Thanksgiving Timeline

By tpriddy_1

One secret to a stress-free Thanksgiving is to use a timeline. It helps you stay organized and takes a lot of guess work out of the day. You can accomplish much of the work in advance, freeing you up for all that needs to be done on Thanksgiving day.
You should come up with a time line that works for you, but for now this is a good place to start.

Ingredients

• Turkey - 25 lbs + 8lb Turkey breast
• Mashed potatoes
• 25 lbs will feed about 35 people.
• (5 recipes)
• Cranberry sauce - one recipe feeds a crowd.
• Stuffing-
• 3 recipes(3-9x13 pans)will feed about 35 people.
• Sweet potatoes-2 recipes 10 lbs = 25 people.
• Cranberry jello salad- double recipe.
• This is a basic Thanksgiving meal. Your guest will love to fill in the rest of the meal with their favorite Thanksgiving dish.

Preparation

Step 1

October -
Start making the freezer mashed potatoes (see recipe). They will keep in the freezer for several months.

Start looking for Thanksgiving paper goods. It can be hard to find nice ones if you wait until November.

First week of November:
Get out fall and Thanksgiving decoration's and start decorating.

Shop for all non-food items that are needed for Thanksgiving day and the days leading up to it;
paper towels / paper cups/ paper plates
foil / plastic wrap
foil pans - at least 8 -9x13
zip lock bags - all sizes
throw away storage containers-all sizes
trash bags both large garbage bags and kitchen bags
toilet paper
dishwasher soap / dish soap

Order flowers for your Thanksgiving table.

3 weeks before Thanksgiving:
Order your fresh turkey.
Order ham if necessary.
Call all of your invited guests and discuss the menu item you wish them to bring.

2 weeks before Thanksgiving:
Carefully Read through all The recipes to determine the food and equipment you will need.
Make sure you have enough plates,
flatware, glassware and serving pieces.

1 week before Thanksgiving:
Friday- Shop for food, except for those things that need to be fresh.
Make cranberry sauce (see recipe) cover tightly and put in refrigerator.
Make stuffing,(see recipe) bake fully in a foil pan and put in freezer.

Saturday- Clean out refrigerator making room for the Turkey and the frozen food you will put in later this week.

Sunday-

Monday- Get out all serving dishes that are going to be used, and with a post-it note, label each dish with what is going in it.
Stage the buffet table so you know how things will fit and also the flow of the serving on Thursday.

Tuesday- Pick up Turkey, Ham and any other fresh ingredients needed.
Have flowers delivered.
Bake sweet potatoes (see recipe) and set aside.
Take the frozen food that was prepared ahead of time, and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.

Wednesday- If extra white meat is needed bake a Turkey breast, slice and wrap in foil. Use drippings to make gravy.
Make Cranberry Jello salad(see recipe), cover tightly and put in fridge.
Assemble sweet potatoes and finish baking. Cover with foil and put in refrigerator.
Chop 1 onion, 1 apple and 1 lemon (to put inside the Turkey)put in zip lock bag and put in fridge.
Prepare Turkey. Rinse, and take out all the insides. Pat dry and put in roasting pan, cover with foil and put in refrigerator.
Read over the Thanksgiving DAY time line.


Get a good night sleep tomorrow will be a long day.