Thanksgiving Dinner Made Quick and Easy

Thanksgiving Dinner Made Quick and Easy 

Growing up, the one thing I remember the most during Thanksgiving isn't all the great meals I had and what they consisted of. What I remember the most was my Mom and Grandma staying up all night, preparing the meals, waking up in the morning with them still making food and being exhausted afterward, cleaning up while everyone else relaxed, watched TV and took naps. 

 

The very first Thanksgiving meal I made was a disaster waiting to happen. I thought I needed to stay up all night long, getting deserts ready, baking pies, doing everything that my Mom and Grandma had done. 

 

After a few years I finally realized I get more done after preparing some things ahead of time and getting a good nights sleep. Things you can do ahead of time to make the big day and the big meal a lot easier on yourself are what I am putting on this list. 

 

 Make a menu of everything that you want to have for your big dinner. This way you know what is going to need to be done and you aren't going to forget to make anything that you were trying to remember with the fifty other things you are trying to remember. 

 

You can peel and cut potatoes up to three days ahead of time. You need to find a big enough bowl that you can cover them completely up with. Make sure there are not any of the potatoes sticking up out of the water and cover the bowl, preferably with a lid but you can use plastic wrap. 

 

Having an awesome salad? Two or three days ahead of time you can chop the lettuce, slice the cucumbers, onions, peppers, cheese, carrots and anything else you plan on putting in the salad. Store everything separately in zip lock bags, in the refrigerator with labels and store all together. Make a list with every bag you have prepared so nothing is missing when it comes time to make the salad. Salads are something you want to make the same day so it tastes fresh. 

 

Apple pie can be made up to a month ahead. Don't bake it, just freeze it and pop it in the oven in the morning as soon as you wake up in the morning of the meal. 

 

Pumpkin pie can be made up to a week before. Bake it as usual and refrigerate it, covered. Put it in the oven at 250 for about 45 minutes to re-heat it. Stuffing can be made a couple days ahead. Refrigerate it and re-heat it right before the meal. 

 

I have a good set of china that I like to use for special occasions and I always set it out a day or two ahead of time, with the silverware and wine glasses that I don't usually use. I cover it all with a dish towel or two to keep it clean. 

 

Take your turkey out of the freezer a day or two ahead of time and thaw it in the refrigerator. I usually have a 20 -25 pound turkey and it seems as though the turkey is never completely thawed if I wait until the day before. Cooking the turkey overnight like people used to in the old days isn't any good. It's too easy to make everyone sick by cooking at a low temperature. I cook the big bird according to the directions on the packaging and the weight of the big bird. Usually it isn't an all day event but it does take a lot of time to cook.

 

When it comes time to say what everyone is thankful for, I always say that I am thankful that I have a great family that helps me clean up after all the hard work I have done and I get a lot of help afterwords. This way, I can sit down, watch the game and take a nap if I want to and spend at least half of my day relaxing. 

 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner!

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