Have you started cooking for Thanksgiving?

[Anonymous]

I made 2 side dishes yesterday that can just be reheated on Thursday. Tonight I will bake a pie shell. Just trying to space it out so I am not spending 6 hrs plus in the kitchen on the big day.

[Anonymous]

I made my pie crust dough and threw them in the freezer - I'll pull them out on Wednesday morning and back the pies that evening. I'll also make my cranberry relish today or tomorrow. And I'll make a side on Wednesday evening.

[Anonymous]

How far in advance can you make pumpkin pie? I usually bake mine on Wednesday evening, but am wondering if I can do it any earlier.

I tend to make cranberry relish on Tuesday evening.

I make most of my sides on Wednesday. I also cut up my vegetables, make bread crumbs, etc for the stuffing. If I am making the pies, I make them on Wednesday. When my sister offers to make the pies, she usually brings the ingredients to my house and I end up making them on Thursday morning (but that is a different topic).

On Thursday I roast the turkey, make green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

[Anonymous]

Making butternut squash soup tonight (that is the first course) - it will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Haven't made anything else yet but will start on Tuesday. It's hard to do it after work, though. Still have to feed the family dinner, and then I don't feel like cooking again after that.

[Anonymous]

PP, I know what you mean about cooking after doing the day's chores .. What gets me motivated is that on Thursday morning I will make slasa and guac and then sit with my family to watch the parade on TV. Then at noon I will do some cooking and then at 3pm finish everything to eat by 4pm. Pie and desserts later that night.

[Anonymous]

I made mashed potatoes and froze them. I read some info about how this puts them at risk of getting watery... but I'm willing to risk it. There's tons of dairy in there to help hold it together and if it does get watery... i'll just burn it off in the oven.

I'm planning on making pie crusts tonight and sticking them in the freezer. I'll probably make pumpkin pie Wed night and apple pie Thursday.

Wed night I'm also going to assemble a sweet potato gratin for baking Thurs. Prep ingredients for stuffing and other sides.

I have a whole lot to do. I'm working all day Wed too.

I'm still trying to figure out how much I should do at my home as opposed to the host's home...

[Anonymous]

"The rhythm of the nation’s kitchens can also be parsed, on an hour-by-hour basis.

At Allrecipes.com, pie searches got the most action on Wednesday morning. But by 10 a.m., people began earnest hunts for sweet potato casserole and stuffing recipes. By noon, 100,000 people had searched for mashed potato recipes.

The real outlier is gravy. If this Thanksgiving Day is anything like last year’s, most searches will slow by 10 a.m. But not gravy. That vexing cook’s kryptonite should peak about 3 p.m.

Search data are also a way to track the Thanksgiving trends, which cycle through the years like hemlines. Curiosity about deep-fried turkey is growing faster than questions about brining, with Allrecipes.com reporting a 188 percent jump in people viewing information on the technique this year over 2008. ..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/dining/26search.html?hp

[Anonymous]

Are there websites that give you this kind of data in real time? I'd love to see how many people are searching Zhu Zhu hamsters, for example. Or whatever product I'd like to be selling....

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Are there websites that give you this kind of data in real time? I'd love to see how many people are searching Zhu Zhu hamsters, for example. Or whatever product I'd like to be selling....

You can try Google Trends:

http://www.google.com/trends

For example, the trend for Zhu Zhu Hamsters is here:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=Zhu+Zhu+hamsters

[Anonymous]

I just made two pies, and I'm wiped out. My hat's off to those of you making a complete dinner!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The rhythm of the nation’s kitchens can also be parsed, on an hour-by-hour basis.

At Allrecipes.com, pie searches got the most action on Wednesday morning. But by 10 a.m., people began earnest hunts for sweet potato casserole and stuffing recipes. By noon, 100,000 people had searched for mashed potato recipes.

The real outlier is gravy. If this Thanksgiving Day is anything like last year’s, most searches will slow by 10 a.m. But not gravy. That vexing cook’s kryptonite should peak about 3 p.m.

Search data are also a way to track the Thanksgiving trends, which cycle through the years like hemlines. Curiosity about deep-fried turkey is growing faster than questions about brining, with Allrecipes.com reporting a 188 percent jump in people viewing information on the technique this year over 2008. ..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/dining/26search.html?hp

I guess firefighters will be busier, too.