Thanksgiving Meal Timeline

THANKSGIVING 2020 at Pebble left-to-right photos: Carol (me), Antonio, and Alex One plate can't hold everything at once! Art, Joshua, and Bethany/Eris Julia and Alex

THE MENU (when I'm doing most of it myself)

• whole turkey with gravy and stuffing
• baked potatoes with sour cream
• fresh broccoli with hollandaise sauce
• green bean casserole (Julia's favorite!)
• whole-berry cranberries (brought by Julia)
• jellied cranberries
• popovers
• apple cider, sparkling cider, egg nog, milk, water, hot chocolate
• cheesecake
• pumpkin pie (brought by Julia)

ONE WEEK (plus or minus) AHEAD

• Buy turkey and roasting pan:
  I prefer a Butterball turkey.
  Allow about 1.5 lbs per person for ample leftovers.
  Keep turkey frozen until ready to defrost.
  Also buy a disposable heavy-duty roasting pan, to be used both for defrosting and cooking.
• Defrost turkey:
  Allow one day per 4 lbs, plus one extra day, to defrost in refrigerator.
  (Why the extra day? I find the turkey isn't quite completely defrosted without it, making it hard to remove the innards.)
  Put the turkey in the roaster to be used for cooking (in case there is leakage).
• Shop for non-perishable food and supplies:
  Get non-perishable items early, in case things run out as Thanksgiving gets close.
  Here are some things not to forget:
  • small disposable clear plastic cups (for egg nog, apple cider, sparkling cider)
  • high-quality napkins (to be folded into fans)
  • aluminum foil (to cover things to keep warm)
  • turkey-size oven bag
• Shop for perishable food:
  Get perishable food about three days ahead.
  Here are some helpful things to remember:
  • At this point, the Thanksgiving-day turkey is out of the freezer and defrosting in the refrigerator.
    I buy an extra turkey to freeze, since Ray likes to make little bags of turkey for the year.
  • broccoli crowns (3/4 crown per person)
  • spray can of whipped cream (some people have more fun with this, than the homemade)

THE DAY AHEAD

• Take out cream cheese to bring to room temperature (for cheesecake).
• Take out butter sticks to bring to room temperature (for hollandaise sauce).
• Put stainless steel bowl in freezer (for whipped cream).

• Cold drinking water:
  Fill a pitcher with drinking water and put in refrigerator.
• Make cheesecake:
  I use my largest bowl for the cake batter, to minimize splatters.
  Cover cooled cheesecake lightly and store in refrigerator (to be removed from pan and decorated the next day).
• Make hollandaise sauce:
  I double the recipe in the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook.
  Pour into a microwaveable serving pitcher, cover with a silicone lid, and store in refrigerator.
  (Note: Later on, you can make chocolate mousse (YouTube, 4:55) with the leftover egg whites.)
• Begin green bean casserole:
  Stir together the cream of mushroom soup, milk, pepper, and green beans (but NOT the french fried onions).
  Cover and store in refrigerator.
• Clear out space:
  Our tiny home, Pebble, is small, so I need to move the kid easel, stepping stool, and bed wall to our overflow trailer.
• Dinner dishes:
  Get the fancy dishes out and clean as needed.
• Prepare broccoli:
  Rinse.
  Cut off most of stalk, leaving about 1.5 inches; cut off leaves; cut crowns in half.
  Add 1.5 cups water to instant pot, and insert steamer basket.
  Add broccoli to instant pot; cover with lid.
  I can fit six crowns (enough for 8 adults)—just barely—in my instant pot.
  Cover and store in refrigerator.
• Jellied cranberries:
  I use a Corningware oval dish; remove from can and slice.
  Cover with a silicone lid and put in refrigerator.
• Sour cream (for potatoes):
  I use a small round Corningware dish.
  Cover with a silicone lid and put in refrigerator.
• Whip cream (for desserts and hot chocolate):
  Use a cold stainless steel bowl (15 minutes in freezer works).
  I use 1 Tb sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract for each cup of heavy whipping cream.
  Cover and put in refrigerator.
• Make napkin fans (YouTube, 0:56):
  These add a festive touch!
• Set table:
  Place serving spoons in middle for things that will go on the table:
  
  • jellied cranberries (large spoon)
  • whole-berry cranberries (large spoon)
  • sour cream (for potatoes; large spoon)
  • butter dish (for extra butter; butter knife)
  • popovers in large wooden two-sided tray (tongs)
• Soup pot:
  Get out my Le Creuset soup pot and put on stove, to use for stock for gravy and soup.
• Adjust oven racks:
  The turkey goes on the top rack; baked potatoes on the lower rack.
  The green bean casserole goes beside the turkey on the top rack (at the appropriate time).
• Do chopping for stuffing:
  I use Pepperidge Farm cubed stuffing, cooked in the turkey.
  Chop the onion and celery (as per stuffing instructions).
  Save onion peels and celery scraps in a ziplock bag in refrigerator, to be added to stock.
  Also wash several celery stalks, and slice a medium onion, to include in bottom of turkey oven bag.
  (These flavor the juices that will collect in the oven bag, which is used to make gravy.)
  Refrigerate everything in a double-ziplock-bag (to contain onion odor).
• Prepare mini-popover pans:
  Put silicone baking cups in muffin pans.

THANKSGIVING DAY (3:00 PM dinner)

• Give critters a Thanksgiving treat:
  .. like a suet cake!
• Family email and Facebook post:
  Tell loved ones that you're thankful for them!
• Finish cheesecake:
  Remove from pan and place on serving platter.
  Decorate as desired.
  These strawberry roses are pretty.
• Butter out to soften:
  Two pats on each plate (for baked potato and popovers).
  Main butter dish out with full stick (for extra butter).
  One stick for rubbing turkey.

• 9:30 AM
  Prepare stuffing according to package directions:
  Use chicken Better-Than-Bouillon for the liquid.
  Use the pre-chopped bag of onions/celery from refrigerator.
  Add dried cranberries, as desired.
  See aside—stuffing should cool slightly before stuffing the bird.
• 10:00 AM
  Prepare potatoes:
  Wash thoroughly and dry.
  Prick in several places.
  Rub skins with olive oil; sprinkle with salt.
  Place on baking sheet with non-stick silicone liner.
  Set aside until ready to put in oven.
• 10:30 AM
  Preheat oven; prepare turkey:
  Preheat oven to 350°F. (Make sure the racks are properly positioned!)
  
  Remove turkey from roasting pan and place in clean sink.
  Remove wrapper and discard (carefully—there will be juices).
  Remove innards from body/neck cavities, and put in stock pot.
  Rinse turkey; pat dry with paper towels.
  
  Stuff bird (both cavities) lightly—not too full, since stuffing will expand while cooking.
  Refrigerate the extra stuffing—it will be mixed with the cooked-in-the-bird stuffing and re-heated near serving time.
  
  Add 1 Tb flour to oven bag and shake to distribute (this prevents the bag from bursting).
  Place bag in roaster; add celery stalks and onion (from refrigerator).
  Carefully add turkey to oven bag (on top of vegetables)—this is easier with an extra person, if available!
  Reach into oven bag and rub softened butter stick all over turkey.
  Close bag with tie; cut six 1/2-inch slits in top of bag.
• 10:45 AM
  Start turkey stock:
  Add vegetables (from refrigerator) to stock pot.
  Add water to cover.
  Heat stock to boiling; simmer until it's time to make the gravy.
• 11:15 AM
  Put turkey in oven:
  This is the correct timing for a 16 lb turkey cooked in an oven bag.
  As per the oven bag instructions, it should cook about 3 hours in the oven.
  After being removed from the oven, it should rest 15–20 minutes before removing stuffing and carving.
  So, I allow an extra 45 minutes until serving time.
  (Of course, if you have a different size bird, the timing needs to be adjusted accordingly!)
• 11:30 AM
  Fruit on plates, for color:
  Put strawberries/raspberries/kiwi/other on plates, for color.
• 11:45 AM
  Wash any accumulated dishes; empty garbage:
  You want a nice empty trash can when everyone arrives!
• NOON
  Shower, get dressed:
  The (initial) messy part is done!
  Shower and dress—then be sure to wear an apron until dinner time!
• 12:30 PM
  Set out popover ingredients to get to room temperature:
  Set out the the eggs and milk for your popovers.
  Measure the salt and flour into a bowl.
  However, do not combine the ingredients yet—that will be done just before baking.
• 12:45 PM
  Put potatoes in oven:
  Depending on how big your russets are, they may take up to 1.5 hours (or even slightly longer) to bake at the current oven temperature.
  They should be out of the oven by 2:30 for the popovers to go in.
• 1:30 PM
  Finish green bean casserole prep; put in oven:
  Add in the french fried onions.
  Since the casserole has been in the refrigerator, it will take longer than 30 minutes to bake.
  Place it on the top shelf, uncovered, next to the turkey.
  (You will be cooking it until bubbly, then adding additional french fried onions and baking an additional 5 minutes.)
  It should be out of the oven by 2:30 for the popovers to go in.
• 1:45 PM
  Put table items out:
  Put cranberries and sour cream (from refrigerator) on table, keeping covered until serving time.
• 2:00 PM
  Broccoli and hollandaise sauce:
  Remove instant pot with broccoli from refrigerator; check that it does indeed have the water in the bottom!
  Set to manual, 4 minutes.
  (It will take a while to come up to pressure before the countdown begins.)
  When done, use quick-release.
  Check that broccoli is cooked to (almost) desired tenderness, then leave in instant pot (covered) until serving time.
  It will continue to soften slightly while sitting.
  Re-heat the hollandaise sauce in microwave: 15 second bursts, stir, repeat until hot and smooth.
• 2:00 to 2:30 PM
  Check potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey
  Keep checking things!
  Turkey: Use my Taylor cooking thermometer. It should read 165°F in several places (not touching bone). Also, the stuffing should be 165°F.
  Green bean casserole: As soon as it is bubbly, sprinkle remaining french fried onions on top and bake for 5 additional minutes.
  Potatoes: Should be soft when squeezed lightly.
  As items finish, leave on stove (covered with foil, as needed) to keep warm.
• [When turkey comes out of oven]
  Remove juices with baster:
  Cut off just the very end of the oven bag. The liquid should stay in the bag!
  Use a baster to remove as much liquid as possible from the bottom of the bag (tip roaster slightly, so liquid pools in one corner).
  Let this liquid sit, so the fat can rise to the top.
  I get just about 4 cups of liquid from a 16 lb turkey.
• 2:25 PM
  Prepare popover batter and put in oven:
  Pour into silicone muffin cups.
  Put into oven at 2:30, and then immediately raise the oven temperature to 450°F.
  They should bake for 30 minutes. Set a timer!
• 2:30 PM
  Remove stuffing from bird:
  After the turkey has rested for about 15 minutes, cut the top off the oven bag.
  Carefully push the oven bag down to the bottom of the roaster, and out of the way.
  Remove the stuffing from both cavities into my french white 2.5 liter CorningWare casserole.
  Mix with extra stuffing from refrigerator, and put in oven (with popovers), uncovered, to warm.
• 2:35 PM
  Make gravy:
  Follow the directions on this page to make gravy.
  Use stock simmering on stove for additional liquid, as needed.
  Key steps (for 4 cups of gravy):
  • whisk 1/2 cup fat and 1/2 cup flour over low heat until smooth
    (use butter for extra fat, as needed)
  • gradually add 4 cups drippings/broth, whisking constantly, until desired consistency
• 2:50 PM
  Carve turkey:
  Carefully slide a cutting board under the turkey and oven bag, with the turkey still inside the roasting pan.
  The oven bag helps to keep the turkey from sliding around; the roasting pan contains the mess.
  This video (YouTube, 2:52) gives good carving instructions.
  Key carving steps:
  • remove wishbone
  • cut off leg/thigh, cutting through hip joint (twice)
  • separate thigh from leg on separate cutting board (twice)
  • remove bone from thighs; slice thigh meat
  • remove breast in one piece; on separate cutting board, slice tip-to-tip (twice)
  • remove wings (cut joints), serve whole
  Put the meat on two plates (one dark meat, one white meat).
  Cover with foil to keep warm.
  
  Put the remaining turkey carcass into the stock pot; add additional water as needed.
  Also add anything from the bottom of the oven bag to the stock pot.
  Bag and discard the disposable roaster and oven bag.
  The stock pot should be pushed to the far back of the stove to cool.
  When cool, put it in the refrigerator to make turkey soup the next day!
• 3:00 PM
  Popovers out of oven
  Put popovers in foil-covered woodenware; put on table.
• JUST BEFORE EATING:
  Put water pitcher, milk, egg nog, apple cider, and sparkling cider on counter.
  People should get desired drink(s) before filling up plates.
  
  Say grace. Give thanks! Take a photo (now or after food is on plates).
  
  Uncover food that is keeping warm on stove/counter. Uncover the instant pot (broccoli).
  People should fill their plates with food from the stove, and sit down and eat.
  Happy Thanksgiving!!!