It’s less than one week away and its time to prioritize what you plan to do to take on the holiday feast in parts.
1.) Start cleaning the refrigerator of any leftovers, old food and organize a week in advance.
2.) Get all of your pots, pans or storage containers together in one place. This will eliminate the need to look for it and give you a chance to see what you may need to order from Amazon and get at Walmart. Do this 5 days in advance.
3.) 3 days in advance start defrosting the turkey and marinating it or any other meats. Keep in mind if you are making a ham its already cooked so you do not have to even heat it up at all you can slice it and place it on the serving tray . At service time folks can nuke it in the microwave or you can set it plain hot boiling water to reheat it. I never understood why people bake the entire ham with the glaze when the ham is fully cooked already.
4.) 48 hours before Turkey Day. Bake all the deserts and cranberry sauce if made from a scratch. Don’t bother peeling potatoes before mashing just boil it and when done let cool the skin will peel off with the back of a butter knife. Bake the Mac n cheese if you don’t mind reheating or the sweet potato casserole.
5.) 24 hours before Turkey Day make all the egg nog or special family drinks, set the table, get the house professionally cleaned if possible with a maid service. This is so important and saves so much time. Even hire them to clean after turkey day. I love my maid service best $120 ever spent for my 3 bedroom.
6.) The big Day!! Get up at 6 am and get the turkey in the oven. Hopefully you have followed my advice and this is the last thing you need to cook in the oven along side the Mac and cheese to reheat or fresh dinner rolls. Go to Walmart and get those disposable chaffing dishes used for catering. So worth it. This will free up your time to get the chance too keep food warm, lower dish count and offer an elegant look to your table. A separate 6 foot folding table should be where the food is kept to allow for a less crowded dining experience if space is an issue.
Happy Turkey Day! I don’t eat turkey but I will be enjoying my seafood gumbo that day.
Falan Cooks 