Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please don't fully cook anything ahead of time except refrigerated foods like cranberry sauce. Food fully cooked ahead of time and left to sit just don't taste as good. Please, no cold or reheated rolls or biscuits. Please, no mashed potatoes left to sit for more than half and hour. Please, no pie crusts left to sit for a day and now less than crisp and flaky. People kid themselves that these and other food can be done ahead. They cannot without sacrificing flavor and/or tecture. If youn can't do T-day dinner right, then just go out to a restaurant. Seriously.

This is untrue of almost all soups, stews, casseroles and bakes. Lasagna is better the next day. Chili is better the next day. Beef Stew is better the next day. Lasagna is better the next day. And stuffing/dressing is better the next day.

I was obviously referring to the usual T-day foods, not stews like chili. As for casseroles and lasagna, they are better the same day they are baked if there is a crispy crust that will get soggy the next day. Alos, I disagree that stuffing is better the next day; I like it better right out of the turkey on T-day. Perhaps you are accustomed to eating day-old food and have developed a taste for it. I simply prefer to have my food served at the right temp, at the right consistency, and at the peak of flavor, and for many T-day foods such as mashed potatoes and pies and sweet-potato pudding with a crust on top, people are just kidding themselves if they think fully cooking the food the day before will give top flavor and texture. For a special holiday like T-day, I just don't believe the short cuts do justice.

Anonymous wrote:Please don't fully cook anything ahead of time except refrigerated foods like cranberry sauce. Food fully cooked ahead of time and left to sit just don't taste as good. Please, no cold or reheated rolls or biscuits. Please, no mashed potatoes left to sit for more than half and hour. Please, no pie crusts left to sit for a day and now less than crisp and flaky. People kid themselves that these and other food can be done ahead. They cannot without sacrificing flavor and/or tecture. If youn can't do T-day dinner right, then just go out to a restaurant. Seriously.

This is untrue of almost all soups, stews, casseroles and bakes. Lasagna is better the next day. Chili is better the next day. Beef Stew is better the next day. Lasagna is better the next day. And stuffing/dressing is better the next day.

Please don't fully cook anything ahead of time except refrigerated foods like cranberry sauce. Food fully cooked ahead of time and left to sit just don't taste as good. Please, no cold or reheated rolls or biscuits. Please, no mashed potatoes left to sit for more than half and hour. Please, no pie crusts left to sit for a day and now less than crisp and flaky. People kid themselves that these and other food can be done ahead. They cannot without sacrificing flavor and/or tecture. If youn can't do T-day dinner right, then just go out to a restaurant. Seriously.

I just realized after 40 years that I don't like turkey. But pp's spinach gratin sounds awesome. Anyone have a recipe to share?

Pie really depends on the recipe. Some crusts will get soggy after more than a day. Custard pies (like pumpkin pie) can start to weep moisture after a while. I usually bake my pies the evening before Thanksgiving (or day of, if I'm not responsible for all of the meal).
We swore off roasting a whole turkey after discovering no one in the family likes white meat. In fact, no one even particularly likes turkey. So, we have spicy broiled chicken legs. SO MUCH TIME SAVED and so much easier to coordinate oven use.

Good point, 11:01. 10:54 here. I also chop every possible thing I can the night before. My fridge is filled with ziplocs labeled by ingredient and dish/recipe. That alone saves SO much time.

+1 on the wine!!

Not sure the layout of your kitchen, but if it's tight, set up a cooler with ice and drinks elsewhere. Saves you having 10,000 people coming in looking for soda, juice, and water. Set up a little bar with wine and whatever if you are having cocktails. I love having people help me cook, but don't like people in the way foraging in the fridge.

remember to drink lots of wine while preparing the meal, it helps digestion and keeps the stress level down.

Thanks so much everyone!! Signed op

A lot can be made ahead. I remembered that I wrote something on this last year, so I just found it and posted it here. As I mention below, last year I couldn't cook, so I can't wait to do so this year.


Pie
Cranberry sauce
Prepping green beans
Roasting sweet potatoes to use in casserole
Spinach gratin
Spiced nuts for before dinner
Dressing (to be remoisterized and cooked in oven on Thanksgiving)
....

Most things can be made at least partially before hand, but will need to have a final step or two done in the final hours. Last year, I was responsible for Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people in Connecticut, but I had to work through Tuesday, so I couldn't leave here until Wednesday. It took some planning, but in the end it was fairly easy to pull off. I had no trouble finishing it all and even got to hang out with relatives a bit prior to dinner. The key is to go through each recipe and look at what steps can be done before hand and then make a time charts so that you aren't being unreasonable, for example:

Saturday before:
-shop

Sunday before:
-cranberry sauce
-spiced nuts
-dry bread for stuffing
-cut vegetables for stuffing
-make bacon to get bacon fat for rolls

Monday Night
-prep green beans
-Pie
-grate cheese for mac and cheese

Tuesday Night
-Roast sweet potatoes
-prepare cream topping for pie
-prepare spinach gratin
- make breadcrumbs/butter mix for mac and cheese

Wednesday (for me this was just driving)
-check on bird

Thursday
-10:00 - put bird in oven
cook macaroni
-11:00 - flip bird
make macaroni and cheese filling
-12:00 - make mashed potatoes and keep in crock pot
-12:30 - check on bird
put macaroni in dish and add bread crumbs
-1:45 - put macaroni in oven at 375 for 1 hour (recipe said 350 but comprimised with spinach recipe that said 400 to use oven at same time)
-2:05 - put spinach gratin in oven at 375 for 40 minutes
...

I'm not actually making Thanksgiving this year because I will be out of town (which makes me very sad, except that I am excited about my trip), so this isnt' an actual schedule or list of everything that I would make, just an example of the type that I use in order to make sure that I get to socialize (I am a big talker!) and things get done. Putting in a couple hours early to write down every step is invaluable to me and leaves me fairly stress-free.

Anonymous wrote:All good tips above. Once you take the turkey out to rest, you can reheat potatoes, yams, stuffing.

Night before, my table is a sea of empty dishes and serving utensils, with little notes in each one: turkey, stuffing, green beans. Just like Grandma used to do!

We always have "cold" rolls (because there isn't room to warm them). But this year I'm borrowing a friend's toaster oven just to have a little more warming space.

My dream kitchen has two ovens in it. One gigantic one, and one smaller one.

I fantasize about it every Thanksgiving, sigh!

I do my shopping and my mise en place the day before - all the veggies are chopped and in labeled bags. That way I pretty much know that I'm ok with everything - and I have time for a mad run to Safeway in the morning when I drop and spill sweet potatoes all over the floor.

Clean out your fridge the weekend before.

All good tips above. Once you take the turkey out to rest, you can reheat potatoes, yams, stuffing.

Night before, my table is a sea of empty dishes and serving utensils, with little notes in each one: turkey, stuffing, green beans. Just like Grandma used to do!

We always have "cold" rolls (because there isn't room to warm them). But this year I'm borrowing a friend's toaster oven just to have a little more warming space.

Desserts can all be made/bought ahead of time. Same thing with bread or roll type stuff.

Other time savers. Probably obvious but since it's your first time.
- Have the table set.
- Lay out all your serving dishes and spoons. Tuck a post-it note on each one saying what food goes in what dish. Helps you and anyone else who might be helping you move food from stovetop to table.
- Do a quick recon. Do you have all of your ingredients? Anything that might necessitate a mad dash to the store.
- If you're doing apps for folks while you cook, have those ready. Boxes of crackers. Veggies already cut up. If you have dips, make those and place them in bowls in the fridge.
- Run your dishwasher even if it's almost empty. I hate wasting water but it's good to start with an empty dishwasher when the plates start piling up.

All these little things don't necessarily impact your stove top, but save time and stress.
Relax and have fun!!

Mashed potatoes can be done the day before, just add the butter milk when reheating. Cranberry sauce. Stuffing/dressing, can be done, just add chicken stock (not broth) to the pan to moisten before reheating. Basically, most starches reheat fairly well. Vegetables have t be dne the day of.

Hosting thanksgiving this year for the first time and wondering if anything at all can be made the day before...standard fare...like stuffing...can I make and reheat or is. It not worth it? Trying to cut down on how many pots I'll have going in the kitchen and not going crazy.