Thanksgiving Menu and Game Plan 2013

This Saturday morning, it all begins for real. Thanksgiving, I mean. Jen and I are meeting for coffee in the morning to go over our menu and double check our shopping lists, then we’re hitting Costco. The family starts arriving Monday night, so I have three days of breakfasts and dinners to plan on top of Thanksgiving dinner itself, and of course, I’ll need to make sure there are plenty of snacks around. I’m banking on everyone being out for lunch Tuesday and Wednesday. Tomorrow, I’ll post my weekly meal plan for you as usual, so you have some ideas for easy meals if you, too, have a crowd descending. In the meantime, here’s our Thanksgiving dinner menu, including my own game plan for getting it all done in a low-stress manner.

Turkey. Of course. We’ll do the turkey at Jen’s, in her big electric roaster. We keep it simple – a good rub-down with butter under and over the skin, some salt and pepper and seasoning. Jen’s favorite is Cavender’s – a Greek seasoning mixture she uses a lot – and it’s tasty on turkey. So we’ll probably stick with that. We’ll make a basting mixture of melted butter and Cavender’s and keep that going throughout the day, basting in turns with the juices in the pan and the butter. We’ve never been disappointed by this method.

Gravy. I’m the gravy chick in the family, and I’ll do it the old-fashioned way (for the method, see Sam Sifton’s Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well). I’ll stew the turkey neck with some vegetables – onion, carrot, and celery – and use the stock, in addition to the pan juices, with some seasoning.

Dressing. Yep, I said dressing, not stuffing. I’m not one to stuff the bird. I’ll mix up a big bowl of my mom’s dressing recipe and bake it in the oven to serve alongside. It’s simple: to dried bread cubes, I add chopped onion, celery, diced apple, herbs – rosemary, thyme, a little sage – salt and pepper, some melted butter and chicken or turkey stock. That’s all there is to it. This is very close to Sifton’s classic bread dressing recipe, and it’s definitely my favorite.

Cranberry Sauce. Cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and water. I basically just follow the simple directions on the cranberry package, but I substitute orange juice for half of the water to add a sweeter touch. I’ll make this on Tuesday night, probably, and refrigerate. Blessedly, this is one dish you can make a couple of days ahead.

Mashed Potatoes. We’ll do these the day of. Simple. Just butter, milk, salt, and pepper. All they need is gravy. And we’ll follow Sifton’s rule: no garlic.

Sweet Potato Heaven. I’ll assemble this the night before up to the point of adding the topping, cover it well, and put it in the fridge. I’ll mix up the topping and put it in a zippered baggie, then add it right before I put it in the oven at Jen’s.

Green Bean Casserole. Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen just posted a recipe for making green bean casserole from scratch last week, and if it were up to me, we’d use her recipe. But we won’t, because E’s sister has already committed to the Campbell’s soup version. Oh well. Next year. But I’m giving you a link in case you want to cast aside the Campbell’s. If you do, please, please, let me know how it goes.

Scalloped Corn. This is a staple in E’s family, and his brother Ted will not forego it, so Jen always makes it. It’s a recipe from his grandma, and it’s just one of those things. I’m including it here in the interest of full disclosure, but I’ll be frank – this doesn’t make it onto my plate. It’s too bland for me. I’d rather eat more of everything else. It consists of two cans of creamed corn and one can of plain kernels, drained, mixed with a beaten egg, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 package crushed saltine crackers, a half stick of butter diced, and salt and pepper. You stir it all up, put it in a casserole, top it with some more crushed crackers, and bake it at 350° until the center is firm, about an hour. You can double the recipe, but we never seem to need to.

Rolls. Martha’s dinner rolls can be made ahead, so I’m thinking of taking this on. I’ll make them on Sunday and put them in the freezer until Thursday morning.

Mixed Greens Salad with Pears and Cranberries. I know Sam Sifton says it’s a waste to have salad at Thanksgiving, but E’s mom loves salad, and she’s bringing this to have something fresh and green with the meal. I love it, so I’ll probably have some.

Caramel Apple Pie. E’s mom is bringing this one.

Pecan Pie. This is all me. I love pecan pie. I’m making PW’s recipe. I’ll make it Wednesday night, because it’s better on the second day.

Pumpkin Pie. I’m going to make Annie’s recipe, because who can resist upping the ante with some hidden caramel? I’m banking on rave reviews with this.

Make-ahead note: I’ll make my pie crust dough on Sunday and freeze it until I’m ready to make my pies.

So here’s my prep work schedule:

Saturday: Grocery shopping and pot/pan/appliance inventory. Send Jen home with anything we’ll need Thursday but not before.
Sunday afternoon: Make and freeze pie crust dough. Make and freeze rolls. Cut up bread cubes for dressing and leave in a bowl covered with a tea towel until Thursday to dry out.
Monday: Prepare for company to arrive.
Tuesday night: Make cranberry sauce.
Wednesday night: Bake pies. While pies are baking, mix up the Sweet Potato Heaven and prep topping.
Thursday: Get up stinkin’ early and go to Jen’s. Help start the turkey and make the stock for the gravy. Chop vegetables for the dressing. Peel potatoes. Mix up the dressing and get it into a pan. Finish assembling the Sweet Potato Heaven. When the turkey is an hour out from being done, start putting things in the oven and get the potatoes on to cook. Drink some wine. Listen to happy music. Laugh. Savor the moment.

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu? I’d love to know!

Blessings,

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