
Serve.
*Make ahead tip: The squash can be baked and cup ahead of time, expect it to take longer to heat through.*
Heather says:
