How's your Cooking Schedule Going?

[lorimay]

I made the cranberry sauce, cooked the spinach and will put the spinach pie together tomorrow, made the broccoli for the broccoli casserole and made an orzo & wild rice salad.
We host about 20-25 people.

 

[mousefan73]

I do thanksgiving on Friday as we are in Germany and Thursday is a normal/school day for us. I took Friday off to cook. We will eat dinner at around 6pm. I still do "Thanksgiving" once a year. Usually the Friday after. Only annoying thing, but to be expected, is that only me, my mom and kids get the Holiday.. My DH's German family I invite over and for them is " why is she making all the work, but we are happy to eat the food, but most of it is not our thing anyways, but we are happy to be here"

So I do EVERYTHING, EVERY FRICKIN dish. my choice.. This is the one time a year I miss that kind of food.. So I will be making the following for 14 people..
1. Turkey Stuffed with basically meatloaf ( MY DDs favorite and she will move out at 13 if she doent get her meat stuffing)
2. Homemade stuffing in a dish.. great thing is in germany we have great bread, rolls, I save old dried bread, dice and mix with 1 egss.. I sautee butter, celery, scallions and white wine... toss is rosemary, thyme and chopped apples, cranberries, walnuts...
3. Homemade green been casserole,, grew up with the campbells soup version, canned veggies, well we dont have that here so I goolgled experimented and take dried mushroom soup mixed with sourcream, mushrooms, and etc... and bake.. actually tastes great and better than the canned crap.
4. spicy corn casserole
5. root veggies ( parnips, sweet potatoes, mini potatoes) olive oil rosemar etc...
6. savoy cabbage with bacon
7. cheesy potatoes.. of course here no frozen hash.. so I have to grate real potatoes,, fun, NOT.
8. Grew up with canned cranberries,, learned to make my own. and surpisiinlgy so simple. concocted a great recipe, where I add grand marnier and clemetines... bad thing cranberries are so expensive here and hard to find actually. dried are easy to find.

Need to think potatoes,,, I think I might just do the german style dumplings.. or make more roasted with the root veggies... we are not fans of mashed potatoes..


desert is the only thing one guest is bringing. they make a great german cheese cake pan. I have found a great pumpkin pie recipe from stratch.. ( no canned pumpkiin really here) but this year too lazy as I have cook and puree real pumpkin... reducing that work load..

so the real challenge is cooking all of this.. green beans I have made the night before.. Germany ovens are simply small. A US extra large turke wouldnt even fit in one.. so my oven is 100% for the Turkey.. My DH and I always argue on the whole weber grill . one year we did that.. but DH is not into it... So I usally prepare all casserolles, veggies and drive to my SIL and she bakes them and brings them hot with her when they come...


Tomorrow I am shopping, we have the turkey.. then I might chop the veggies, bread for stuffin up so most of the prep work is done... Then I spend most of Friday cooking.. Usually I am in the kitchen from 11-6pm... Not too bad... I start with coffee, move on to diet coke and start the red wine at about 5pm.. I need red wine for the gravy anyways... I make my own too.. use drippings, some root veggies,, press that through. add red wine and some dark stock.. We do not like the light turkey gravy but prefer a bolder darker sauce... I never liked the processed turkey gravy from my childhood.. gage

as I am typing this i realize I am stalling and really should write my shopping list...

 

[fla4fun]

Pie - done
homemade cranberry/cherry sauce - done
stuffing - prepared (one casserole dish full plus enough to stuff the bird - we love stuffing)

My sister takes care of the bird. She will prepare it tonight, with the exception of stuffing it. That will happen in the morning before it goes in the oven. She won’t get here for another hour or so though.

The potatoes, gravy and crescent rolls will be made tomorrow.

What do most of you do for dinner tonight? I bought a decent frozen lasagne that is the perfect size to not leave leftovers, and some garlic bread to fix this evening.

 

[Monykalyn]

Chopped and cooked veggies for stuffing a couple days ago, along with cutting and drying the bread for stuffing. Made my compound butter for to slather the turkey then too.
Today-had to work so just got the cranberry sauce done, and the cranberry orange and pumpkin breads in the oven
turkey is in the brine.
Tomorrow-DD makes the potatoes, will throw stuffing in crockpot, assemble the green bean casserole and spinach salad (minus the dressing til last minute). Mother in law bringing the orange jello salad, wine, some appetizers (including deviled eggs) and pies. Sister in law bringing wine and rolls. Gravy will be made when the turkey is done roasting.
I also have a fully stocked bar and mixers, including prosecco and juice for the morning

 

[Klayfish]

View attachment 455181

Yep, Stove Top. No, it's not as good as homemade. But our goal is for Thanksgiving to be as easy as possible, without going out to a restaurant. No cook, no clean, no work.

 

[Monykalyn]

What do most of you do for dinner tonight? I bought a decent frozen lasagne that is the perfect size to not leave leftovers, and some garlic bread to fix this evening.

sandwiches or pizza. I have frozen lasagne too but it is for Saturday when we are starting to get tired of turkey and I'm not wanting to cook

 

[fla4fun]

sandwiches or pizza. I have frozen lasagne too but it is for Saturday when we are starting to get tired of turkey and I'm not wanting to cook

That’s what pizza delivery is for! My company is going home Saturday since I work on the weekend, so I will get them to take as many leftovers as I can and just have a couple turkey sandwiches. But when I have company through Sunday, then one of the weekend nights is pizza.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH - oven got turned off prematurely. I just discovered it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Have made the broccoli casserole and stuffing to reheat tomorrow. Rest will prepare tomorrow
We host Coast Guard recruits and my Dsis shares the work And expense. There will be 6-7 people
Lunch
Spiral Ham
Pierogies
Kielbasy
Rye Bread
Corn pudding
Green salad

Dinner
Roast turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry sauce ( bought)
Sweet potatoes
Mashed potatoes
Broccoli Casserole
asparagus
salad

Desserts for both
Kruchiki (bought)
Homemade Apple pie ( I make early tomorrow morning, I like it same day)
Orange cake with Butter icing ( DSis made)
Chocolate Chip Cookies ( I made)
Ice cream, Graeter’s from Cincinnati....we live in NJ so ordered it
Fresh oranges

The recruits are in Basic Training, and we always ask them for their preferences regarding snacks, beverages etc. They are not allowed to go to any public places, so DH takes their orders and gets whatever they ask for. We are of Polish heritage so that’s why we include some ethnic foods.

 

[bobbiwoz]

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH - oven got turned off prematurely. I just discovered it.

Oh no!!!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oh no!!!

I lost about 45 minutes of cooking time. I've turned it back on a bit higher than I usually use to cook a turkey, just so I can get it out of the oven close to the time I wanted to. Gotta give it time to rest before I carve it.

 

[Meriweather]

I lost about 45 minutes of cooking time. I've turned it back on a bit higher than I usually use to cook a turkey, just so I can get it out of the oven close to the time I wanted to. Gotta give it time to rest before I carve it.

I remember a Thanksgiving we lost power when the turkey was in the oven.......the power was off for a couple hours.
No turkey that year.

for dinner tonight we are having burgers, but fancied up with corn, jalapeno, onion, garlic
and sweet potato fries

DGD is still here......she just ate Frosted Flakes. Not sure when she is being picked up. Thought her mother was getting off early, but she isn't here yet.
Glad I got my caramel and cheesecake done yesterday

 

[MillauFr]

After my father in law passed away 6 years ago we decided to start going out to eat. So much easier. My wife and her sister didn't want to host. I didn't want to do any of the work either.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Ha, I saw this thread title and initially thought it was about Christmas cooking. That shows you how much of an afterthought Thanksgiving is for me this year! We opted to take the lazy way out and my DH picked up a Whole Foods catered meal this morning. Tomorrow I’ll make some mashed potatoes and stuffing to go with it (just because I like my versions better than anyone else’s) and we’ll eat whenever that’s ready. Then it’s back to Christmas preparations!

 

[Kitty 34]

I got this on the internet about 3 years ago. It's what I use:
Step 1. Roast the turkey.

Step 2. When done, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 30-45 minutes. This allows the juices to settle into the meat before it is cut. If you cut it too soon the juices will run out, resulting in a dry turkey.

Step 3. Carve the turkey.

• Cut the turkey breast in 3/4" thick slices. If you slice it too thinly, the turkey won't hold in the juices as well and remain as moist.

Step 4. Place the sliced turkey in a baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator. Keep the sliced pieces pressed together.

Step 5. Cover the sliced turkey with plastic wrap, pressing it down to close any air pockets. This also helps retain moisture in the turkey.

Step 6. Cover the pan with a lid or piece of aluminum foil and refrigerate.

View attachment 455171

Here's how to reheat and serve the turkey.

Step 7. Remove turkey from fridge and rest on counter for 30-45 minutes to allow it to return to room temperature

Step 8. Remove the plastic wrap and spread out the turkey slices in an even layer. For quick, even heating, it's best to spread the slices in a single layer, overlapping them slightly--don't stack them if you can avoid it.

Step 9. Drizzle chicken or turkey broth evenly over all of the sliced meat. You can use canned broth or make your own. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.



Step 10. Reheat the turkey without overcooking it.

If you've taken care to roast your turkey properly so that it has remained moist, you don't want to undo that by overcooking it and drying it out during the reheating process. There are two methods; choose the one that works best for you. With both methods, the turkey should be in an even shallow layer in a baking pan. If it's piled too high, the outside layers will overcook before the center layers are hot.

• FLASH REHEATING at a high temperature is a method often used by restaurants chefs. The concept is simple. Put room temperature food in shallow, covered pans, and put it in a 450 degree oven for approx. 7-15 minutes. It heats the food fast (in a FLASH) without cooking it further. This is the method I recommend if you don't need the oven set to a lower temperature for cooking other dishes at the same time.
• STANDARD REHEATING in a 350 degree oven is another option that normally will take 25-30 minutes for room temperature turkey to be heated through. This method is the best option if you have other dishes that need to cook in the oven at the same time at that temperature.

Either way, the important thing is to remove the turkey from the oven as soon as it's heated through completely without letting it overcook. Ovens and cooking times can vary, so I recommend checking on it about half way into the reheating process to help you gauge when to remove it from the oven.

Step 11. Transfer the hot turkey to a serving platter. I like to use a fish spatula for this--it's nice and long, so I can neatly transfer a whole row of turkey slices at once.

Step 12. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of hot broth over the turkey just before serving. There should be some hot broth in the bottom of the reheating pan that can be used for this.

Thank you so much for all that wonderful info!!

 

[AuntieMe3]

I'll be prepping tonight. It's just 5 of us this year so I don't have to double any recipes. LOL My dad is making the turkey and we bought pies/dessert so I don't have to worry about any of that. I'll make the cranberry sauce tonight, cut up veggies for my stuffing(omg its soo good, I can't wait to eat it. LOL)...will bake that, make a salad, sweet cream corn and the mashed potatoes tomorrow.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

OK, turkey cooked, carved, and ready for tomorrow. Jell-o in the fridge setting up. And first load of oversized dirty pans in the dishwasher.

Now, I have to clean up the living room.

 

[bobbiwoz]

OK, turkey cooked, carved, and ready for tomorrow. Jell-o in the fridge setting up. And first load of oversized dirty pans in the dishwasher.

Now, I have to clean up the living room.

Well, you caught up. Sleep well, and have a great day!

 

[NYCgrrl]

I got this on the internet about 3 years ago. It's what I use:
Step 1. Roast the turkey.

Step 2. When done, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 30-45 minutes. This allows the juices to settle into the meat before it is cut. If you cut it too soon the juices will run out, resulting in a dry turkey.

Step 3. Carve the turkey.

• Cut the turkey breast in 3/4" thick slices. If you slice it too thinly, the turkey won't hold in the juices as well and remain as moist.

Step 4. Place the sliced turkey in a baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator. Keep the sliced pieces pressed together.

Step 5. Cover the sliced turkey with plastic wrap, pressing it down to close any air pockets. This also helps retain moisture in the turkey.

Step 6. Cover the pan with a lid or piece of aluminum foil and refrigerate.

View attachment 455171

Here's how to reheat and serve the turkey.

Step 7. Remove turkey from fridge and rest on counter for 30-45 minutes to allow it to return to room temperature

Step 8. Remove the plastic wrap and spread out the turkey slices in an even layer. For quick, even heating, it's best to spread the slices in a single layer, overlapping them slightly--don't stack them if you can avoid it.

Step 9. Drizzle chicken or turkey broth evenly over all of the sliced meat. You can use canned broth or make your own. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.



Step 10. Reheat the turkey without overcooking it.

If you've taken care to roast your turkey properly so that it has remained moist, you don't want to undo that by overcooking it and drying it out during the reheating process. There are two methods; choose the one that works best for you. With both methods, the turkey should be in an even shallow layer in a baking pan. If it's piled too high, the outside layers will overcook before the center layers are hot.

• FLASH REHEATING at a high temperature is a method often used by restaurants chefs. The concept is simple. Put room temperature food in shallow, covered pans, and put it in a 450 degree oven for approx. 7-15 minutes. It heats the food fast (in a FLASH) without cooking it further. This is the method I recommend if you don't need the oven set to a lower temperature for cooking other dishes at the same time.
• STANDARD REHEATING in a 350 degree oven is another option that normally will take 25-30 minutes for room temperature turkey to be heated through. This method is the best option if you have other dishes that need to cook in the oven at the same time at that temperature.

Either way, the important thing is to remove the turkey from the oven as soon as it's heated through completely without letting it overcook. Ovens and cooking times can vary, so I recommend checking on it about half way into the reheating process to help you gauge when to remove it from the oven.

Step 11. Transfer the hot turkey to a serving platter. I like to use a fish spatula for this--it's nice and long, so I can neatly transfer a whole row of turkey slices at once.

Step 12. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of hot broth over the turkey just before serving. There should be some hot broth in the bottom of the reheating pan that can be used for this.

Great info!
My preference is to cut breast meat thinner unless I make a turkey roulade/roll but that's not a big deal . I generally brine turkey thus no problem with drying out.

I use a probe thermometer and set it to about 10 degrees less than the finished temperature as it continues cooking during the resting period. Takes care of the whole calibrated oven issue.

Normally for one reason or another I don't start carving until the bird(s) is/are room temperature. I do make sure the gravy is piping hot via a small crock pot or one of those candle under the dish numbers.

I read about your timing problem hope it all works out and I'm sure it will.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

DW made a cheesecake to bring to her daughter's tomorrow.

I prepared a broccoli/cauliflower/cheese casserole. Just needs to be baked for about 30 minutes tomorrow.

She'll go there tomorrow morning to help prepare other things. I'll just show up about 3 pm.