Oh no... I've been asked to host... THANKSGIVING!!

[toledo13]

Man o man... just when I was looking ahead to Black Friday, something gets in the way. I've been asked to host Thanksgiving this year... for 9 people! ACK! Does anyone have any budget decorating tips or recipe ideas to share?

O dear, I've never cooked a turkey before!

 

[clarabelle]

I love the Alton Brown turkey recipe from food network .com
You have to soak the turkey overnight.
If you don't have a meat thermometer go ahead and get one.

Use your crock pot to keep a side dish warm. Consider borrowing one if you don't have one.

Cook as much as you can ahead and freeze it.

Good luck!!

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

you'll do just fine!!
Once i got over my turkey anxiety, i have been doing thanksgiving at my house every year, since

I agree with another poster, go ahead and get you a thermometer, you will need it. Also, start researching the size of the bird you will need. I came to LOVE butterballs website and you can call them at any hour on their turkey hotline!! I stuff my turkey with Apples....and it turns out awesome!!...
Also, i get the Tony Chacherees Turkey Basting sauce, or whatever, it makes the bird beautiful and moist!

I also stick with caserole dishes that can all be thrown in the oven together!
I ususally get up at 4 am to get the turkey in the oven and go back to bed for a few hours, then get up and start preparing all the side dishes. You can always ask others to bring one, too!

 

[java]

Don't stress- just think of it as another dinner. You cook everyday. This is the same thing.

I like to brine my turkey it just seems to work out nicely when I do that. But as a first timer maybe buy the brine already to be added to your water.- hopefully it will be cold at Thanksgiving and you can leave the giant bird in the garage in a cooler.

Have people bring the things that will take up space in your fridge- like the salad! Or something that will take up space in your oven.

Think MAKE AHEAD possibilities. Anything that you can cook early and just heat up is a keeper. For example I make these mashed potatoes that bake in the oven- they have farmer cheese butter and scallions in them- I do all the prep work the day before then just pop the pan into the oven on Thanksgiving.
Oh and no way no how am I getting up at 4AM to put a bird in the oven. We eat later. You're the cook you set the rules!
Have fun! It's just dinner.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Hi! I hosted my first thanksgiving last year and it went smoothly.

I agree with the others, definitely use a thermometer while cooking the turkey. I usually just make a rub and rub that on the skin and under the skin with some butter. Stuff the cavity with some onions, garlic, etc.

As far as decorations, I did some basic stuff...a fall table cloth, pumpkins and gourds, bouquets of mums and other fall colored flowers, and had pumpkiny scented candles burning.

Make a list of what you will be serving and make a grocery list.

If you are serving appetizers, make things that you do not have to heat...shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, spinach dip, etc.

I also opted for a buffet (I had about 12 people). I made alot of sides the day before...make ahead mashed potatoes that I reheated and served in a crockpot, sausage stuffing (in a pan, not the bird...the turkey cooks faster without it), green bean casserole, babby carrots can be cooked and reheated in the microwave. I also used some disposable aluminum trays for easy clean up.

Do as much the day before so you can also enjoy the day: set the table, set up a bar area, have dessert plates, cups out and set aside.

Here are some of the recipes that I have used:


I served this as like an appetizer:
Pasta with creamy pumkin sauce:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/pasta-creamy-pumpkin-sauce-54499.aspx

Corn casserole:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29065_,00.html

Make ahead mashed potatoes:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Make-Ahead-Mashed-Potatoes-2/Detail.aspx

Sausage Stuffing:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/258/Turkey_with_Corn_Bread_and_Sausage_Stuff509.shtml

Cranberry Salad (I make this but with mandarin oranges instead of pineapple and I use nuts):
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1943,150184-247200,00.html

Have a great holiday!

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Here is a pic of my first Thanksgiving turkey. It looked and tasted so yummy! You can do it!

Oh, and I made the gravy the day before. I cooked the turkey inards in water with celery and onion, roasted some turkey wings with onions, celery and carrots and then used the strained cooking water and juices from the roasting pan to make the yummy gravy!!!!

 

[hinodis]

Definately put a turkey lifter under it. I makes it so much easier to get it out of the pan.

For budget decorations, go to Big Lots. Joanne's has some great sales right before the holiday. Rite Aid just had 50% off there fall decorations.

Are you from Toledo, Ohio? If you are ~ I am your neighbor!

 

[powellrj]

Someone posted a thread about thanksgiving on a budget and I posted on that thread so I will just cut and paste what I wrote there. I am just lazy that way!!

I have been doing the holiday meals for years for 13. Once DHs grandmother died, my DMIL decided that she wasn't going to do holidays so the job fell to me. I guess she figured fixing holiday meals was suppose to skip a generation. Her idea of help was to bring a plate of cookies so it was just easier to plan what I want to have and fix it all myself.

The best plan is to start early shopping and cooking. You can be freezing desserts and bread for stuffing now. I always fix a turkey and a ham so if I see a ham on sale I will buy it now. Make and freeze your noodles now. You can make and freeze your dinner rolls next month. I have a really small galley type kitchen so crock pots are my friend. I also have a large roaster I use for the turkey to free up oven space.

I only offer tea and lemonade as drinks because its just too expensive to provide the soda and wine when I am paying for the whole meal, so if you are doing sodas and wines start buying now.

I also make sure to have a selection of bread and chips and sandwich fixing for dinner later in the evening.

I buy already cleaned veggies for the relish tray and boil my eggs at the first of the week for deviled eggs. I try to have the desserts ready early and have started buying frozen yeast dough for the dinner rolls.

I also don't have a dishwasher so I stopped using dishes and went to a good quality paper plate a few years ago. It helps a lot because not only did she not do holidays she didn't believe in helping clean up either so it was always me and my mom and my DH doing all the clean-up. My DF would be moving the furniture and he was the chair guy. I will start buying the paper goods when I see those on sale.

I am a real plan ahead person. My DS is graduating in May and I have already started shopping for things for that!

 

[clarabelle]

powerrj brings up a good point about the sandwich supplies!!
Also, make sure you have a good selection of ziplock bags, tupperware type containers ect.... You don't want to have to be scurrying around trying to find containers for leftovers.

 

[margiemc]

I always cook my turkey in one of the Reynolds Oven Bags. It makes for a really juicy turkey, the cooking time is cut down significantly and it doesn't make a mess in the oven

Don't make yourself crazy by doing everything from scratch, especially since this is your first time cooking for this holiday. Keeping things simple is a big help.

Assign people things to bring things with them. Neither of my SIL's can cook, but they have no problem buying pies or bringing appetizers (veggies, dip, cheese, pepperoni, etc).

Good luck!

 

[KigerKat]

I love the Alton Brown turkey recipe from food network .com
You have to soak the turkey overnight.

I second that!! Last year was the first time I had ever done Thanksgiving, and it was just for me, DH and his parents. We did Alton Brown's turkey brine and stuffed it with Paula Dean's dressing recipe, and it was WONDERFUL!! I had never made a turkey before, and this was the best turkey I have ever eaten.

 

[java]

Here is a pic of my first Thanksgiving turkey. It looked and tasted so yummy! You can do it!

Oh, and I made the gravy the day before. I cooked the turkey inards in water with celery and onion, roasted some turkey wings with onions, celery and carrots and then used the strained cooking water and juices from the roasting pan to make the yummy gravy!!!!

What time should we be there?

It looks great!

 

[jewlz]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday !! It is also the easiest. There are no other distractions beside the meal itself. No Christmas decorating, no present shopping, no stockings, no Easter bunny, etc. Its just a great meal and friends and family. Plus , other then the turkey you can pretty much prepare all of the side dishes ahead of time and just heat them Thanksgiving day. Or you can do what I am doing this year is to be at WDW for Thanksgiving !!!

 

[Sora777]

i have been doing Martha Stewarts Perfect Turkey for the last few years. We brine it the night before and it's always delish!

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I had another tip: If you have a grill, you can keep things warm on there...saves oven space!

Java, Come over anytime!

 

[KigerKat]

Here's my turkey from last year:

And all the fixens: broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, cornbread and crescent rolls. (okay, I went a little overboard for 4 people, but I just love to cook!!)

 

[POOHDRMR]

I like to use Butterball turkeys because you just put it in and forget about it-no brine or basting needed and it is always moist and tasty.

 

[Fantasmic23]

Man o man... just when I was looking ahead to Black Friday, something gets in the way. I've been asked to host Thanksgiving this year... for 9 people! ACK! Does anyone have any budget decorating tips or recipe ideas to share?

O dear, I've never cooked a turkey before!

http://frugal.families.com/blog/quick-decorating-tips-for-thanksgiving

http://www.thebudgetdecorator.com/Thanksgiving.html

 

[branv]

Turkey anxiety is so funny. Everyone gets it the first time, and usually afterwards they're like "what was the big deal? " I think roasts are harder to cook correctly.

For decorations, keep it simple. Actually, I've never been to a thanksgiving where anyone bothered with decorations other than their nice serving platters, maybe some extra candles around the house. Most people just care about FOOOOOD, so if it's a budget concern, I wouldn't put yourself through the hassle of purchasing special turkey decor.

As for the food, you've gotten some great tips already. A few things I want to add are:

**if brining a turkey, be sure to not buy a turkey that already has a heavy salt solution injected into it. And be careful about using the brined turkey drippings for gravy...it might work, but you might also end up with salt lick gravy.

**yes, get a thermometer. DO NOT rely upon one of those little pop up deals.

**But more important: stuffing safety! So many people don't realize that stuffing is the culprit behind a lot of turkey day food poisoning. If you cook the stuffing in the bird, make sure it's cooked to at least 165 degrees. So you may benefit from both a meat thermometer and an instant read thermometer.

**If you don't have double ovens or a toaster oven, see if you can borrow a friends or family member's toaster oven. That way you can be heating more than one thing at a time.

**For things that can't be made ahead, see what parts can be done ahead. Heck, sometimes I assemble spices for recipes together ahead of time in zip lock bags.

**And this may be way more anal than some, but the last time I had to do a the entire t-day meal, I actually came up with a spreadsheet for what needed to be done at certain times to get everything on the table at a certain hour. Sometimes when you have 10 things going at once, it's easy to forget to do this or do that, and suddenly you're completely flustered. Stupid things like realizing you forgot to preheat the oven can push your cooking schedule back 30 minutes. And let me tell you, it was eye-opening. I had planned to get up around 7 am to start, but after I did that spreadsheet realized I had to be up at 5 am to get it done. Yikes!

 

[2bearsmom]

Oh I love doing Thanksgiving Day cooking! This will be the 12th year we've had it our house. Every year my MIL comes over the night before because she in charge of buying the turkey. We soak it in brine overnight, from Wolfgang Puck's recipe when he was on Foodnetwork, about 4 or 5yrs ago now. It is the best tasting turkey ever and I wont ever make it any other way. It's a ton of ingredients that I start buying in early Nov so I have them all, but it is so worth it.

My MIL and I make a couple pumpkin pies (we are going to attempt fresh/real pumpkin this year) and a pecan pie the day/night before. I make homemade cranberry sauce the night before also, and chop all the celery and onions and cube the italian bread for the stuffing (some years I also have sauteed the onions/celery in butter and put in a baggie with the cubed bread so all we have to do is put it in the casserole dish and right in to the oven) have the green bean casserole assembled, things like that to make it go smoothly. The only thing we really do the day of is cut up the potatoes for the mashed potatoes and fried sweet potatoes and make the roux for the homemade gravy (something else we tried for the first time last year and will never go back! My MIL bought the turkey stock along with the turkey and it made to die for gravy, we've been talking about it all year)

We set the table early that morning and I have my boys make turkey name place cards (they trace their hands on construction paper to make turkey's the night before)for each plate, then color them and glue feathers on them while we are cooking, it keeps them busy for awhile after we start cooking. I make sure the dishwasher is empty so we can just throw everything in after we eat, makes clean up a bit easier. I swear I do more work the night before Thanksgiving, but that prep time then really frees up time on Thanksgiving Day. We aren't running around panicking that we might not have everything done in time. Just prepare as much as you can before hand and everything will turn out great!