Preparing_Thanksgiving_Dinenr

Preparation of Thanksgiving Dinner When preparing for a large dinner such as Thanksgiving Dinner there is a lot of things that need to be done prior to Thursday morning. In order for your dinner to turn out exceptionally well you need to plan ahead, and anything that can be prepared ahead of time should be, so that leaves you more time to spend with your guests. About 2-3 weeks before Thanksgiving you need to make your guest list, and plan your menu. Decide if you would like guests to bring a side dish or desert and if it will be a sit down dinner or buffet style. You will need to create a list of everything you will need to purchase and gather. Go grocery shopping for all of your non-perishable items. Make sure you don’t forget aluminum foil, plastic wrap, cooking spray, paper towels or other cleaning supplies, and don’t forget the table decorations like candles, table cloths and maybe even some flowers. You will need to consider what table to use, making sure you have enough room for all of you guest to be seated comfortably. Make sure you have enough chairs for everyone and if you are short a few you can always let the guests know ahead of time to BYOC, bring your own chair. Make sure you have enough dinner plates, dessert plates, coffee cups and saucers, silverware, glassware, serving dishes and serving utensils, bread basket, sugar bowl, creamer and gravy boat and do not forget the roasting pan and coffee pot. Let us begin with choosing the right turkey. First figure out the right size turkey too buy. Plan on 1 ½ pounds per person if you want left overs. For example purchase about a fifteen pound turkey if you plan of feeding 10 people. You can check out the perfect portions calculator on butterball.com to help you plan the perfect amount. Also take into consideration if you have guests that prefer white meat you may want to consider buying a butterball roast or butterball turkey breast. Next decide if you want fresh or frozen. There are a few differences. Frozen turkeys are pre-basted, are extra tender and juicy, and need to be thawed. So buy them as soon as they appear in your supermarket in November. Fresh turkeys are all natural and do not to be thawed and are ready to cook. So buy your fresh turkey only a few days ahead of time. Thawing your turkey is the easiest part of the preparation. About a week before your meal take your turkey out of the freezer and leave it in its wrapper and place it breast side up on a tray in the refrigerator. Normally it takes 24 hours for every 4 pounds of turkey to thaw completely. If you forgot to thaw ahead of time try the cold water method. Submerge the frozen turkey in its wrapper, breast side down in a cooler and fill with room temp water. Change the water occasionally. It will take about 30 min per pound to thaw. Once completely thawed and on the day of your feast you can stuff your turkey or prepare you’re stuffing on the side. You will first need to prepare your stuffing mixture. In a large bowl take 1 to 2 packages of dried stuffing bread cubes and set aside. In a skillet add 1 large onion finely chopped, 1 stalk of celery finely chopped and 2 cups butter.. Sauté for 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. In a separate skillet, brown one pound of ground beef and one pound of ground pork breakfast sausage. Now take your bowl with the dried bread cubes and add the onions, celery, melted butter and browned meat mixtures and mix thoroughly. Fill the cavity of the turkey with you stuffing mixture. Be sure to pack it in tightly so that it forms together and makes for easier serving once completely cooked. If there is remaining stuffing mixture left you can bake it in the oven alongside of your turkey, it will only need to bake for approximately 1 hour. Rub the turkey down with butter this way it will brown as it cooks and it also helps the seasonings stick to the turkey. I usually only salt and pepper my turkey but that is up to the discretion of the cooker. Place turkey in the roasting pan of your choice, cover with foil and now you are ready to get the turkey in the oven. A 12 pound turkey will take about 3to 3 ½ hours to cook completely. If you are unsure use a meat thermometer to check the meats temperature. When the breast meat reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit and thigh meat is 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the turkey is in the oven you can begin to prepare you side dishes. My traditional thanksgiving dinner includes mashed potatoes, so I peel a 10lb bag of fresh white potatoes, cut into quarters and place in the pan that they will cook in but put them in cold water. They will stay fresh in the cold water. Next I open 4 cans of corn, rinse and place in a microwavable dish and place 1 stick of butter cut into 1 tablespoon pats on top of the corn and place the dish in the microwave. Next I open 5 cans of turkey or chicken broth and pour into pot and place on stove and turn on medium; once it reaches a boiling point I will add my kluski noodles. This type of noodle is very close to the home made kind. They are very thick and take longer to cook than the average noodle. Every half hour to an hour you need to baste your turkey to ensure that the turkey does not dry out. If your pan is full of broth take some of the broth out and place in another pan to use when you make the gravy. While the turkey is cooking it is time to get the table set. You should have already set up the table and chairs the night before, so all you have to do is dress the table with the table cloth and napkins and silverware. Your plates will be at the buffet table and cups and glasses will be at the refreshment center. By now your turkey is well on its way to being done. Turn the burner on high under your potatoes, set your microwave to cook for 7 minutes, and the extra broth you have in a skillet for the gravy needs to be heated to a simmering point. Once the microwave dings, stir the corn and microwave for an addition 7 minutes. Now that the broth is simmering you take a cup of milk and about 4 tablespoons of flower and whisk together, until there are no lumps. Add this milk and flower combination to your simmering broth and stir continuously until it reaches gravy consistency. Once it reaches the right texture turn your burner down as low as possible until the turkey is done. Once the turkey is done take it out of the oven and let it stand for 20 minutes. Now your potatoes are done, drain them and place them in a mixing bowl, add milk and butter and turn on the mixer. Mix till there are no lumps and they have reached a creamy texture. The amount of milk and butter is up to the discretion of the cook. Once they are beaten, place in serving bowl with serving spoon and place on buffet table. Now begin carving the turkey, place all white meat on one serving dish and all dark meat on another serving dish, then remove the stuffing from inside the bird and place in another serving dish and place all serving dishes on your buffet table. Pour gravy into gravy boat and place on buffet table. Remove corn from microwave and place on buffet table All of your guests have arrived and the dishes they have brought have been place on the buffet table as well. The house smells great, you are surrounded by friends and family and are ready to begin the feast, but first a word of thanks to the heavenly father for everyone arriving safely and providing us with all of the glorious food that is before us. AMEN. Finally it is time to prepare my plate and eat and visit with the guests around the table. Everything tastes good and turned out well.