The Holiday Recipes Food Cooking International Guide
Planning The Holiday Thanksgiving Meal
By Imogen T Stubbs
Preparing for the holiday meal doesn’t have to leave you feeling
like a turkey with its head cut off, running around the kitchen
in a daze, misplacing tools, dropping spices, forgetting to baste
the turkey and burning the bread.
Organization doesn’t always come naturally, but you’ll
find that the process of writing down a shopping list in advance,
creating a timetable to review your options, assigning chores
to kids and enlisting family members’ help can be cathartic.
There’s nothing nicer than a family holiday as long as you
have time to breathe and enjoy.
The best thing you can do to keep stress at a minimum and ensure
your Thanksgiving dinner turns out alright is to plan in advance.
Shopping early will ease your tension. Before you head to the
grocery store, decide if you want a fresh or frozen turkey and
look to see where you can fit it for storage.
Buy Fresh Turkey On Wednesday Or Thursday For Thanksgiving
If you’re buying a whole turkey, then plan on 1 pound per person.
A pre-stuffed frozen turkey will average around 1 1/4 pounds per
person and you should keep it frozen until you’re ready to cook.
You can buy a frozen bird at any time but if you’re buying fresh,
then you should buy it on Wednesday or Thursday. The USDA recommends
not buying a pre-stuffed fresh turkey.
To thaw your Thanksgiving turkey, place the frozen bird in the
refrigerator 24 hours per 4-5 pounds of turkey, or 1-2 days. If
you don’t have room for thawing, then you can put the turkey in
cold water to defrost for 2-6 hours for a 4-12 pound bird and
up to 10-12 hours for a 20-24 pound bird. You may also use a microwave
if possible.
Planning For Your Thanksgiving Day Timetable
The Thanksgiving Day timetable is one of the trickiest things
to plan. It can be stressful when you’ve got company coming over
and you’re trying to plan to eat at four but you aren’t really
sure how long the holiday cooking will take. It’s probably best
to have your company arrive a few hours before you anticipate
the food will be ready. You can finish within 4 1/2 hours by following
this timetable.
Cook the cornbread the day before, chop your stuffing veggies
and store, trim green beans and set out all your ingredients/spices
the day before. From 12:30- 1, prepare your stuffing mix and set
aside. From 1-1:30, turn the oven on, make the seasoning rub and
prepare your turkey. From 1:30-4:00, roast the turkey, basting
every 30 minutes with pan juices and checking the internal
temperature.
Basting The Turkey
From 1:30-1:45, prepare the stock and skim surface, adding the
vegetables to the broth and simmering from 1:45-2:45. Make the
cranberry relish from 1:45-2:00 and don’t forget to baste that
turkey! From 2:00-2:45, you can prepare the green bean casserole
and get out the gravy ingredients. Add the stock to the cornbread,
stir and place in a pan to bake.
At 3, you can baste and rotate your turkey and remove the cornbread
stuffing at 3:30, covering to keep it warm. Check the Thanksgiving
turkey at 4:00 and if it’s not finished, keep checking every 10
minutes. Make the gravy according to the recipe when the bird’s
done, sit down at your beautifully decorated Thanksgiving table
and enjoy your dinner!
Shopping Two Days Ahead
To keep the holiday running smoothly, try to do as much as you
can before Thanksgiving day. For example, do your shopping two
days ahead and set the table the night before with your fresh
linens and nice silverware/plate set. You can even chop up vegetables
and seasonings for soups, salads and stuffing the day before.
Most people cook their desserts the day before too. Early Thanksgiving
day, crumble your corn bread stuffing and assemble the garlic,
onions, celery and sage for your stuffing. Your Thanksgiving turkey
can take anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours, depending on the size.
Aim for an internal temperature of 165 °F.
The day of the Thanksgiving meal, you’ll need to cook your stuffing,
casseroles, breads, turkey and gravy. Perhaps you can recruit
someone to assist you in washing dishes and wiping up your workspace
to keep your holiday preparation as relaxed as possible.
About the Author:
Imogen T Stubbs has written a number of articles on Thanksgiving, holiday feasts, food and cooking including
First Thanksgiving,
Thanksgiving Feast,
Hot Water,
Refrigerator Water Filter,
Water Filtering System,
Whole House Water.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.
Did You Know?
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and wonderful casseroles all
mark an important tradition. It is a time to gather together with
friends and loved ones to celebrate all that everyone is thankful
for. What is this tradition?
It is Thanksgiving and it holds an important part in many people’s
lives. Even though this holiday differs in other countries, it
is still a time of celebration. Eating a filling meal and settling
back to watch a football game is only one piece of its tradition.
If you are hosting a big dinner to celebrate, you are going to
need the right supplies.
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