Vegetarian married to an omnivore here. Turkeys take longer than you think to cook-allow plenty of time. Cover with heavy duty tinfoil to help moisture stay. Agree with others, do much in advance.

Doing a big Thanksgiving Dinner particularly when you work OTH is unrealistic. I remember my mother spending the week getting ready. Plus, the day after was boring clean up! When she went to work, she cut back from a zillion sides, tons of people, using silver (polish), crystal (no water marks on her table!) and antique tablecloths. Eventually, it was just immediate family and just fine.

One piece of advice that surprisingly not been given is to do a spatchcocked turkey. Basically you break down the turkey flattened so it cooks more evenly. It doesn't make for the dramatic presentation at the table, but does yield a much more evenly cooked bird. Plus since you are breaking it down before cooking, you can remove the back bone ahead of roasting to make broth for the gravy later. Breaking the bird down ahead of time can also make brining easier.

NP - I am a first time turkey cooker too! When should I buy my turkey? I plan to get a regular non-fancy frozen Butterball. I don't want to keep it in the freezer. Should I buy it on the Sat before Thanksgiving and just leave it in the fridge to thaw? Will there be a decent selection? Never bought a turkey before either, so I don't know if there's a mad rush for them. Thanks.

Great thread! Thanks to everyone for all the good advice.

OP here: thanks everyone for all of the advice. I am going to double check with the store to ensure that the turkey is fresh, not frozen to ensure that I won't need to thaw for days and days. I am going to brine, using a cooler, since there is LITTLE chance that the turkey will fit in my fridge. I may go for a 20-22 pounder, since we probably don't really need 24. And I will definitely buy some gravy from Whole Foods and make sides in advice.

As my mother says, "you only make your first turkey once, so stop worrying about it." Smart woman.

Be aware that for a grocery store turkey, "fresh" still usually means frozen. "Fresh" turkeys can't be frozen below 26 degrees. Freezing point for water (which makes up most food) is 32. So "fresh" turkeys just can't be frozen that much. They'll thaw quicker, but they'll still need some thawing. ("Frozen" turkeys are often frozen and shipped at around zero degrees. They can need days and days to thaw.)

If you want a truly fresh, never frozen turkey, you're probably paying some serious coin for straight-from-the-farm. (Either at a farmer's market or at a place that will order them, like MOM or a butcher shop.) But even for a grocery store, "fresh" is going to be better than frozen. But you'll still need to thaw for a day to be sure.

That should be required viewing for every first-time deep-fryer.

BTW, what are common last words for a redneck? "Hey y'all, watch this!"

deep fry?

I hated the turkey gravy I got from Whole Foods last year because it has a really strong and weird herb flavor. Try it out before serving.

OP - It's not as hard as you think it's going to be. After I make a turkey I wonder why I don't make it more often!

The tricky part is getting all the dishes warm and ready to eat at the same time!