Thanksgiving Preparations

Sweet Potato Layer Cake

Thanksgiving is a big celebration in my home. It is the only holiday where we are all together as a family. I do all the cooking and try to feed an army. Everyone arrives here starved and emaciated, in my humble opinion. It is my motherly duty to stuff them with so much food it will last until next Thanksgiving. I prepare enough food to (hopefully) last the long weekend and also be taken back as leftovers. There must also be plenty so I do no cooking over the weekend. It is a holiday for me too.

Blackberry Gobbler

These are the steps:

*Plan the menu which is a list of family favorites.

*Check the pantry for supplies then grocery shop.

*Begin preparing early, freeze as much as possible and cook it Thanksgiving morning.

*Anything which does not freeze well is prepared the day before.

*Decorations and table setting will also be done the day before.

*House cleaning is not on the list.  They are family and if they don't like it they can clean it themselves. (They won't.)

I take my casserole dishes and arrange as many as possible inside my oven.  As I prepare my menu, I decide what will go into each dish.

Biggest Obstacle:

This year I have purchased a new refrigerator and it is smaller than the older one.  Last Thanksgiving it was difficult to get all the food inside and I anticipated problems again this year.

The Schedule:

On Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I worked out of town and was not able to cook. Wednesday afternoon, Dustin and Reese would arrive after a long drive. Joshua would also drive home on Wednesday afternoon and the rest of the family planned to arrive Thursday morning.

The Plan:

Most of the meal was cooked and frozen in the weeks prior.  I would work on Tuesday, come home and rest for the evening.  Wednesday I would prepare the things that could not be done earlier, set the table and decorate.  The frozen food would be put into the oven Wednesday night, the timer would be set so it would defrost and be warm when everyone walked in the door Thursday morning.  It didn't happen.

Frozen dishes which would be cooked on Thanksgiving morning

Green bean casserole

Lima Beans

Field Peas

Sweet potato casserole

Tahitian Butternut cheesy casserole

Noodles in alfredo sauce

Monkey bread dinner rolls

Frozen turkey breast which would be cooked in a crockpot

Frozen desserts which only needed to be thawed

Brownies

Apple pie

Pumpkin pie

Chess pie

Fudge pie

Sweet potato layer cake

My freezer was stuffed full.

Menu items which would not freeze well and needed making the day before Thanksgiving

Garden salad from freshly picked greens out of the winter garden

Greens boiled in beef broth

Carrot raisin salad with fresh carrots from the garden

Fruit salad

Deviled eggs

Mashed potatoes

Boiled custard

Here is the reality:

Tuesday while at work I learned part of the guests which were scheduled to arrive on Thursday, canceled.  As I was driving home from work on Tuesday night, Bill called and said Dustin and Reese were able to leave early and would be home that night.  Was there any food available for them to eat?  No, everything was frozen.  Bill advised them to eat on the road but what would they eat the next day?

While in the car, I changed everything at the last minute.  I decided to move Thanksgiving to Wednesday instead of Thursday.  I called Nana, asked her to change her plans so Joshua could drive her here on Wednesday morning.  Everything was ready in the freezer so it was not a problem.  If we celebrated early, everyone could eat leftovers.

What I did:

When I arrived home Tuesday night, I put the turkey breast in the crockpot to cook overnight.

Gobble, gobble.

Then I took all the frozen deserts out of the freezer and set them on the treat table to thaw.  I did not bother decorating since I knew I would not have time.

Everyone denied sneaking the corner bite out of the brownies.

The frozen food in the freezer went into the oven to thaw overnight then cook slowly the next morning.  Dustin and Reese arrived home, I stopped working and enjoyed their company.  Wednesday morning early, I turned the oven on so the food inside could begin cooking.  It had not thawed much overnight.  I made instant mashed potatoes instead of fresh, boiled fresh greens from the garden and put them in the oven to keep warm.

While waiting for our company, I made boiled custard and drafted the guys to set the table.  I don't think there was room for decorations.

Since there were fewer people attending, I did not make the following dishes:

Deviled eggs

Fresh fruit salad

Salad from greens picked fresh from the garden

Carrot salad

Congealed salad

After lunch, all the hot food went back in the oven to stay warm.  In the evening, we ate dinner then put the food in the refrigerator.  Since I had prepared less food and they ate so much, there was not a problem arranging it all in the refrigerator.

Nothing ever goes according to plans, at least it doesn't with me.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and we all enjoyed ourselves.  I think everyone ate enough food to last them until next year.  Goal accomplished!

The End

Additional Links:

UPDATE:  A year and a half later, I learned the turkey, located in Lynnville, Tennessee is named Blackberry Gobbler.  He is from Pulaski, Tennessee, and has an interesting history.
Pulaski, Tennessee, A Turkey Hunt 

Scooter's Difficult Thanksgiving (2017)

Roofer Reese (The Day After Thanksgiving, 2017)

Thanksgiving Lemon Pie (2018)

Thanksgiving (2016)