Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. We don’t want to pressure you, but guess what? There are several things you can prepare the day before the feast, and plenty of tasks you can quickly cross off your long to-do list this weekend, or even right now. Here are 9 ideas…
1. Send an email to your team. At my house, and more specifically at my sister’s house, Thanksgiving meals are always a village job. Everyone in the family has responsibilities, such as securing and roasting a turkey or ordering 24 oysters.
…draw a place card from the table (thank you, phoebe). If you’re like me, and you’re the conductor of this orchestra of helpers, one of the things you can do a few weeks in advance is send people assignments. The real benefit of this task is that you have to map out and plan out exactly what you want to create.
2. Work on the low hanging fruit: When you’re a host, there are a lot of Thanksgiving tasks that really require effort and focus (looking at you, gravy). However, there are countless tasks that are only difficult because we tend to forget them until the last moment. Solution: Cross non-cooking items off your list now. For example, make sure you have enough space for napkins, wine glasses, glasses, dessert forks, etc. If not, order or borrow more if needed. Check the menu and make sure you have enough platters, salad bowls, water pitchers, baking pans, roasting pans, frying pans, cutting boards, etc. Choose drinks such as wine, non-alcoholic drinks, and carbonated drinks and create a shopping list. Then, the day before the banquet, if you have the surface area, set up your dining room table and get it ready.
3. Make the puff pastry: Even if you don’t know yet what kind of pie you’re baking, you can try appleberry, bourbon pecan, pumpkin, as shown here. cranberry lime — There may be something that makes good use of pât brisée. this recipe Makes 1 double crust or 2 single crusts for a 9- to 10-inch pie. Freeze and thaw at room temperature for about an hour before unfolding. (The dough will keep for 3 months. In other words, you can make it anytime between now and baking day.)
4. Prepare the gravy: Yes, you can buy containers of ready-made gravy at almost any supermarket, but the basic truth is: Homemade gravy is always better. Especially when it’s not whipped up during the crunchiest of all crunch times, the 30 minutes between when the turkey comes out of the oven (at which point the all-important pan juices are finally available) and when everyone sits down to eat. Why go through all that stress when you can do it weeks in advance in the peace and quiet of your kitchen?I don’t have a foolproof gravy recipe. For me, it was one of those visceral things that I couldn’t put into words. But Claire Saffitz has it. good things (NYTimes Gift Link), frozen for up to 3 months.
5. Clean out the refrigerator. What I really miss about old houses is that we had basements, and we had refrigerators in the basement. (Did you know how lucky I was? You did, right?) In the weeks leading up to the holidays, I was thinking of this account as a bank account where I would make regular, delicious deposits. Since we moved, we only have one small refrigerator, so we have to be careful with our grocery shopping the week before Thanksgiving to make way for gravy, wine, and pie.
6. Make mashed potatoes: In my opinion, when it comes to the most important dish on the Thanksgiving table, you don’t want to sacrifice anything in terms of creaminess and heat. (If the butter isn’t melting in rivers in front of your eyes and piping hot, can you have mashed potatoes?) When I first learned about the casserole technique of making ahead and reheating it in a casserole dish, I was skeptical, but it works. Instructions: Make mashed potatoes as usual. Place them in a casserole dish, cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days in advance. When ready to make: Heat oven to 400°F. Grate palm or sharp cheddar cheese over the potatoes, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 more pieces until golden brown and crispy.
7. Parboil the vegetables. For Thanksgiving, I almost always saute Brussels sprouts instead of roasting them. The reason is that there is still space for an oven. However, the risk of sautéing is that you won’t be able to fully cook the small pieces. Therefore, I prevent this by preparing and parboiling them in advance. Then, when you fry it in the pan, just heat it through and brown it if the recipe calls for it. How to make it: Trim and halve the Brussels sprouts, boil in salted water for 3 minutes, then immediately place in an ice bath. Store in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature before you start sautéing.
8. Bake the pie: Check the specific recipe you use. However, most pies can be made up to 2 days in advance. And luckily you’re already making the dough, so you might be halfway there. Since both of my daughters are usually home the day before Thanksgiving, pie baking day has become its own ritual during the holiday. That’s my daughter applying milk to the apple pie dough. Neither of us can remember why there’s blackberry in there, but it looks delicious.
9. Just be prepared for chaos: No matter how far ahead you are, don’t worry if your kitchen looks like this on your festive day. ours everytime that’s right. Remember my number one Thanksgiving rule? Chaos is the point.
When should you start preparing for your vacation? If you have any tips please share! You can also follow Jenny’s newsletter Dinner: A Love StoryIf you don’t mind.
PS: There are three rules for Thanksgiving that are highly opinionated. And what is a Thanksgiving specialty?
(Photo credit: Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash. A longer version of this post was first published by Jenny. Dinner: A Love Story In 2023. )
Source: Cup of Jo – cupofjo.com
