Game Plan for Easy Menu
The trickiest part of preparing a holiday meal is the timing. The key is to make as many items ahead of time as you can, and reheat them on Thanksgiving Day.
One to Two Weeks Ahead:
- Make a shopping list; beat the holiday rush
- Make and freeze Yummy Yam Casserole (omit topping)
Two Days Before Thanksgiving:
- Place turkey in refrigerator to thaw (birds larger than 12 lbs. will require 3 days to thaw)
- Make cranberry sauce
- Bake pecan bars. Cool completely; slice bars. Store tightly covered with plastic wrap in a cool, dry place.
Day Before:
- Toast almonds for green beans in ungreased skillet over med. heat until golden and fragrant. Transfer to a bowl or lidded container. Cook bacon for green beans, if using; crumble and mix with toasted almonds & refrigerate.
- Make mashed potatoes; store in the refrigerator
- Make stuffing; store in the refrigerator
- Prepare Pumpkin Cream Pie
- Set the dining room table. Include serving dishes for gravy, dinner rolls, butter, and green beans, plus serving utensils.
Night Before:
- Place Yam Casserole in the fridge to thaw
- Chop onion for Jazzed up Gravy; sauté with herbs as directed. Add to prepared gravy; store jar or container in fridge.
Thanksgiving Morning:
- Remove an oven rack, if necessary. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roast turkey as directed. Remove from oven and let stand for 30 minutes before carving.
- Add pecan topping to yam casserole.
An hour before dinner:
- Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Replace oven rack. Bake the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, and the yam casserole.
Half an hour before dinner:
- Wrap dinner rolls in foil. Place in oven to heat.
- Warm gravy in saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Melt butter for green beans in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Cook beans until tender. Stir in almonds and crumbled bacon and cook until heated through.
Finishing Touches:
- Transfer gravy, rolls and green beans into serving bowls.
- Carve the turkey and arrange meat on a warmed platter.
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Game Plan for Advanced Menu
One to Two Weeks Before:
- Make a shopping list; beat the holiday rush
- Make dinner rolls; proof for twenty minutes, then freeze. When firm, transfer rolls to plastic freezer bag.
- Make pastry for pecan pie (use recipe of your choice). Chill dough, then roll out and line a nine-inch pie shell. Freeze until firm. Wrap frozen dough and pan with plastic wrap and store in the freezer.
Three Days Before:
- Thaw turkey in refrigerator
- Prepare and bake cheesecake crust; cool and wrap with plastic wrap. Store at room temperature in a cool, dry place.
Two Days Before:
- Make chutney
- Cube bread for stuffing: use a mix of multigrain, rye, and country white bread for Old-Fashioned Stuffing, or make pumpkin bread for Ibby's Pumpkin-Mushroom Stuffing
- Bake pie shell (see Perfect Pie Crusts for instructions on blind baking). Cool and wrap with plastic wrap. Store at room temperature in a cool, dry place.
Day Before:
- Remove giblets and neck from turkey cavity
- Brine turkey
- Make stock out of turkey neck and giblets (do not use the liver for making stock, as it can make broth bitter), celery, onion, carrot and aromatics
- Bake cheesecake
- Bake pecan pie
- Prep veggies for roasting
- Toast pine nuts and cook bacon for Brussels Sprouts; store in refrigerator
- Make stuffing
Night Before:
- If you have room in the fridge, arrange frozen dinner rolls on sheet pan and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. (Otherwise, thaw at room temperature on Thanksgiving morning.)
- Set the dining room table. Include serving dishes for gravy, dinner rolls, butter, and side dishes, plus serving utensils.
Thanksgiving Morning:
- Brush dinner rolls with egg wash
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake rolls and stuffing.
- Light coals; prep grill
- Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F and roast vegetables
- Grill turkey
One hour before dinner:
- Make mashed potatoes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and rest bowl over pan of simmering water to keep warm.
Half an hour before dinner:
- Collect drippings from roasting pan under turkey. Make gravy.
- Prepare Brussels sprouts
- Keep stuffing and roasted vegetables warm in a 300 degree F oven.
- Wrap rolls in foil and warm in oven, if desired
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