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♫♪ It’s beginning to smell a lot like Turkey everywhere you go, there’s the gravy on top the stove, stuffing cooking below and hungry fans setting up the big table. ♪♫ Can you feel the happiness in my song for Thanksgiving?
I love spending time with family and close friends around the holidays, but it can become overwhelming to create the perfect Thanksgiving meal to share. To help I have come up with a couple tips to help you make the best stress-free Thanksgiving meal ever.
Dry Stuffing or Wet Stuffing
For dry stuffing add chicken broth or vegetable broth if vegetarian. Pour in 1/4 of a cup at a time and slowly mix until the consistency desired while on the stove top. For wet too wet stuffing place stuffing in a pan and bake at 350 for about 5 -10 minutes, then remove and check consistency. The hot air from the oven will dry access liquid from stuffing. Be careful not to overbake then you’ll be back at step one. Bonus: make stuffing in muffin tins, to save space on the table.
Baking A Pie
Before baking the pie, wrap the crust in aluminum foil (to prevent burning). Bake the pie 10 minutes under, then carefully remove the pie from the oven and aluminum from the crust. Return the pie to the oven and finish off the last few minutes of baking till golden brown.
Early Gravy
I love gravy! Making the gravy a day or two ahead and freezing it, saves lots of time on T-day. You can either make it on Tuesday or Wednesday (don’t forget fresh cracked pepper), thaw and reheat on Turkey day. If there happens to be a vegan present at your dinner do not stress, substitute all turkey/chicken broth with vegetable broth, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and poultry seasoning. Also, use vegan butter as opposed to regular butter.
Prep Ahead Snacks
The day before Thanksgiving makes a few appetizers for those helping in the kitchen and those not helping in the kitchen (you know who they are). Veggie or fruit platters are great. So are fall squash with onion turnovers ( recipe coming soon). This keeps hunger and hangry from striking and promotes healthy eating.
Aluminum Foil is Your Friend
There are so many things you can do with this item. Use as a base to roasting your turkey if you do not own a roasting pan. Place around the crust of your done pumpkin or sweet potato pie prior to finish baking.
Plan Ahead
The finale and best advice I can give is taking time out the week of or the week prior to Thanksgiving and plan the meal. List ingredients, the time needed to cook, and how you will keep the food warm to alleviate some tension on Turkey day. Also, list who will be doing what and helping where so there is no confusion. This saves so much time! There’s nothing worse than the person who was supposed to make mashed potatoes sitting on the couch 10 minutes before dinner because they didn’t know it was their task. I’ve worked in a large production kitchen and banquets, believe me you can’t have a successful meal without a game plan.
Bonus: Bringing new foods is typically great but please limit it to one during this holiday. Thanksgiving is not the time to experiment.
I hope this helps, enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Jess
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