Photograph Credit: Flickr (Emiliano Lobanco)
With the turkey thawing and the grocery shopping complete, my Thanksgiving plans are underway. With today’s activities planned, I can concentrate on timing the baking and cooking for Thursday’s meal.
Our celebration of thankfulness will include our family of five with my husband’s parents. Since my in-laws have graciously offered to provide the corn on the cob, Jello salad, and green salad, my preparations will include the turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread, and beverages. Whew! Though the long list can be overwhelming, I break down the parts into time blocks for easy execution on Thursday morning.
Thursday
| 9:15 a.m. | Turkey baking in the oven. |
| 10:00 a.m. | Peel the potatoes.
Make the stuffing. Prepare the sweet potatoes. Set the table. Place butter and cranberry sauce into serving dishes. |
| 11:30 a.m. | Cook the potatoes. |
| 11:45 a.m. | Remove turkey from oven.
Place bread in oven. |
| 12:15 p.m. | Remove bread from oven.
Bake the stuffing and sweet potatoes. Start making the gravy. |
| 12:30 p.m. | Mash the potatoes.
Carve the turkey. |
| 12:45 p.m. | Remove the stuffing and sweet potatoes from oven.
Prepare the table for our meal. |
| 1:00 p.m. | Feast time! |
This schedule will keep me focused and organized on Thursday morning while preparing for our Thanksgiving meal. Having a written schedule to refer to allows me to concentrate on other items while following my plan.
Though your plan will look different from mine, just start from meal time and work backwards. By knowing what needs to stay hot, you can adjust your own schedule to fit your preferences. However you celebrate, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast. Happy planning!
Question: How early do you plan to be in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning? Please feel free to add your comment.