One week ahead
Confirm guests and dishes they’re bringing. Pot-luck all the way, people!
8:00 am
Cuddly lie-in with the Hubbs and doggies.
8:15 am
Kick rowdy doggies out for disturbing lie-in.
10:00 am
Clean the house
- dishes
- tidy up
- vacuum
- clean bathroom
- wipe tables/dust
- make bedroom presentable for coats and bags. Because they have such high standards.
11:00 am
Prep
- Quarter celery, onion, carrots, out in roasting pan
- Cube bread
- Slice fennel
- Chop carrot, onion, sage
- Peel & chop apples
- Brown sausage
- Trim green beans
- Half and peel pearl onions
12:00 pm
Make cranberry sauce & vanilla bean whipped cream
12:30 pm
Do prep work dishes
1:00 pm
Light lunch, with pre-game mimosa
2:00 pm
- Take organic, free range, hormone free, just like the pilgrims enjoyed it, turkey out of fridge & put in roasting pan
- Preheat oven to 325°
2:15 pm
Cook sausage, fennel, and carmalized apple stuffing components and combine, set aside
3:00 pm
Bird goes into oven
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Guests arrive
3:40 pm
Put water on to boil for green beans
4:00 pm
- Cover stuffing, pop into oven
- Cook balsamic glazed green beans with pearl onions
4:30 pm
- Turkey out of oven, on cutting board to rest
- Turn oven to 400°
- Start gravy
4:40 pm
Uncover stuffing
4:50 pm
Put beans into oven to warm
5:00 pm
Stuffing out of oven, carve turkey
5:15 pm
Sit down with family and enjoy a sumptuous feast with perfectly paired wine
6:00 pm
Start food-coma recovery process
6:30 pm
Take dogs for a walk to shake off the coma
7:30 pm
Eat homemade pumpkin and pecan pies with eggnog, courtesy of my middle sister.
8:30 pm
All guests go home, leaving hubbs and I to enjoy a nightcap and surreptitiously pick morsels of turkey out of the Tupperware.
9:30 pm
Enjoy an early night, courtesy of tryptophan.
Do you have a perfect plan for Thanksgiving, or are ya just gonna wing it? Have people over, or just family? What’s your perfect Thanksgiving plan?
Bigger in Real Life 
How the heck does your turkey take only 1 1/2 hours to roast??
I roast in pieces! I did the whole turkey thing once, and it was nice, but we don’t have room for the big reveal and carving ceremony, so no need to cook a showpiece. I don’t think I’ll ever go back, because it takes only 1.5 hours, browns beautifully, and never gets dry! 🙂
This is hilarious – and a great plan! We did a potluck with friends at church, and it was lovely. Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving Katie!