Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Big Day!



The night before Thanksgiving I take everything out of the cabinets that I will need for the next day. Go back and grab your shopping list and take things out that are on your list. Group them by the dish you’re going to make. I also make any pies I am planning on serving on Wednesday. My pumpkin cream cheese pie needs to chill so I make it now.
I also do all of my chopping now and place things in zip lock bags. I chop my onions, celery, and parsley. Do not peel your potatoes until Thursday. Put the can(s) of cranberry sauce in the refrigerator at this point.

Thursday morning
Keep your menu and shopping list handy then you won’t forget anything.
First thing is to make the STUFFING (click to see recipe) this needs to cool before you can stuff your turkey.
Take your turkey out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrapping and remove the pouch that will be in the cavity. Also check the space where the neck was to make sure that there is nothing in there too. Rinse the turkey inside and out. Salt the inside of the turkey and place in your roasting pan. Add the neck to that pan. In a sauce pot place all ingredients that you found inside the turkey cavity or neck area and set aside for now.
Set your oven to 350 and now stuff your turkey. Fill the cavity but do not pack too tightly. Rub margarine all over the outside of you turkey and sprinkle with poultry seasoning. Tent the turkey with foil making sure to cover the wings and drum sticks so they don’t burn. You will take this foil off about 1 ½ hours before your turkey is cooked. Do the same process of margarine and poultry seasoning to the turkey breast if using one. I am fortunate to have 2 ovens so I place one in each oven. Cook the turkey according to the package directions.
Next I make the SWEET POTATOES (click to see recipe) set aside until ready to bake. Leave the marshmallows off until after baking and ready to broil. This will be the last dish to come out of your oven because of the marshmallows.
Now peel the potatoes for your MASHED POTATOES. (click to see recipe)

2 comments:

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  2. Newly married, my first turkey... Ehm... it still had the plastic bag with "organs" inside when Gary started carving it. :-D
    If you like fruity and tart cranberry sauce: Take a bag of cranberries and empty in a pot, add about a cup of orange juice, cinnamon, ground cloves, a pinch of nutmeg, cover and cook over very low heat until the cranberries have popped. Pulse in the blender until the consistency is to your liking. Let it cool. Add sugar and/or splenda. Can be frozen.

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