preparing for Thanksgiving Nov 22

[feather]

Getting everything made on the Thursday next week takes a bit of planning.

Turkey breast

gravy

stuffing

mashed potatoes

green bean casserole

pickle tray and blue cheese stuffed olives

cranberry sauce

pecan pie

We usually make a whole turkey but we are going with turkey breast. 11 lbs So it will take 2 days in the refrigerator to thaw (thawing is 1 day for every 5 lbs) and then one day of brining (food safe bucket outside because it is cold out), to bake on Thursday. Monday take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge, brine it on Wednesday. Bake covered in foil sealed into a roasting pan until it is 160 deg F internally with a meat thermometer.

Pecan pie, make Wednesday. Put under lock and key.

Dried bread cubes for stuffing make by Wednesday then assemble the stuffing/dressing to bake the next day. Put this in a cooler in the garage, where it is cold out.

Thursday:

The potatoes will cook on the stovetop.

The gr. bean casserole will get warmed up in the microwave.

Gravy is last and is made on the stove.

Stop buying food by Saturday, so there is room in the refrigerator for all the prepared foods before Thanksgiving and after.

Shopping list:

queen sized green olives

mushrooms for the stuffing

[feather]

@redfish, hey hay hey, I thought mine was pretty simple. ...... it's sure not extravagant, except for that pecan pie. We haven't had one in years.

Can you believe it, it's only 9 days away.

[feather]

www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/voices/i-decided-to-stop-cooking-thanksgiving-dinner-and-it-was-seriously-the-best-decision/ar-BBOiEat?li=BBnb7Kz

OR you could make a reservation to eat out. OR you can sometimes buy a full thanksgiving dinner if you reserve early enough, from your local grocery stores! (which we tried to do last year but we were too late)

[susannah]

The Thanksgiving tradition in my son's house is Thai takeout - Thai-giving, they call it. We have no Thai restaurants up here so I always love Thanksgiving dinner with their family for the food as well as the wonderful company.

I'm not a fan of turkey, but my husband - who is not a fan of Thai takeout - does like his "traditional" thanksgiving foods. So, sometime in December I'll make the following: boneless turkey breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and roasted Brussels sprouts. With cherry pie for dessert because neither one of us likes pumpkin pie. Then we'll have leftovers for many days to follow.

[northerngardener]

Feather, your list looks almost exactly like mine. I do the green bean casserole in the slow cooker so it doesn't take up stove space.
Happy thanksgiving!

[feather]

Nov 13, 2018 22:25:55 GMT northerngardener said:

Feather, your list looks almost exactly like mine. I do the green bean casserole in the slow cooker so it doesn't take up stove space.
Happy thanksgiving!

I know, I was stalking you and I saw your menu and then decided to make it my own.  Happy Thanksgiving.

[tenbusybees]

They are finally putting turkeys on sale around here. Saw them for .69 but hoping tomorrow (new sales start) they'll be even cheaper. We'll roast two for Thanksgiving day (hard to believe that is just next week) and I want to put a few in the freezer.

Not doing a huge (for us) to-do this year because my mom will be out of town and my sisters and families are working or spending elsewhere.

On the menu:
Turkeys
Twice baked cauliflower
Fried (in bacon grease) green beans
Sweet potato casserole (NOT the marshmallow kind)
Cranberry salad
Butter rolls
Deviled eggs
Pumpkin pie (keto)
Chocolate pies

I'll probably start prepping Tuesday and have everything ready, either already made or ready to slide into the oven, on the big day. The tricky part for me is timing everything and their respective turns in the oven.

[Deleted]

Ours will be very simple, just DS and us. Turkey breast, turkey stuffing with sausage, dinner rolls, cranberries, tray of celery, carrots, olives and pickles and apple cider....James

[feather]

3 more days!
Thaw your turkey safely in the refrigerator. Or run cold water over it for a day. Or buy fresh.
Video from our house.

[vickilynn]

Turkey thawing in fridge. Roasted the sacrificial pumpkin. Cleaning tomorrow. Baking and such on Wednesday.

[tenbusybees]

Nov 19, 2018 19:49:22 GMT feather said:

3 more days!
Thaw your turkey safely in the refrigerator. Or run cold water over it for a day. Or buy fresh.
Video from our house.

LOL! That's funny!

And, as long as we are sharing home movies, here's one of mine from a few years ago.

youtu.be/97NbMP_vcqQ

[feather]

tenbusybees,lol, that sounds like our house. "If my parents lit an orphanage on fire on Christmas eve, they wouldn't be as bad as your parents!"

[Melissa]

My son-in-laws whole family is coming in so we will have a really, really full house. I love lots of company. I have a 25 pound turkey so I am debating on whether to cook another one besides. I am having ham too so that might be ok with just the one turkey. I bought four more turkeys besides the big one but they are all in the 15 pound range. We will have a mountain of side dishes. Once I make something and everyone likes it I have to keep making it forever. I think we have seven desserts planned- pumpkin rolls, apple, cherry, pumpkin, pecan, and lemon pie, and a birthday cake. I have most of the house cleaned as good as it is getting but Brady has to scrub down a few more walls. All three of us- Cale, me, and Brady had a cleaning list!!! The girls and grandchildren will help cook on Wednesday. I love the cooking, the worst part for me is putting away all the leftovers. I am hoping to have both refrigerators mostly empty before Thursday!!!

[mzgarden]

We always do brunch for the family - I think that must be easier because there's no preconceived ideas of what has to be on the table. This year there will be turkey, an egg strata, fruit salad, breakfast rolls, a broccoli casserole, a jello/cream cheese dish and pie.

[feather]

Oyster stew, traditional in DS's dad's side of the family. So last night after getting off work at 11 pm, DS stopped at Meijers where they had 8 oz of raw oysters on sale for $4.99 each, and he picked up some oyster crackers too. So that's been added to our holiday menu. What a great kiddo!

[Mari-in-IN]

I got the three cheese balls made yesterday...  Port Wine, one with Chardonnay/green onions/pimento, and a Feta/black olive/green onion cheese ball.

We will also be having:
Turkey - baked in an oven bag
Gravy
Make-ahead mashed potatoes
Dressing
Green bean casserole - not with the canned soup though - making my own thick mushroom cream sauce instead...
Blueberry Pie
Apple Pie

We will be having our farmer friend over on Thursday to celebrate with us.  He brought the frozen pies over (he buys them off of the Boy Scouts every year) for me to bake tomorrow.  I'm grateful for that - much less work!
I think I'll get some cleaning done today and really get back at it tomorrow as far as prep work...
~Mari

[susannah]

feather , I've been intrigued by the idea of oyster stew since reading about it in a book years ago - I think it was one of the Little House books? Would you care to share how you make it? I really do want to try it. I'm sure my husband won't be interested but hey...more for me!

[feather]

Nov 20, 2018 17:39:24 GMT susannah said:

feather , I've been intrigued by the idea of oyster stew since reading about it in a book years ago - I think it was one of the Little House books? Would you care to share how you make it? I really do want to try it. I'm sure my husband won't be interested but hey...more for me!

Sure. We make it in a very traditional manner with no thickeners (flour or anything).

The simpler the better. It is a hot milk soup w/butter floating on top, and barely cooked oysters and the oyster juice, served with saltines or oyster crackers.

2-3 cups of whole milk

1/2 stick of butter

(or you can use cream or half and half and milk in whatever combination you like)

onion/celery/thyme/salt/pepper to taste (DH wants no pepper)

1-2 pints of oysters, a pound at most.

Saltine crackers or oyster crackers.

First saute finely minced onion/celery in the butter, maybe 1/2 cup of veggies.

Then add the milk. Get it hot.

Add some thyme, salt, pepper (or bay leaf or hot sauce optional).

Add the oysters and liquid they come in, and you want them barely cooked, with the frilly edges curling.

Turn off the heat and serve. Done in 20 minutes.

I was surprised the first time I had it that it was mostly just hot milk with oysters, butter floating. It kind of grew on me and I like it. I can see having this late at night before bed, to make me sleepy.

[feather]

Most of the prepared food and preparations are in the veggie drawer, hidden from view.
I put the turkey breast in the brine, in a bucket in the kitchen. Once the water temperature edges up to 38 degree F, it goes outside into the freezing temperature of the garage until noon tomorrow to bake.

I noticed the queen sized olives were so very good, maybe just the right amount of sour and salt. They weren't TOO strong. They are Lindsay brand. I'll have to remember that next year.

EDIT: ON Nov 22, the bottom of the pan with the turkey was starting to go from golden brown to too dark. So I poured in some broth. Then after taking out of the turkey I poured the makings of broth/fond into a sauce pan for making gravy. It tasted too salty.

I poured half of it out, then added water, then added more herbs, then thickened it. It was just right as the baby bear would say. Not too salty, just right. The gravy is very important!

[susannah]

Thank you feather ! Your oyster stew sounds delicious, and I love that there's no thickener involved. Somehow it sounds a little more decadent that way! I'll be trying this recipe!

[Woodpecker]

Never could get myself to eat one of those slimy oysters. They have something here, an oyster fest, in a neighboring town, every October. People flock from all over the Island to come and eat raw oysters. Too icky for me. I’ve never tried oyster stew though.

[feather]

Nov 24, 2018 22:39:45 GMT Woodpecker said:

Never could get myself to eat one of those slimy oysters. They have something here, an oyster fest, in a neighboring town, every October. People flock from all over the Island to come and eat raw oysters. Too icky for me. I’ve never tried oyster stew though.

The very young and the old, probably should stay away from raw shellfish, that's what I read. The oysters in the oyster stew are just cooked, so they aren't slimy but they are still tender and not over cooked into rubber. I like it.