Thanksgiving game plan

Until I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner three years ago, I always took for granted that the whole spread of food amazingly appeared on the table at once, warm and ready to eat.  Maybe the chefs in my family were just naturally well-timed.  If so, I didn’t get those genes.  I did get the list making gene, though, which has the same effect in the end.

Each year I write out a little time line based on what I am making, what time dinner will be, and what time guests are arriving.  You might remember that I have an unusually huge menu for four planned, so here is this year’s game plan:

In case my chicken scratch is a little hard to read, here is the play-by-play:

The fun will start on Tuesday night when I’ll whip up the pie crusts to be used on Wednesday (I’m taking the day off so that I can bake all day, and I can’t wait).

On Wednesday flour will fly when I bake the cranberry orange bread, pumpkin bread, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie and upside-down butterscotch apple cake.  While the oven is hot, I’ll make the zucchini casserole and sausage squares (to be reheated on Thursday).  Chris will make the stuffing and I’ll top off my day with the cranberry fruit relish.

Well-poised for a day of eating, we’ll wake up on Thursday morning and the pressure will be on Chris.  He’ll prep and stuff the turkey and get it in the oven.  While it’s roasting, I’ll peel, boil and mash the potatoes so that they can quickly be re-heated later (I discovered that this is way easier than peeling and mashing under pressure, plus, who doesn’t love re-heated mashed potatoes?).

Just before our guests arrive around mid-day, I’ll make the appetizers.  The cranberry brie bites will come together quickly and re-heating the sausage squares is easy.  A few crackers with some cheese on a plate and tah-dah!

When the turkey is done, all I’ll have to do is pop the potatoes, zucchini casserole and the butternut squash souffle (courtesy of my sister-in-law) into the oven to re-heat.  In the meantime, I’ll make the gravy while Chris carves the bird.  My sister-in-law Cheryl will play with our dog Frankie and my brother-in-law Terry will help direct the carving.  Then, that magical moment will occur–a whole spread of food ready to eat!

And the best part of sharing the cooking/baking love over a couple of days is that the kitchen won’t be a complete disaster when we sit down for dinner.  Just half a disaster.

Do you make time lines for your big meals?  How about some tricks you have for Thanksgiving day? Have I missed a crucial element?