It's that time of year again--time to gather with friends and family, turn on some football, put away the bathroom scale and pig out like you haven't since... well... last Thanksgiving. This year, instead of just shoveling food that someone else cooked into your mouth, take a chance at preparing the meal yourself. It's time that you tackled the hosting of a holiday event. After all, cooking can be fun, rewarding and tasty.
If you think your guests will let you get away with slapping together whatever you happen to have in the fridge, think again. Thanksgiving dinners require a lot of planning in advance and at least a couple of trips to the supermarket.
Here's an useful itinerary when planning your Thanksgiving feast. Print it out to refer to as the day approaches.
1. As soon as you decide to host a dinner: Make up a guest list and invite your guests. Don't go overboard and invite more people than you can afford to feed. Invite people via phone calls, so you can get an instant yes or no.
2. One week before: Do your shopping now. If you wait until the last couple of days, all the decent-sized turkeys will be gone and you'll either have to settle for a small one or fool your guests with a giant chicken. Buy all the ingredients listed for the recipes in Step 2, Step 3 and Step 4, and stick the turkey in the coldest part of your freezer.
At this point, make sure that you have all the necessary cooking equipment. Besides the usual assortment of pots and pans, locate a cheese grater, a strainer, an electric mixer and various sized mixing bowls and baking dishes.
3. Three days before: Do a massive cleaning job on your fridge--you're going to need the room. This is also when you defrost the turkey. For a full description on how to cook the bird, read Step 2.
4. One day before: This is when you prepare all of your side dishes and pies. Unless you have more than one oven, you might not have the room to bake any thing with the turkey at the same time. This also gives you more time to schmooze with your guests tomorrow. This is also the day to get dinner rolls, salad, drinks, ice, napkins and table decorations.
5. The big day: Prepare the rest of the food (especially the turkey) about 5 hours before you plan to eat, set the table, serve the meal and take all of the credit for the wonderful meal.
