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Organized menus for Thanksgiving dinner
One of my favorite humans is cooking maven Kim O’Donnel. If you are unfamiliar with Kim, she writes the popular “A Mighty Appetite” blog and online chat for WashingtonPost.com. One of the reasons I love to spend time with Kim is because she is a pragmatist. When she talks about cooking, it is with the perspective that normal people, not highly trained chefs, will be making the food that ends up on your dinner table.
I’m mentioning Kim because she wrote a book a while back called A Mighty Appetite for the Holidays that fits in nicely with the Unclutterer philosophy. The book has holiday-themed recipes like you would expect, but most importantly it is organized like a calendar: What to do T Minus 7 days before Thanksgiving, What to do T Minus 6 days before Thanksgiving, etc. The point of the book is to help its reader throw a wonderful Thanksgiving feast without all the stress and worry that typically comes with such an endeavor. Being organized and methodical can mean that the maker of the meal can actually enjoy the celebration.
Along these same lines, I noticed that the November issue of Gourmet magazine did a similar thing this year. Most of the Thanksgiving menus it suggests are set up over a three-day period, but I still think three-day preparation is much preferred to a single-day preparation.
Do you know of other guides or books that help to plan out Thanksgiving meal preparations? As we inch closer to the holiday, I think it would be wonderful to have a full collection of resources in the comments to this post of organized sources to turn to for keeping the stress out of Thanksgiving meal preparation. I look forward to reading your suggestions!
24 comments posted
Posted by barbara carlson - 11/06/2008
I can’t believe 22 people posted comments yesterday (the day after arguably the biggest Thing to happen to the world since the fall of the Berlin Wall) without one mention of the election results…I find that odd, and fanatically focused. For us fanatical political junkies going through withdrawal everything is political — for a little while at least.
Sorry, resume your decluttering.
Don’t get me wrong. I love this sight. I just think after you finally threw out the biggest “jumbo jerky” somebody would congratulate themselves!?
Posted by barbara carlson - 11/06/2008
Of course that should have been SITE — but my slip to “sight” is telling. Perhaps I’m seeing things in a broader context today…
Posted by ann - 11/06/2008
The first time I made a full thanksgiving dinner several years ago, I kept a notebook with all the recipes and grocery lists and planning. The grocery lists are separated by what should be purchased earlier and what should be purchased later.
I plan on typing this up and putting it on my blog as a pdf. It’s a real, non-chef, but fresh-ingredient and as-close-to-homemade-loving cook. I love it. So good. Anyway, I’ll have to remember to put tell you about it when it’s up.
Posted by Erin Doland - 11/06/2008
@barbara — We don’t have a political affiliation here at Unclutterer, so commenting on the U.S. election would be a little weird.
Posted by penguinlady - 11/06/2008
I’ve done something similar to Ann above. Every year, I make a note as to what went great and not-so-great and put it in my recipe book. My first year was hysterical – I’m pretty sure we got a little food poisoning – but every year it’s gotten better. I keep my eyes out for something that sounds good, something new to try and if it’s great, it goes in the book, if it doesn’t work, into the recycle bin!
Posted by Katie - 11/06/2008
http://hyperhomemaker.blogspot.....-meal.html
Posted by Tabitha (From Single to Married) - 11/06/2008
very nice – I don’t have any other tools that I have found so I will definitely have to check this out. thanks
Posted by Jessie - 11/06/2008
I have used the Thanksgiving guides from Real Simple magazine several times. They break things down into nice easy steps that are manageable for a normal person who is also trying to entertain a houseful of guests for a few days.
I used this timeline the first time I hosted Thanksgiving in my new home:
http://www.realsimple.com/real.....84,00.html
It goes along with this menu:
http://www.realsimple.com/real.....84,00.html
I swapped some of the recipes, but the general guidelines are great. And the vanilla sweet potatoes were a huge hit!
Posted by Jessie - 11/06/2008
Hm, that second link to the Real Simple menu didn’t come out as it should. If you’re interested, go to http://www.realsimple.com and search for “Thanksgiving.” Then pick “The Less-Stress, Less-Mess Thanksgiving Menu” from November 2003 solutions.
Posted by Re - 11/06/2008
I know some people have used the Thanksgiving menu in Leanne Ely’s Saving Dinner for the Holidays with great success.
Like Ann, I keep a binder w/ my menu and recipes and a schedule. A few years ago I took over handling Thanksgiving from my Mom and it has been a learning experience.
Posted by Mari - 11/06/2008
Barbara, I totally get your first comment!
Posted by Crystal - 11/06/2008
Martha Stewart also has a Thanksgiving Planner. I don’t know if it’s as detailed as some of the others, but it gives you a starting point. I don’t know how people put together a large holiday gathering without some kind of list or planner – there’s so much to remember I always forget some detail if I don’t write it down!
Posted by Cynthia - 11/06/2008
As seeing that I’m almost always running late. Last year for our Christmas dinner I put together a list of what needed to be done starting from the week before. I included cleaning tasks, shopping, prep time, and when I needed the actually cooking everything.
I also had a budget so that I knew exactly what I needed to get from the different stores. I had lots to do, so I didn’t want to be spending time shopping for things I didn’t need.
A few months ago I put together a simple Access file for my grocery list, so that will definitely come in handy for this years Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner. But I think I’ll take a look at all the suggestions here so that I can make my life easier during the busy holiday time. Thanks for all the suggestions!
Posted by ~JmB~ - 11/06/2008
I haven’t followed the links offered yet so may find some ideas there …
I’m interested in ideas for preparing ahead, items to take when traveling for Thanksgiving.
We have an 8-9 hour drive to “Grandma’s house” so it helps if I don’t have to work in the kitchen more than necessary after we arrive. Besides, “Grandma” has a small kitchen and she will be working in there to cook the bird and other things.
~JmB~
Posted by Linda - 11/06/2008
I am only responsible for a couple of side dishes, but they better be edible. Apparently Birds Eye has decided that they CAN do it better and at their price I agree. My local grocer has BE creamed onions at $0.67 per box and I can’t beat that. Four boxes today and 4 boxes tomorrow and I will be set for that dish.
Posted by Carrie - 11/06/2008
I’m doing the dessert and potatoes for our dinner with the problem that we gotta drive 2 hours to dinner so my main prob will be cooking the desserts ahead of time and storage in a car going to “grammas” house. Also how far ahead can you make those taters?
Posted by ann - 11/06/2008
you know, i should probably include a post-clean-up tip sheet as well in my planning stuff.
Posted by Amanda @ www.kiddio.org - 11/06/2008
I love the menus that Cook’s Illustrated provides. (www.cooksillustrated.com). I especially appreciate that they refine the recipes by testing them various ways over and over so you can be confident that it’s the best recipe!
Amanda @ http://www.kiddio.org
Posted by Sue - 11/07/2008
MIL is having the main dishes catered this year, and we have a 3 hour drive to get there. Everyone seems to have their “requests”, so I make a 7 layer salad–travels well in a big cooler, and give me a healthier choice than BIL’s sweet potato casserole (heart attack in a dish!)
(As per the politics–it was refreshing for me to have someplace to come where the election was NOT the first and only topic.)
Posted by the minimalist - 11/07/2008
Are you kidding Barb, we just uncluttered the White House!
Now as for Thanksgiving, I find the best thing to do is to start collecting what you need now a few items a time as you do your regular shopping. Nothing worse than having to shop with the rest of the citizens. I am a vegetarian, so I order a pre cooked turkey from the deli. They are perfect and then I go nuts with the sides. I like to try something new to keep it fresh. This year I’m making a cranberry relish I found on Rachel Ray’s site.
Posted by JuneBug - 11/07/2008
We usually have a potluck. The host is responsible for the bird, dressing, and potatoes. Everyone else brings the sides and desserts. I have the biggest house so I am usually hosting. It has worked out well for years. Of course it’s helpful that the longest drive is only .75-1.25 hours weather depending. It also gives me time to prepare everything for the children to make paper turkeys while waiting for supper.
I have to have surgery before the end of the year but am committed to playing the organ for twice a week choir practices until our 21 December performance. I schedled the surgery for 22 Dec. and will be taking it easy for the rest of the holiday season! My children are old enough and practiced at making several simple yet tasty dishes so we won’t be a burden on others either.
Posted by gypsypacker - 11/08/2008
Simplest thing is to make a list on paper or whiteboard on 11-1, with all dishes, and a second list for the ingredients. Note newspaper sale prices as sales come up, then mark them off the ingredients list as you purchase them. Day before Thanksgiving, do all your prep work and start noting and marking off. You will be amazed at what can be done in advance. By Thanksgiving morning, half the list will be gone. The remainder will keep you on task. If all goes well, you should be up at 6:30 to 7 and done by 11-11:30.
Cooking sites online are the handiest for getting good/frugal/simple recipes.
Posted by Maggie - 11/12/2008
Gourmet does that “Game Plan” every year. Very useful.
Posted by A year ago on Unclutterer | Unclutterer - 12/15/2009
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