Countdown to Thanksgiving

Day 1: Here’s my menu, here’s my timetable. We’re going to the Thanksgiving Day Football game at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning, so I want to have everything done ahead and get the turkey in the oven by 8 am (remember, my 24-lb bird will take 4½ to 5½ hours to cook, always anticipate the longer time, you can tent it with foil to keep it warm for longer if you need to, and add ½ an hour for it to set before carving, this is Residual Cooking Time, the meat continues to cook once it’s removed from the oven).

Thanksgiving menu
Cocktail: Pumpkin martinis

Appetizers:
Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
Spinach-and-artichoke dip with pita chips
Del’s deviled eggs
Cheddar-stuffed mushrooms
Hommus and tabouli with fresh Syrian bread from Methuen because we can’t get it here in Newburyport

First course: Antipasto with Nonni’s pickled peppers

Second course: Del’s cheese-and-meat-stuffed shells

Main course:
Turkey with stuffing and gravy
Make-ahead mashed potatoes
Butternut squash casserole
Creamed onions
Turnips mashed with brown sugar
Green bean casserole
Auntie Cee’s cranberry jello mold
Nonni’s green salad
Cranberry relish and jellied cranberry sauce

Dessert:
Del’s apple pie with vanilla ice cream
Auntie Cee’s pumpkin pie with whipped cream
Death by chocolate
Michael’s fudge
Alden Merrel Meltdown brownies
Roasted mixed nuts
Fennel

Timeline
Wednesday

• Bake potatoes for make-ahead mashed potatoes
• Brine turkey
• Prepare green bean casserole, stuffing, fudge (the fudge could have been done ahead, but I just decided to add it to the menu today), and death by chocolate (the chocolate cake has been soaking in the Kahlua since Monday evening). (Fortunately, I doubled up on my other apps and sides when I was doing Thanksgiving prep for clients earlier this week so they’re done already.)
• Scoop flesh out of cooled potatoes and mash with butter and cream. Add an extra ½ to 1 cup of cream when you think they’re perfect, then they’ll be light and fluffy when you reheat them Thursday.
• Set table and label serving dishes so everyone can help tomorrow when it’s time to get the food on the table while it’s still warm.
• Test pumpkin martinis. (It’s all about quality control.)
  
• Remove turkey from brine and place on rack over baking sheet in fridge, uncovered, overnight, to dry out flesh.

Thursday

7:00 Bring turkey to room temperature and preheat oven to 425°.
7:30 Rub turkey with butter, sprinkle liberally inside and out with salt and pepper.
8:00 Stuff turkey and place in oven.
8:30 Lower oven to 325°.

Remember you’ll want an easy—and light—breakfast that won’t make a big mess in the kitchen and cause extra clean-up. Then we’re off to the football game. When we return, we’ll set out the cold appetizers, heat up the others, then start heating up the other dishes. We’ll sit down to the antipasto at about 1 pm, and move through the day, loosing our belts as we go.